Aluminium Radiator

[Bernard]

I have just purchased an aluminium radiator made to the same pattern as the fiat X19 unit.....apparently having given all the information to the supplier he says that with this radiator there should be a decrease in running temperature of approximately 10 degrees C (i run 3000 V6 alfa which has always appeared to run very hot)........i will report when i have installed at a later date.

The radiator itself was made by :-
AH Fabrications
Unit 6H
Thorn Business Park
Rotherwas
Hereford
HR2 6JT

Tel 01432 354 704
Fax 01432 359 762

It didnt come cheap (£340.00 inc VAT and Del) but it appears to be very well made...heres hoping !!

another item is the weight difference...the original fiat unit is approx 8kg and the new aluminium one is 4.1kg..........this either means better acceleration or terminal understeer !!!!!:rolleyes:

Bernard

[roger001]

This is one option to try and cope with the borderline cooloing of the 3l V6 with a rad designed to cope originaly with a with a 1300.

I have found that for road use the standard rad works well so long as it has a fairly new core, but for racing I have gone down the alternative avenue of enlarging the standard rad by having a 3 row core fitted rather than the original 2 row core, which in theory should provide 50% extra cooling surface. Only time will tell, it certaily is effective when stationary and the fans are turned on but dealing with more severe stresses - well I'll have to wait and see.

I believe others have even resorted to a four row core.

[ANDYG]

Has anyone tried "Water Wetter" from the Red Line Group, it's claimed to reduce coolant temperatures by a "whopping 30%" (their claim, not mine). It sounds like the answer to all our prayers!:)

[guy mayers]

The biggest ever improvement I got for lowering the water temperature was by ducting the air that comes in through the grill through the radiator! There is usually a huge gap over the top of the radiator where the panel shuts and air will take the easiest route every time. Bond a closing panel to the underside of the panel and fit the edge with a rubber seal that closes against the front (not the top) of the rad. Air can also get around the sides of the radiator but small panels stuck to the front sides of the radiator should stop this. There may be a small gap underneath as well but this can be sealed with a piece of rubber. Try, you'll be amazed how effective it is.
(my car has the Alfa V6 plus standard 1500 X1.9 rad fittted with two Monte Carlo cooling fans, with the override switched on the engine just gets colder and colder sat in traffic)
Guy

[Sando]

Originally posted by ANDYG
Has anyone tried "Water Wetter"

This is something I'll be trying first if (when) I have any problems. I can do without another £350 Quid bill!

There are some good comments posted earlier about this in the Overheating in general thread
:cool:

[lpriestland]

I agree with Guy, on my seven replica the radiator easily coped with hard right foot action AFTER I'd ducted/forced the air through the radiator. I guess most of the air takes the easy option around rather than through the core.

On my Strat I'm definitely not going to have any cooling probs as Pace have supplied me a monster 4 core unit that looks too good to use. The core has already been replaced and the car hasn't run yet! - an early Sunday morning incident with the jack saw to my first rad, sob, sob.

[Bernard]

Sorry forgot to report the fitting and running of the ally radiator !!

the radiator was copied from a fiat x19 rad together with a drawing and it was made exactly as i wanted it

the engine now runs at about 70 to 75 degrees at 80ish mph on warm 25 degree days

should anyone wish to go down this route give me a call and i will forward a drawing to save you doing it again

definitely one of the best purchases to date !

Bernard

[David May]

Sounds great - but if my engine was only running 75C I would be worried about a duff thermostat - does it never warm up!?

Dave May

[guy mayers]

That's about what mine runs on a standard (but recored) Fiat X1.9 radiator. Push the car up to 90mph and the temp creeps up to 80, half way across the gauge. Stop moving, put the twin Monte Carlo rad fans on and it just gets cooler without revving the engine. Of course, the gauge could be lying to me but it doesn't get stroppy and throw it's water out! Now all I need is to find out how hot the oil gets......
Guy

[Bernard]

Sounds great - but if my engine was only running 75C I would be worried about a duff thermostat - does it never warm up!?[FONT=courier new]

Thermostat is fine but having spent the last couple of years driving everywhere with my fingers crossed hoping the car doesnt boil over this radiator is a big relief.............one question that never seems to get answered is...how is it that we can all build cars with very similar specifications but all end up with a different set of problems ?????

On the oil temp/pressure theme i also get higher oil pressure...well anything is better than nothing !...and lower oil temp of course

Cheers

Bernard:D

[David May]

There is a whole lot of mix-and-match going on with the gauges and sensors in these cars. Apart from the obvious inaccuracy of analogue instruments (pretty awful from new, let alone after 25 years!), not all sensors are equal! I wonder how many other people really have a true figure for their oil and water temperatures?

Dave May

[Stratos]

If the temperature guage on my Allora reaches 80, then I know the engine is boiling!!!

My mappable ECU has a temperature readout which is accurate.
I connected my laptop to the ECU, and from that, I determined that my temperature guage gets more and more inaccurate as temperature increases

[chris.richard]

Originally posted by David May
There is a whole lot of mix-and-match going on with the gauges and sensors in these cars. Apart from the obvious inaccuracy of analogue instruments (pretty awful from new, let alone after 25 years!), not all sensors are equal! I wonder how many other people really have a true figure for their oil and water temperatures?



I don't normally suggest this to patients, but why don't you take your sensor out and dip it in boiling water? Then we'll know where 100 degrees is on the guage?

[guy mayers]

If anyone needs an electric fan for the X1.9 radiator I have a pair that will bolt straight on to the studs on the radiator. They are from a couple of dead Monte Carlos and I have a pair fitted to my car, Alfa V6, which can sit in traffic all day, fans overridden and it just gets cooler.
Email me if you're interested.
Guy

[guy mayers]

I've also got a stainless steel expansion tank from the Fiat X1.9 1300 that works with the Alfa engine to which easily available high pressure caps can be fitted. Polishes up nicley as well!
Email as usual!
Guy