LT5 Cooling and Radiators

[Dynomite]

Fit is usually not an issue.
Negatives are cost and installation albiet cleaning a stock radiator is as labor intensive as installing NEW.

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Fit is usually not an issue.
Negatives are cost and installation albiet cleaning a stock radiator is as labor intensive as installing NEW.

Nothing else?

longer to reach operating temp? nothing out side the norm of a mod..cost, install, etc)

[Dynomite]

Same time to reach operating temperature (thermostat has not opened to radiator).

No Mods other than........ Shave 1/2 inch inside fan baffles for Ron Davis.

Install of New Radiator identical to re-installation of stock radiator after cleaning.

[edram454]

When I send out my car for engine refinishing in August I will be installing a champion 3 core aluminum. When I had my supercharged c5 I swapped in a Mishimoto 3 core radiator and that thing worked great. It looked great and after a little trimming it fit great. My car always ran cool after that swap. that radiator cost me 200.00. Mishimoto is a japanese maker of auto parts used alot by drifter car owners. I know Ron Davis and DeWitts are top of the line quality but they area also expensive. I will take my chances with the champion unit and report how it performs.

ed ramos #3028

[Hib Halverson]

Some results of my cooling test last Saturday in the Indio California area.

Outside air temp was 110-112°F
A/C on all the time. Highest coolant temp I saw when idling or driving in traffic was 208°
Once I entered Interstate 10, cruising at 75-80 in sixth, A/C on the ECT went down to 192°.
As the outside air temp, dropped below 100°, the ECT began to drop as well.

I have a Fluidyne radiator, a nine-tube Fluidyne oil cooler and use straight water for coolant.

[-=Jeff=-]

I have a champion 3 core sitting in the garage. I might install it this winter

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by Hib Halverson

Some results of my cooling test last Saturday in the Indio California area.

Outside air temp was 110-112°F
A/C on all the time. Highest coolant temp I saw when idling or driving in traffic was 208°
Once I entered Interstate 10, cruising at 75-80 in sixth, A/C on the ECT went down to 192°.
As the outside air temp, dropped below 100°, the ECT began to drop as well.

I have a Fluidyne radiator, a nine-tube Fluidyne oil cooler and use straight water for coolant.

Good stuff there Hib

That is within 5 deg F of my readings with Ron Davis but then again you are 10 deg Hotter Ambient....and several other differences I am sure

But very close in Coolant Performance....Oh.....I did not say it but I am running a mix of distilled water and green antifreeze which I think your water wetter and straight water will prolly get you a bit cooler

I have a Fluidyne (not sure exactly which one) that was in a 1990 ZR1. I removed that Fluidyne and installed a Ron Davis moving that Fluidyne over to another 1990 replacing its stock radiator.

It gets complicated

You want to have some fun.......see LT5 Cooling for Autocross

Originally Posted by -=Jeff=-

I have a champion 3 core sitting in the garage. I might install it this winter

Why wait....do it now
I will tell you about my new fool proof Coolant Re-fill technique that assures NO air within the Coolant System when you are done Re-filling with Coolant

[FU]

Originally Posted by -=Jeff=-

I have a champion 3 core sitting in the garage. I might install it this winter

Install the Champion radiator. They work great !

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by FU

Install the Champion radiator. They work great !

Yeah I need to start a list for inter already.. LOL

not doing anything unless I NEED to this summer

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Good stuff there Hib

That is within 5 deg F of my readings with Ron Davis but then again you are 10 deg Hotter Ambient....and several other differences I am sure

But very close in Coolant Performance....Oh.....I did not say it but I am running a mix of distilled water and green antifreeze which I think your water wetter and straight water will prolly get you a bit cooler

I have a Fluidyne (not sure exactly which one) that was in a 1990 ZR1. I removed that Fluidyne and installed a Ron Davis moving that Fluidyne over to another 1990 replacing its stock radiator.

It gets complicated

There was only one Fluidyne which fit all late C4s (i.e.: anything with the tilted back radiator) and that's the one I developed with Jim Van Dorn's help.

Actually, we did all the hot weather testing in Palm Desert working out of Jim's old shop. We did that in September and the OAT then was actually even hotter than it was in Indio last Saturday–115° stick in my mind, but I'll have to confirm that. We tested on CA SR74 going uphill at about 8/10s. You can find SR74 on Google Maps by looking for the junction between US 111 and CA SR74. Once that road get curvy on the west side of Palm Desert is where we tested. The locals call it "7-level hill". Running the engine that hard, believe it or not, had lower ECT because the RPMs were up in the area where the system actually cools better, however, our sustained rpm was not so high that the coolant bypass became a problem.

I made a lot of posts to the ZR-1 Net back then explaining the Fludiyne design and how we tested it. Back then, our target competitor was the Ron Davis. I don't know what Davis sells now, but back then his radiator for late C4s was not a bolt-in and required fabrication work to fit.

The Fluidyne not only cooled better than what Ron Davis was selling at the time, but it dropped right in the stock cooling stack.

I'll look around in my several 1TB hard drives to see if I have any of that old stuff.

Also, if there's anyone here who knows how to research old ZR1Net posts from the 1998-1999 period, you may find my discussions of the Fluidyne.