Heeey, lookie here what I found! Aluminum Radiator for our trucks

[f-two-fiddy]

With all the talk of additional cooling during the last few hot mo's. I stumbled across a Be Cool Aluminum radiator application for 84 6.9ltr. @ Summit

Be Cool

 

[gandalf]

They seem very specific that this will fit only '83 and '84 for the 6.9 engine. They list some gassers also, but we're not too interested in them. Why only those two years? Did something change with model year '85? I would have thought it would have fit at least as long as the 6.9 was there, and most likely longer. Why those two years only?

Also, perhaps somebody could give us a primer on radiators. This is a two row core crossflow, right? Is this better than our normal and traditional four row verticle? Somebody educate me, please.

 

[Camarogenius]

Cross flow is generally considered better than vertical flow radiators. Simply, because the horizontal flow causes the coolant to travel farther before it goes back into the engine. I don't see enough of a difference to spend a bunch of money on a cross flow radiator.
As to the Two row Vs. four row core.
I see some trouble here. The more rows, the more coolant can come into contact with the cooling surface inside the core. Even if the rows in the two row are twice the size of the rows in the four row, it's still not as good as the four core. It doesn't do any good to pass twice as much coolant through a larger tube, if the coolant doesn't come into contact with the side of the tube, so it can transfer it's heat to the cooling fins.
I cetainly wouldn't spent money on a radiator with less rows.
Now onto the "Electralisys" between aluminum and Iron. When general motors made the switch to aluminum radiators, they also went to that damned orange "dexcool" anti freeze. It didn't really help the problem much, but it kept the cooling system alive until the warrantee ran out. Ask someone who's torn into a cooling system that's had the orange crap in it for a couple years. they'll tell you all about big globs of orange "Snot" that comes plopping out of the bottom of the radiator. This is Iron Oxide. Rust.
The only way to prevent this is to run very expensive waterless coolants. This Idea runs head on into the SCA issue.
The short answer is Keep the Brass and Copper radiator you've got.

 

[sle2115]

Cross flow is generally considered better than vertical flow radiators. Simply, because the horizontal flow causes the coolant to travel farther before it goes back into the engine. I don't see enough of a difference to spend a bunch of money on a cross flow radiator.
As to the Two row Vs. four row core.
I see some trouble here. The more rows, the more coolant can come into contact with the cooling surface inside the core. Even if the rows in the two row are twice the size of the rows in the four row, it's still not as good as the four core. It doesn't do any good to pass twice as much coolant through a larger tube, if the coolant doesn't come into contact with the side of the tube, so it can transfer it's heat to the cooling fins.
I cetainly wouldn't spent money on a radiator with less rows.
Now onto the "Electralisys" between aluminum and Iron. When general motors made the switch to aluminum radiators, they also went to that damned orange "dexcool" anti freeze. It didn't really help the problem much, but it kept the cooling system alive until the warrantee ran out. Ask someone who's torn into a cooling system that's had the orange crap in it for a couple years. they'll tell you all about big globs of orange "Snot" that comes plopping out of the bottom of the radiator. This is Iron Oxide. Rust.
The only way to prevent this is to run very expensive waterless coolants. This Idea runs head on into the SCA issue.
The short answer is Keep the Brass and Copper radiator you've got.

Several things can be done in two row radiators that make them have better cooling abilities. They generally have very wide rows (1 to 1 1/2 inches wide is the norm) that are thin and have a much surface area as two or even three regular rows (I have no idea as to the construction of this particular one). I had a single core B-Cool in a 700 HP S10, it was a single core 1 1/2 inch and was the same size as the 4 cylinder S10 radiator, yet kept that thing cool with no problems, and by cool, I mean under 200 degrees.

GM did not make the switch to aluminum radiators as the same time they started using Dexcool. I had a 1983 Cavalier and and 1983 Celebrity, both had aluminum radiators and Dexcool hadn't even been thought of at that point. One thing that was common, GM went to plastic tanks on their aluminum radiators, which were great while they worked (I never had a failure) but did have a tendency to separate after a few good overheatings, key - don't overheat your vehicle.

Crossflow is also much more effective at cooling. The length of the tubes can also attribute to more surface area, which was noted, and everyone I know that played with street rods switched to crossflow for increased cooling (most were driving Chevies and already had it, but my Ford buddies looked for cross flow cores that would fit their Fords as well).

 

[sign_man]

I have a Becool in my 66 Mustang that works very well. IIRC, the aluminum two row, having larger tubes than brass radiators, has more surface area than a brass 4 row. The tubes in the brass radiators are small because they can't take the pressure if they were made as large as aluminum radiator tubes.

 

[sle2115]

I have a Becool in my 66 Mustang that works very well. IIRC, the aluminum two row, having larger tubes than brass radiators, has more surface area than a brass 4 row. The tubes in the brass radiators are small because they can't take the pressure if they were made as large as aluminum radiator tubes.

Yep, that is how all the BeCools I have installed looked. I just saw one with 2 1/4 inch wide rows! Talk bout some surface area!!!

 

[The Warden]

Based on the picture, that looks like the "wide" radiator to me, that some people have described as having on their trucks. IIRC Mel's one of them, with a wide radiator in the Moose.

But...IIRC, the diesel and g@$ radiators on these Fords are completely different from one another. I'm guessing that Summit Racing has it wrong, and that radiator won't fit a diesel at all. If the picture is any indication, the hose nipples are in the wrong spot for a diesel...