Aluminum Radiator

[Bwmurph]

Hi All,

Have a couple of quick questions on DeWitts Alum rad's: I'm installing one in my '59 and I'm wondering if anyone knows the capacity of one of these radiators. I called DeWitts and 2 different people told me that they didn know (???). I was told by the second guy "It should be a gallon or so more than your copper radiator". I'm not sure what the capacity of the copper radiator is -- I can find out the system capacity (approx 17 qt's) by looking in the Owners Manual or several other places, but I don't know how much is in the block (it's a 350 CID crate motor).


The other question I have is the raditor cap. Again, I asked the guy at DeWitts and he told me "16 - 18 Lbs". That seems a little high to me as the original cap is rated for 7 Lbs.

Thins thing also doen'st fit real well with the stock shroud, but that's another issue that I'm working around. I just hope it cures my overheating / puking problem.

Any help would be appreciated,

Bernie O

 

[Hib Halverson]

You can easily determine the radiator's capacity by capping off the inlets and outlet then filling it to the top with water then draining that water in to some measuring device.

As for the system pressure, the ole 7-psi cap on your old radiator is what you'd want to run on an old car. But with a modern aluminum radiator, new hose clamps and new hoses, you can run a 16-18-lbs system. That will vastly increase the cooling system's performance at higher coolant temperatures.

As for a new radiator curing an overheating problem or "puking" problem, whether or not it will depends on what was causing your cooling problem to begin with.

 

[Bwmurph]

You can easily determine the radiator's capacity by capping off the inlets and outlet then filling it to the top with water then draining that water in to some measuring device.

As for the system pressure, the ole 7-psi cap on your old radiator is what you'd want to run on an old car. But with a modern aluminum radiator, new hose clamps and new hoses, you can run a 16-18-lbs system. That will vastly increase the cooling system's performance at higher coolant temperatures.

As for a new radiator curing an overheating problem or "puking" problem, whether or not it will depends on what was causing your cooling problem to begin with.

Thanks Hib, I just thought an outfit like DeWitts would know what the coolant capacity of their radiators was.

I've got an older crate 350 motor and the car has overheated in the summer in slow traffic for some time now. This year I noticed coolant leaking from somewhere. I think it's the copper radiator, but I can't figure out exactly where. The copper is a replacement that is approx 15 years old, but only about 20K miles.

I'm not sure what exactly is causing the overheating / puking, but if you have any ideas I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Bernie O

 

[Bwmurph]

Well,the new radiator is in and looks good. Biggest PITA was getting the fan shroud back in correctly without tearing up the new radiator. It looks good and appears to work well, although I realy won't know unitl the summer heat hits (sooner the better in my book).

Bernie O

 

[59vette]

I also have a '59 with a '69 350 engine and am having trouble with overheating on 90+ days in traffic & at long red lights. I have a almost new Dewitt's radiator & it's helped a lot, but still have trouble. I'm getting ready to install an electric fan that I also got from Dewitt's. It requires an alternator & I just got it installed. Like you, I won't know if all this will fix my problem until next summer. I will be very interested how yours turns out.

 

[Bwmurph]

59Vette,

Well, you sure have a lot more heat to deal with in the summer than I do -- I used to do a lot of work in the Mansfield area and it could get pretty toasty there in the summer. I'm really hoping the new radiator will help out and I really don't wnat to put a fan on it if I don't have to as I have mine with the stock generator.

I'll let you know how mine works out once summer comes around again -- right now that looks very far away !

Bernie O.

 

[JohnZ]

I just thought an outfit like DeWitts would know what the coolant capacity of their radiators was.

Coolant capacity of a radiator isn't important to cooling performance - what matters is heat rejection capability ("cooling capacity"), and that's what DeWitts is good at; nobody else but DeWitts tests for and publishes BTU's of heat rejection capability.