MG Sports Cars

How many cores are you Mustang radiator guys running and do any of you have AC too?


Thanks

243 views and nobody knows anything?

Most aluminum radiators are two core but 1".

The number of cores is not as important as you might think, after the first core which gets ambient air after that they just get hotter and hotter air. More important is the number of fins to carry the heat away, if you look at an old radiator the fins are probably three times as far apart as on a modern radiator, Due to this in a multi core radiator the back core may be taking hot coolant to the bottom.

Jim that’s exactly why I’m asking. Everyone refers to the “Mustang” radiator but they don’t specify which core version. I spoke with ACP about their 2x1.25” tube vs their 3 x 3/4” tube models and they stated that the 2 was a racing radiator but the 3 core was fine on the street. They stated only a 5-8% difference in efficiency between the two in dyno testing. Those cost $338/ $308 respectively.

Then there are the standard tube size 3 and 4 core eBay radiators that are $107 and $209 respectively.

What I’m asking is; who is running the older stock tube size radiators, who’s running the later designed ones and what are the results.

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There are a number of people using the 65-67 Mustang radiator, Ralph. Some use the original style & some use the modern version. Guess you will have to create you own scorecard to tally the numbers.

Yep Carl they sure do but everyone fails to mention which design or core size which is why I ask.

“Cooling: 64-66 Mustang radiator” doesn’t tell me a whole lot and that the longer version of most folk’s description. There’s simply no numbers to tally.

There are 6 different versions of the “stock” Mustang radiator and nobody says anything about which one they have.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2022 09:03PM by kellysguy.

For what it's worth, I have a 3" thick (not sure how many rows) aluminum radiator similar in size to the Mustang radiators. I have AC & have sat, with the AC on, in 100*F temps for about an hour without over heating.

My son has the 22" Maxx Power that Eastwood sells. It required some frame rail notches to fit.

Both of our cars have Ford 302's. Neither overheats.

If I was considering notching the frame rails I'd just go all the way and do the wide radiator mod.

Jim

Whatever Rob is using is all most of us will ever need. Unless, one is making 500+ horsepower. ;)

I believe Rob's Volvo fan is a big part of the solution.

Sorry Carl but I have to disagree. Can't really base the average on your experience either, but we all know cooling is an issue with this car. If you looked at a period GM with a 300 or 350 cid engine (~150-325 hp typically) you'd invariably see a 17 x 32" crossflow radiator. While that may not be the most obvious starting point for engines below 5L, keep in mind those cars all had very roomy engine bays with lots of space for air circulation, and yet they were invariably fitted with fan shrouds and large capacity engine driven fans. What this tells me is that long term durability required it or they wouldn't have done it. Now a Volvo or Caravan fan may be the equal of the old engine driven fans, maybe, but it really has to be better to overcome restrictions to airflow in this car doesn't it? Right there I think you begin to run into problems and it isn't a big one but it gets added to the others.

Frontal area is next. Sure, the Mustang radiator was fine with the 289 in the Mustang. It's not likely to perform equally well in the MGB though due to airflow and placement. It'll be fine for most motors but all I'm saying is that if you already have to cut the frame to mount it there is an option that lets you retain the integrity of the front bumper while eliminating any cooling issues in the future. And high capacity Mustang radiators are not exactly cheap. Cheap ones are not exactly high capacity.

Finally, it's my opinion that none of these radiators are going to give 100% satisfaction without a properly designed surge tank engineered to keep the heads and the radiator filled with coolant under all conditions. This is a known problem due to the low radiator placement and must be addressed. Coolant level in the system must remain well above the level of the coolant passages in the heads at all times and under all conditions. This includes downhill braking and rapid throttle transitions which create fluctuations in the pump output among others. Add those concerns to the others and it's easy to see that the Mustang radiator may not always be adequate even for engines well below a 500 hp output, maybe even below 150hp under some conditions.

Jim

Whatever Rob is using down in the heat of South Texas and running an A/C, is more than enough for East TN.

Probably. But as we've seen, for reasons we don't seen to fully understand some engines, even within the same engine family just seem to need more cooling than others. It's generally cheaper and easier than swapping the engine to upgrade the radiator.

Jim