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Radiator Question

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Ccas 
#1 ·
I have, I believe, a Champion 4 row radiator, and there is not enough room to install the electric fan setup.

My car is a 56 Bel Air 4 door sedan, 350 small block making about 300 horsepower (with a Rochester Q-Jet), in front of a 2004R overdrive trans and a 3.55 rear end.

The car has air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, cruise control. and I will also be using an external trans cooler.

So I have a radiator, an A/C condenser, and a trans cooler all stacked together in front of the engine (and in that order, with radiator closest to engine).

I seem to recall that the electric cooling fan is recommended to be mounted between the radiator and the front of the engine, and "pulls" air from the front of the car, through the trans cooler, through the a/c condenser, through the radiator.

I also seem to recall that recommended spacing between the trans cooler and the A/C condenser, and between the A/C condenser and the radiator is 1/2 inch to 1 inch gap.

Does all of this sound correct to ya'll?

Also, what radiator 'should" I be using in this application. I like the Champion radiators, they have always treated me well and are reasonably priced. But if there is a better option.....

Thoughts?
 
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#3 ·
condenser should be reasonably close to radiator, say 1/4" clearance. . if no room for an electric fan just use a gm 6 blade mechanical fan and a shroud it will cool just fine. the electric is not needed. now if you had a 6cyl radiator and support everything would be in front of the support then you would have room for an electric fan if you really wanted to go that route.
 
#4 ·
Sounds like your biggest problem is being able to get the fan/shroud to fit. Unless it is a long water pump or a very big fan motor, you should have a little space.

Of course we're in the radiator business but if you already have a 4 row champion I'd try that out.

The main problem with that 4 row radiator is it is a big thick core with small tubes. So it's critical that the fan/shroud combination has enough cfm to pull the air through that big core, ac condenser AND a trans cooler! You are asking a lot of that fan! If it doesn't pull good enough, you'll have problems sitting in traffic but when you get moving 30 mph or more, the temps should come down considerably.

If you can't solve the fan/shroud fitment issue, you should relocate everything forward into the 6 cylinder position. The bracket kit is readily available.

If you want to avoid the bracket kit and go with a more efficient big 2 row radiator, shoot me a PM for a special Tri-Five price on one of our units.
 
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