Radiator electric fan combos??
- Thread starter Doug Chahoy
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good thing my engine doesnt have a profile here on gbodyforum or else she'd eat u up for speaking like that 😒 lol, so real question here, should I just wait until september-ish because I already have a 350 on the side which i'm buying parts for lil by lil but the swap itself won't be happening anytime soon... so I'd figure why not just get the electric fan setup in the mean time.... summer time gets REAL hot out here man haha, I wouldn't wanna risk much for the time being.
another vote for the Fbody radiator and dual fan combination. although mines a 3rd gen (out of a 88). Has kept my 403 cool.
Aluminum dissipates heat far more efficiently than copper. I use a Champion 2 row for my 350 hp sbc in my 80 Cutlass with a single 16" electric fan. Stays cool as a cucumber. During summer nights cruising it often drops down to just over the thermostat temp. Fan set at 195* on 185* off never runs while on the open road or light traffic. It only comes on in stop and go traffic.
Radiator hoses may be an issue, 3.8 uses a 20" radiator core and for a V8 you want the 26" core.
The radiator is the Champion replacement radiator for an 88 firebird with a V8 and auto transmission. I got the fans off the same year car, but ended up not using the fbody brackets and making my own. So really any junkyard fans off a later LT1 B-body, F-body, even the saturn and pontiac models used the same fans.
The 3rd gen Camaro/Firebird rad is the same size as the G body V8 rad. The trans cooler lines are in a slightly different position. The Dodge Stratus fans also fit and cool very well. The Champion 2 core with 1" tubes is the one you want. Actually Copper/Brass is more efficient but much heavier and more fragile, hence the smaller tube size. Why people buy the small core aluminum rads is beyond me. Airflow through a large 2 core will no doubt be much better as well.
In my 78 Pontiac Grand Lemans I installed the same fans that are installed on the 2006 BMW M5 made by SPAL. Both are powered my a 2-relay setup and temp-controlled via a sensor installed in the left cylinderhead port between the exhaust ports. It improved the situation a lot, but I think I could step it up by changing the radiator from a 3 row copper/brass to a 4row copper/brass, or install an aluminium radiator with a larger core, because the car still tends to overheat in summer.
Get a large 2 core aluminum with 1" or larger tubes with good reviews and don't look back.
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