I'm building a 500+ hp 445 stroker, and took the old rad to a local shop to have it inspected/tested.

The old rad came out of an F250 I had and it has a three row copper/brass core. When I told them I wanted it checked because I was putting it in front of a 500+ hp engine they said it needed a new core to handle the heat - I think they recommended a TK or TQ core (can't remember). The first ball park was over $400, but the final quote came back in at $750.

I'm thinking that I might as well look at an aftermarket aluminum rad. Any suggestions for fit and quality?

 

This is IMHO........

I know many seem to be under the impression (marketing) that aluminum construction by itself will enhance cooling, there is a little more to it than that...and in many instances buyers are actually comparing apples to oranges when comparing a copper core spec to an aluminum spec radiator. US Radiator has a nice vid on their site that yeah, it does talk about the company a bit, but also talks about Copper vs aluminum & gives a good presentation of design limitations. US Radiator has been around for 40+ years. The guy who presently owns it started working there 30 years ago and with the exception of 1 or 2 items, everything is built at their facility. They are also great to talk with on the phone and if you tell them exactly what you have, what are your concerns or wants, they will tell you exactly what to order. I don’t know of anyone (including the racing community) who has not been pleased with them!

Link: U.S. Radiator | The Difference Is In The Tooling

US Radiator Corporation
4423 District Boulevard
Vernon, California
323-826-0965

When I needed a new radiator for my 1997 Cougar Sport (4.6 V8), I called US Rad and unfortunately the car was "too new", and they recommended:

Radiator Express
RadiatorExpress.com | Radiators for Sale
Irvine, CA
866-723-3977

I was extremely impressed with the answers to my questions......they specialize in OE replacement units which of course much is imported...the great thing is that they track installer comments and based on that, they ID which mfg radiator they recommend. The one I received was a Modine, made in mexico.....the Q/A was every bit of oem!

Champion, AE IIRR correctly are all Chinese made.......now I’m not going to say just because it's Chinese made its junk...it’s not, but there are a lot of issues with them........example...
Assuming all of the seam are properly welded (they have their moments when pre-mature failure- pinholes- occur), cooling is more than the number of tubes or material, its number of fins versus number & size of tubes....i.e. rate of flow and the amount of heat that can be exchanged in a specific amount of time.......many times these units are cheaper because they do not have an adequate number of fins......
Quality of welds........typically poor and pinholes start showing at the 5-8 year mark
Corrosion (internal).....almost all American radiators (aluminum) have or have as an option (and usually recommend if not already permanently installed) an anode- basically acts as a sacrificial lamb for electrolysis based corrosion (very, very predominant with aluminum radiators, water pumps) and helps keep the ph level neutral. Without this, I have seen a host of promulgated failures including radiator, hoses, water pumps, head gaskets, thermostat covers- where the material is literally eaten away because of electrolysis.

 

Call U.S. Radiator and discuss your setup with them. I believe they can set you up with their best for around $650. They have the best reputation that I've found. I've had good luck with a Griffin on another vehicle, but it was built 10 years ago, I hear things have changed there. On my crew I'm running a Brice Thomas aluminum, made here in AL. It cools very well but sprang a leak after 2 years, my local radiator shop patched it up. I tried one of the lifetime warranted 3 row units made in Mexico units, it ran 2 years and the top tank started leaking.

If I have anymore problems I'm calling U.S. radiator. I think I've spent real close to the cost of their units with a lot more headaches.

Modine used to be a great company but they've been bought out. I forget who bought them but I couldn't find any of the replacement type radiators that wasn't made at one of two radiator plants in Mexico.

 

Ok, I agree with the folks above, but......
I'm gonna tell my experience.
I bought a $200 Champion aluminum radiator in 2009.

No leaks, no problems, no issues, no fan shroud, tiny bs stock fan and I've never seen over 190 degrees with a decent 390.

If I had to buy another today, I would do so with confidence.

 

<p>$750 for a recore?</p><p>These trucks were made for hauling, and if anything will generate a lot of heat, just get an old 360 pulling a few tons plus the truck and the stock radiators (with a shroud) did rather well...</p><p>A simple recore with as many rows as possible should be just fine. That's what I did with my 390, and on the hottest days, pushing it off-road, I never had a problem.</p><p>I can't imagine a 445 stroker putting out all that much heat unless you're racing it for long periods of time.</p><p>But what do I know, I could be wrong </p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

I was surprised at the price, but he was recommending a very high end, very dense core.

I think the argument in favour of aluminum is largely economic. It works well, is stronger than copper so you can make the tubes larger, and copper is very expensive these days.

Based on some feedback here and on the FEPower forum, I think I'll have my current rad checked and cleaned up and put it back. My driving season up hear is coming to an end, so I'll just get the engine in and do a break in, then put it away till spring.

 

I'm using a stock 3 core radiator that I had the shop clean last summer. Even with the new 445 I have no issues with it and I just put my 37" tires back on.

 

I wound up doing the same thing. Had it tanked, tested, and painted for $30. I'll consider electric fans in the spring. Right now trying to get all the parts to finish it so I can put it in and get it on a dyno before I put it away for the winter.

 

I can't bring myself to go to the dyno lol. I think I'd rather not know if it's a dog. As long as I can get mine set the way I like it I think I'll be happy.

 

I dyno'd it with the 410, and what the hell. I'll use the dyno to get the timing and carb set up right, and I'm into it pretty deep so I might as well know.

 

I can relate to being in deep. Id love to build another one but not for a little while.

 

You can appreciate how I felt - I took the headers in to have them ceramic coated, and the rad to the shop and the guy is suggesting a $750 re-core. The headers will cost around $200, so I'm at almost another grand on top of what I already have in it and I'm not done yet.

Very happy to spend $25 instead. Just want to shred some tires before I put her away for the winter.