I wanted to bounce this idea off of everyone to see what they thought. I have 2 radiators from 4 cyl pintos. Is it feasable to drill holes in the back of one and solder the inlet and outlest of the other into the first to create a larger overall radiator? Just a question. Griffin has an aluminum radiator that is 19"H x 22"W x 3"thick that should work for $189 so that would probably be the better route to take. Any thoughts / comments. Thanks.
I am working this radiator thing out myself. I am using a v6 radiator with two 10 inch fans and I think I am going to add a booster core. But my dilemma was not wanting to chop up the front framework to get a unit to fit correctly(or at least my interpretation of correctly). Keep your eye on how far forward your fan pulley is. This will require the radiator to be moved back. Good question!!!!!!
High Horse,
I have been closely following your progress ;D and am most appreciative of your pics :angel:. I saw a V10 swap into a Dodge Challenger performed a few year back that utilized a diesel truck radiator, something like 26 quarts :o of coolant. Looking at the 2 rads front to back, there should be enough room to install both with some creativity and a gentle touch with a saws-all but leaving the top support intact. I am wondering if the rads could be mounted close enough to each other to allow sufficient airflow to be pushed over both. Some rubber insulation could be added to bridge the gap between the two to facilitate airflow. Another aspect I have be pondering is how quickly the water would be able to flow into the "outside" raidator. What I mean is that the water would have to flow into both and out through the "inside" (closest to the engine) one. Since water will take the path of least resistance would there be sufficient coolant flow rate through the "outside" rad or would it just fill up and remain full ???? The heat transfer characteristics of both rads would be the same since they are the same material and the coolant volume for heat transfer would certainly be increased (doubled from stock) which should be enough for the V8 (Q=mc(Th-Tc)). It is certainly feasable to construct this type of heat exchanger but from an engineering standpoint (not monetary) it would seem the most reliable and tested alternative would be the aluminum heat exchanger. True, the copper has better heat dissipation, but the aluminum has more fins per inch and is already constructed and ready to bolt in with some of the same mods required to facilitate the installation of my "dual radiator" design. BTW, Summit has a shorty style water pump for the small block that is 1.5" shorter than stock. I intend on using this one - did you use it on your swap? I think you had something like 3/8" clearance? Just my thoughts on the subject. Any ideas? Thanks!!!!
High Horse, I used a V6 radiator when I installed a 5.0 HO in my '74 'StangII. Going down the road it was just fine, however, "cruising" was hard on it. I raced it at Bristol Dragway & the staging lanes were ALMOST too much for it. I tried both dual electric fans & a single flex fan. The radiator was right on the edge as far as size goes. More capacity wasn't the answer either, I added a one gal. overflow which allowed me to maintain a constant level, but not a good temp. The rad needed just a LITTLE more area. If you plan on doing any "cruises" in "Thunder Pinto" I'd reccommend just a touch more radiator.
GearHead440......Man if you have the talent to stick two 4 cyl. radiators together in a parallel configuration like you say I think the water pump will have no problem pushing it through fairly evenly as long as flow is high(like with no thermostat). Some may argue that the faster the fluid is moving the less Btu's are blown off. I disagree and say that BTU'S know no velocity. The configuration you speak of would certainly allow you to use a lesser fan(aka..amp.draw) provided
that you dammed the edges like you said. But you would have to dam the first radiator outside of the circumferance of the fan as not to get a backdraft. Also, the first radiator would act as a diffuser and push air 100% more effectivly though the in.\2 of the second. I still would like to see how you would fit this unit in even with a 1.5 inch shorter pump nose. Also, do the people that sell that shorter water pump sell a pulley to go with it? Cause it will change my pulley alignment. Yes. my pulley to radiator seperation right now is about 1/2 inch.
Take a pic if you can. I am intreged.
CrazyHorse.......You are so right! I can tell right now that this thing is right on the line. And, as a first time user of electric fanning I did not expect the amp. draw to be so high. 25 amps. for a 10 inch fan???????????? is that right????? That's 50 amps for the two fans. That does not leave much for the headlites. Anyway,I really did not want to chop the front end up and as you can see from my picture it is a tidy little package. What did you do CrazyHorse? What is your configuration? Pics???????
High Horse,
The shorter pump does require special pulleys that are made by ford racing - check out summitracing.com :). As far as the two raidiators, I could create either a 2 pass heat exchanger system or parallel system. The 2 pass would be taking water from the pump, putting it thru the inlet of the outside radiator, connecting the outlet of the outside radiator to the inlet of the inside radiator, and then connecting the outlet of the inside radiator to the suction of the pump. The split pass would be similar to y-ing exhaust piping. The outlet of the pump goes into the inlet of both rads and the outlet of both rads will y into a common pipe for the suction of the pump. The latter would be the best IMO for coolant piping routing and distribution providing that the suction draws equally on both rads. Both would double the volume of the coolant system. As far as flow rate vs. heat exchange goes, for lower heat generation levels, with the specific heat capacity of water, you can have too large of a coolant flow rate to adequately remove heat. That is why nuclear power plants that operate at differing power levels have pumps with more than one speed (this is associated with my day job). However, in this type of application I dont think you will see a signficant change in the coolant flow rate between a "stock" and "high" flow pump to create a lot of difference. The most significant variable in this application is the volume of coolant and the heat removal rate of the heat exchanger system. This is a case of bigger, and more efficient, is better. With the experience of Crazy Horse, I'm almost certain of using an aluminum rad as mine will be a daily driver with lots of road miles. I'm sure I can design it and make it work, but why re-invent the wheel for this one ;)?
Looking at Summit, they have a Griffin radiator, aluminum, 19"H x 22"W x 3" thick, GRI-1-26182-X, $189, that matches the inlet and outlet locations of the Mustang II Radiator. The stock MII V8 rad. is 16..5"H x 23"W x 2.25" thick, and about $325 from RadiatorBarn.com, BTW. Summit also has a 16" reversible electric fan, 10 "S" blades, part number SUM-G4904, 16"W x 4" Deep, 2010cfm, 13.2 Amp draw for $81. I think that this is the route that I will be taking based on input from Crazy Horse and High Horse. I'll keep you guys posted :D.
I don't still own the 'stang but I took my v6 rad & had it recored to a 4 row at a local radiator shop. After that I went back from the flex fan to a 12" electric (around 27A draw)
As far as electrical... I had to upgrade my 'Stang's alt to a 100A unit I was using the EEC-IV Injection & dual fuel pumps... add an electric fan to this & the poor lil original alt. is OVERWHELMED I could run the wipers,& lights but NOT the defroster or radio... add either one & the engine would die from low fuel pressure.
If you're thinking I had a frustrating time with this 'Stang... you're right, but it all took place over a 6mo span. After that I drove it for almost 5 years trouble free. Finally a conn rod came thru the block. (hey I was beating on a Dodge Stealth R/T when it happened!!)
bump this back to the top to see how things are going. i have tried just about every thing i can think of but still can not get it to run under 190 when moving and 210 sitting at a light.i am using the v8 mustang 2 rad.
Hey Kidpinto....Do you have some pics of your installation ? I would really like to see what you did. Also, what temp thermostat are you using?
High_Horse
eeeek, no!
conect the lower rad hose on rad #1 to the upper rad host on rad #2
I am swapping a SWEET hot little 289 and top loader close ratio in my 1980 coupe this winter she is a 66 Hipo with 1.94 intake and 1.6 exhaust valves it is a 12.7 to one engine, with an Erson mechanical cam. I put this engine together in the Early 1990's before aluminum heads were affordable so I went the porting polishing route. As for induction, it is a Shelby high rise with a pair of 600 holleys on a progressive factory linkage I built a custom bell housing from an aluminum factory bell and a Mustang T-5 bell I removed the fork added an aluminum tab to the fork side of the bell I out the ball on the opposite side of the bell and now it uses a fork from the T-5 with a cable it is really a slick set up! Fly wheel is a motorsport 10.5 inch clutch is centerofrce for a t-5 Starter is for a thunderbird with a c-4 auto and it runs perfect ( I have it on a custom break in stand now man it was nice to hear this thing run again!) Oil pan is a Cobra II
For a radiator I did measuring and found that with only a little cut on each side of the factory core support and installing from the FRONT of the core a 67 mustang radiator fits perfectly! These were already made for the heat of a V-8 and they are CHEAP
I have not had it running in the car yet, but it fits, you can still use the hood latch and it should be a perfect cooing radiator for the combination
My only dilemma now is the hood, who makes a 2 inch cowl hood for a 1979-0 car?
Any input would be great
Try and Find a rad out of a mid 90;s Ford Explorer..
Some of these came with 5.0 and 4.0 engines..
tryed a L88 b/b rad works good for me 190thermostat runs 190 all day long george
When i find a wagon in decent shape for the right price im going to put in a 302. It sounds like alot of fun. I'll likly be using a MII Radiator, and id like an electric fan but it sounds as tho that might not be the best of an idea. Although, if you look around you can find a fan with lower amp draw that has higher CFM's. Last one i saw that satisfied me was $200 i think.
I did some digging and discovered that at 78 Datsun 280z rad and a 78 Mustang II rad are essentially the same radiator with almost identical dimensions. The difference is that the inlet and outlets are opposite between the radiators. Look at my reply in the FAQ's forum under v8 swap questions for 74-80 pintos. New, the 280z rad is about 1/3 the price of a Mustang II V8 radiator, too :surprised:.
Have a mustang II and a pinto, both v8 and don't have any overheating problems. Never climbs above 180 degrees at the strip or at an idle. Found a radiator from a 1964 oldsmobile. One is a three core and the other a four core. Trimmed the edges of the vehicle metal back to the inner fender support skirt. (The metal that the regular radiator bolts to) Then built a "C" shaped bracket of channel the width of the frame for the radiators to rest on. Coushin the channel with rubber radiator support material. Lowered the hood on the radiator setting in the channel and closed the hood on the project. Pushed up on the bottom of the channel till the radiator cap rested against the hood. Marked the channel then drilled and bolted it to the frame. The top of the radiator will accept the radiator supports that you pulled from the 62 to 64 Olds radiator removal. Drilled a hole and bolted it to the top of the crossmember from top of fenderskirt to top of fenderskirt. Dimpled the inner support for the hood (Dimple does not show on outside of hood. In inner hood support only) and closed the lid. The water spouts are perfect in position for any ford smallblock. Had a built 351 W in the mustang II for awhile and it never climbed above 180 either. The first time I did this project, it took about five hours. The pinto project took about 2hrs. Of course I learned from the mustang II and did the pinto with the engine out. I kept the orginal fan and didn't bother with an electric. I have friends that use this same concept with the radiator but use and electric fan. They love to shut down the fan on the track. The told me that heating up the motor to 230 degrees just before launch brings out a beast. I tried it once and was impressed! Lots of luck.
I would not get this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ford-mustang-II-and-pinto-V8-radiator_W0QQitemZ8037870377QQcategoryZ33602QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I have seen a few MII v8 cars and I installed a radiator from one in my pinto, they are not a direct bolt-in to a pinto (this one does not look like any I have seen, but maybe it is, and will do what he said).
I sent him a question about that detail: "Some people do install mustang II v8 radiators in pintos (like me), but they are not a 'bolt-in', and parts need to be fabricated. You might know this already, but if not, I wanted to let you know because someone with a pinto might buy it and not be happy (with you) to find that out after. Hope this helps. Bill (77tp)"
He repied: "this has been bolted in no parts needed except bolts , i know what i am saying, howard" (no further mention of what car it was bolted into)
A few minutes after that reply to me, he pulled the listing.
Please note again, that there are lots of people out there that lie to pinto owners just to sell Mustang II V8 parts that will NOT "bolt in" as advertized. Adding the word 'pinto' to show up on more searches is one thing, to lie in detail about what it will fit is another. If you are in doubt about what will and won't work, please ask someone other than the seller before you buy.
Bill
77turbo, thanks for the information. I did lots of measuring and trial fitting with other larger radiators than the MII size just to see how much room was available and what it was going to take :read:. The MII radiator is certainly not a bolt in, nor am I trying to say that. Since the MII worked for the V8 and I knew the dimensions that was my starting point. I chose the Datsun 280z rad because of the similarity and price :idea:. Thanks for looking out for us.
d_ thanks for the insight on the olds radiator ;)!
alloy is better but use only green aint freeze in it.
or the rad will give up because of acid wayne