Be Cool Aluminum Power Cooling Modules (radiator with electric fans) is it worth it?

[tucsonjwt]

How about dual cooling fans on the stock radiator - with a dash mounted switch to turn them on only in hot weather? I recall big block Corvettes having overheating problems with aluminum radiators, due to very little air circulation under the hood, so aluminum is not always the answer to every cooling problem.

[502ss]

Originally Posted by Hazieview

Thanks for all the replies guys but this is the main thing that I'm concerned with right here.

I know it is hot temperature wise in other places but the humidity is what kills us in texas. 110 degress cought in bumper to bumper traffic (especailly during truck shows) with humidity that is rediculous you are worried about your truck that you invested a lot of money in.

My stock sb400 never had a problem with overheating unless I threw a belt.

I dont want to really spend a couple hundred bucks on a stock radiator only to find out it doesn't work and then that is money I could have spent on an aluminum radiator.

Is anyone actually running an aluminum radiator right now?

I am! I am actually running the aluminum be cool that was in my 77 with the 502. When I sold the truck I yanked the aluminum and threw in a standard. It was also the first thing I swapped when I brought home my 1 ton. Knowing I would be towing a 10,000lb boat I wanted all the cooling I could get both engine and tranny!
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[silvereagle07]

I am searching for one myself for my project. Check this link out. The radiator is $495 and I was getting a new LS1 fan for $140. The radiator is a direct replacement so there is no cutting or trying to fit it.
http://www.alumitechreproductions.com/64.html

[Clyde65]

2 row for 73-80
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-Row...item43a22e12b3

2 row for 73-87

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevy...item1c19d122d7

I have one like this one in my LSx 65

[gchemist]

I'm running a 454 aluminum radiator. I've been running it for years. The only set back was the original fans. They didn't provide enough cooling. The fans did not have a shroud. Even the LS1 fans don't have a shroud big enough to cover the 454 aluminum radiator. The Mark VIII is almost big enough.

The Mark VIII at low speed should be enough. A/C would really suffer only if speed was really low or dead stop traffic. I will experiment with fans speeds. A variable speed controller is ideal. I may consider it if the crossflow condensor shows big improvement over the R12 condensor.

[hlp-3]

Check out this site: http://www.northernfactory.com/. They used to make Summit brand's direct fit for the 73-87. I do not think Summit still carries it though. Northern still makes the same radiator and nice fan shrouds as well. Significantly cheaper than Be Cool. I am running the radiator that I bought from Summit (northern #205065) and the dual fan shroud setup (northern #Z40085). No issues from me, but I don't use mine as a daily driver.
Here are product links: http://www.northernfactory.com/store...73&itm_index=0
http://www.northernfactory.com/store...48&itm_index=1

[1beatnik]

JUST DO NOT BUY A ZIRGO ELECTRIC FAN.... put one in my dads 40 Ford coupe with a mildly cammed 283 and didnt last 500mi made it half way to Shades of the Past last fall and it failed in Richmond Ky. Went to NAPA bought a flex belt driven fan no problems for the rest of the trip. Danny, from Dannys Rod Shop also backed this up he said they dont even make a good door stop, tons of problems. Make sure you are gettin quality parts the first time before you drop that much coin.

[Hazieview]

Originally Posted by 502ss

I am! I am actually running the aluminum be cool that was in my 77 with the 502. When I sold the truck I yanked the aluminum and threw in a standard. It was also the first thing I swapped when I brought home my 1 ton. Knowing I would be towing a 10,000lb boat I wanted all the cooling I could get both engine and tranny!
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Well would you say the aluminum radiator cools better than the stock radiator?

what fans are you running.

Thanks everyone for throwing out so many alternative solutions I just need to find one that I am confident in.

Best thing I know to do is follow in the footsteps of others that have already had the success you are looking for.

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by cableguy0

Theres no good reason whatsoever to drop 1700 bucks on a radiator and fans. A stock 4 core radiator for around 250 bucks and a junkyard dual fan setup for well under 100 bucks is all you need.

I would have to argue that thought. I agree that the $1700.00 is excessive, but the expense of a radiator from Be Cool and a set of SPAL fans is worth it to me. I purchased my Be Cool radiator for my 84 SWB and the fans back in 1999 and I spent about $700.00 for the comfort of never having to sit along the side of the road with my built $5000.00 engine steaming and smoking due to overheating. Nothing worse than putting a lot of money under the hood and then having to let everyone drive by you, because your were too cheap to protect it. I have had my truck all over the country and even have had the electric fan relays fail in the middle of a 100 degree July summer day and the radiator did it's job of keeping my engine cool. YES, it is worth the cash, to me.

Oh and by the way, the engine cost me $5000.00 after I used cheaper parts the first time around and it failed at 135 MPH. I used a set of stock rods and one broke, that won't happen so easily again. So with age, you live and learn. I built the truck to last and that is what it is doing. I am working on a 68 C-10 and the radiator for it is in the basement---it is a Be Cool unit with a set of dual electric fans. It did not cost $1700.00 either. You have to shop around for a better price.

Also, before everyone flames me, yes I do make a little more than the average guy, but even if I were broke, I would do more than just a stock radiator for a custom engine build, especially after talking to the guys at Be Cool.

[502ss]

Originally Posted by Hazieview

Well would you say the aluminum radiator cools better than the stock radiator?

what fans are you running.

Thanks everyone for throwing out so many alternative solutions I just need to find one that I am confident in.

Best thing I know to do is follow in the footsteps of others that have already had the success you are looking for.

Simply answer.....yes it cools better!
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[Hazieview]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

I would have to argue that thought. I agree that the $1700.00 is excessive, but the expense of a radiator from Be Cool and a set of SPAL fans is worth it to me. I purchased my Be Cool radiator for my 84 SWB and the fans back in 1999 and I spent about $700.00 for the comfort of never having to sit along the side of the road with my built $5000.00 engine steaming and smoking due to overheating. Nothing worse than putting a lot of money under the hood and then having to let everyone drive by you, because your were too cheap to protect it.

I think I finally found someone that was thinking the same way I am.

Why would I want to spend money on bags, rims, or any of that before getting a good radiator setup? If you broke down everyone would think it looked really cool except for the guy sitting beside his smoking truck sweating his butt off

[1beatnik]

Spal is the only fan I would use that is what we ended up getting to replace the zirgo, all the peole I know and alot of guys on the H.A.M.B have all been bitten by the cheaper companies. There is also something to be said for goin to a scrap yard to get a Ford or GM OEM that fits you application. I have a couple friends one with a 600hp Mustang and his fan works great even in the staging lanes. He got it out of Thunderbird for half the price of a new fan.

[Restrorob]

Originally Posted by Hazieview

I think I finally found someone that was thinking the same way I am.

Guy's,

You can spend $300 on a fan set-up or $1700, Fact of the matter is.....A $12.00 belt or hose can leave you steaming on the side of the road.

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

Guy's,

You can spend $300 on a fan set-up or $1700, Fact of the matter is.....A $12.00 belt or hose can leave you steaming on the side of the road.

Absolutely true, but I can carry a $12.00 belt and hose in the back of the truck, with ease. I go on long trips with the plan to return home without to much pain, I take along a spare ignition setup and even a starter, just in case. If you go to the 2010 Hot Rod Power Tour photos on the Hot
Rod website, and look in the Birmingham, Alabama stop-- you will find a couple pics of some large guy working under the hood of his black square body in a yellow T-shirt. That was me when my fan control for one of my fans failed---it had a hole in it and it filled up with rain water from around Bowling Green, Ky.. I had the situation solved in a couple of hours and the photographer had his chance to see me at work---so to speak. I will not sit on the side of the road, very long. That also proved to me, that the Be Cool radiator works well without all of the fans working like they should. Now talk about humid and hot, Birmingham was just that.

[Hazieview]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

Absolutely true, but I can carry a $12.00 belt and hose in the back of the truck, with ease.I will not sit on the side of the road, very long.

That also proved to me, that the Be Cool radiator works well without all of the fans working like they should. Now talk about humid and hot, Birmingham was just that.

Good point!

I guess I will have to start another thread. This post didn't go like I had planned...

[Kmart2352]

Originally Posted by 85/05Silverado

i got my aluminum rad from jegs they make a direct fit and universal fit ones they are 2- 1" cores i believe and then i got a 14" electric fan wth aluminum shroud from summit for it 300 for the rad and 160 for the fan/shroud combo

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-381006/
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performan...51910/10002/-1

This set up worked fine for your motor?( what is your motor) Also is the links are exactly what you bought for your truck?

[85/05Silverado]

Originally Posted by Kmart2352

This set up worked fine for your motor?( what is your motor) Also is the links are exactly what you bought for your truck?

my motor is a 395 stroker, 490 hp, i have just installed the fan this winter so i have not had a chance to run it yet but, last sumer i had the motor on that rad with a stock clutch fan with no shroud that didnt exactly sit close to the rad, so a few guys mentioned that i probably wasnt pulling alot of air with that set up , so now this shroud should pull air from the whole rad,
with my old set up the stroker run about 180 consitantly and up to 195 on a hot day in slow heavy traffic
the link for the fan is the one i have as for the rad i ordered just a universal fit one becausle i didnt realize they had a direct fit till after i had ordered,

hope this helps

Stephen