I think they're great - as long as I am the first one in line! Every light is a WOT launch opportunity.

 

Good call on the 4 core. A guy on the G body site has a 10 to 1 403 with the Champion 4 core rad. He has never gone above 180, I believe. The A body rad has a 2" wider core, so it should be even better. Put a new extreme duty clutch and fix the missing part of the air dam.

 

Lol, I never thought about it that way. Bring on the lights!

I didn't like the HD clutch I had on the fan originally. It roared all the time. I'll stick with the clutch that's on there now (it's only three years old) and see how it does.
All the dams are in place. I thought one was missing on the trans line side but it's there.

I'm wondering if I should pull off the extra trans cooler and just go with what the radiator provides. Right now I have them daisy-chained. Maybe I should make some spacers so the cooler isn't right up against the condenser.

 

I actually just run the auxiliary cooler but used the factory Champion trans cooler along with an auxiliary cooler on the Olds powered 4x4. I actually stayed around 185 with the Olds 350 in the truck. Extra cooling is probably a good and may help the 2004R live.

 

Yeah, you're right. Both the engine AND the trans need to be cool I need to get the condenser out and make sure it's letting enough air through. But for the past 10 days I've been physically challenged. I'm on Christmas break from school but had double foot surgery my first day off. Right now I get an hour on my feet and two off. Yesterday I spilled a little antifreeze on one of my surgical shoes. I thought the wife was going to blow a gasket! Lol.
Since the surgery I have been able to get the fan and clutch off, the shroud out, the radiator out, and the AC compressor and hoses out. I spend all the "off my feet" time thinking through exactly what I have to do with my one hour, lol.

 

I don't consider it noisy. It does move more air at low speeds than I was able to achieve with the clutch fan so there may be a bit more noise at idle. At higher speeds the blades "feather"; hence less noise. Yes, with the flex fan there is no clutch. It is "direct drive". There are two "stacked" spacers; one 1"; the other 1/2". But this could be different on your installation. Mine is on a '65 442. This car had the last of the vertical flow radiators. Also, it has a home made sheet metal shroud. Your spacers would have to be chosen to configure the fan correctly to your shroud, radiator and belt drives.

'65 442 with flex fan and home made sheet metal shroud

 

Like I pointed out the 405442 4 blade fixed factory no A/C fan out cools the 5 blade clutch fan and it doesn't rob a ton of power and isn't noisy. Macadoo, are you running factory large dismeter A/C pulleys and closed impellar water pump? I ran underdrive pulleys on my 403, never cooled properly till I removed them. Even on the Olds powered 4x4, which never had cooling issues with the 350, they caused 210 traffic temps with 7 blade clutch fan with a heavy duty clutch. I used the crank pulley for a jack extension.

 

I haven't decided on my pulleys quite yet. I have both the 455 and 350 pulleys but I think I'll go with the 350's.
I had a good look at the condenser yesterday and it needs some fins straightened but otherwise is on good shape. And it's COVERED in bugs.
My guess is:
1. The radiator has always been undersized
2. I didn't flush the block when I did the refresh on the 350 so maybe there is a partial blockage in the current radiator
3. The trans cooler is sitting right against the condenser, possibly limiting airflow through the condenser
4. With the trans cooler daisy-chained I had to run lines between the radiator and core support, creating large gaps in the seals on that side.
5. The AC compressor is original, "clacks" when running, and over-stresses the motor. The out-feed side of the belt, although as tight as I can get it, bounces like crazy. I'm looking at the Sanden compressor and hoping it isn't as hard to turn. I'd delete the AC altogether if it wasn't for the fact that in Illinois we often have 90+ temps with 90% humidity. If it were to rain, the windows would fog up. So I'm addressing the new compressor with the wife as a safety issue

 

Something that was often overlooked when I was installing air conditioning in Phoenix was the gaps around the sides of the radiator. When installing A/C systems we made sure to put foam insulation between the condenser and radiator to force all air flow to go through them. Do this with your external trans cooler too, it shouldn't matter that it is next to the radiator but if there is a gap, fill the gaps with foam insulation tape. Make sure there are NO gaps around the radiator where airflow can get behind the shroud. Make sure you have a high flow thermostat. Make sure you have coolant flow! Thermostats can be bad out of the box. I have read about people boiling them to make sure they open, but they are too inexpensive to put back in. You spent how many thousands on your engine? If you take your thermostat out, put a new one back in! If your fan clutch is good, it will spin the fan at almost engine speed while idling and will begin slipping as the engine speed increases. Make sure your fan is about half way inside the shroud so you get maximum air pulled through the radiator. Make sure you have purged all air out of the cooling system. This is often overlooked because like you mentioned, it has been in the car for a while. If air is trapped inside the manifold where it cannot escape it will not open the thermostat. If you squeeze the top hose near the thermostat housing and it doesn't feel like it has coolant in it, disconnect the top radiator hose and pour coolant down it to make sure the thermostat is in direct contact with engine coolant.

 

"we made sure to put foam insulation between the condenser and radiator" - I've been looking for the proper foam rubber for this. Can you tell me what you use?

"Do this with your external trans cooler too" - Nope, no gaps.

"Make sure you have a high flow thermostat" - Just bought one from Summit

"If your fan clutch is good, it will spin the fan at almost engine speed while idling and will begin slipping as the engine speed increases." - This is what it does, for sure.

"Make sure your fan is about half way inside the shroud" - This is NOT the case. But it is in the stock location. I'll look at getting a spacer but I just got the Champion 4 row and it's pretty thick. It will definitely move the shroud closer to the block.

"disconnect the top radiator hose and pour coolant down it" - I'll just do this before the first fire. Can't hurt!

Thanks for the tips, dad!

 

I just ordered one of these to replace my Derale 19118 fan. Like I said I have the same radiator as you and it will keep the engine cool from low speed up, but on 100+ degree days the temps creep up at idle. I don't use a shroud at the moment.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-1818/overview/

 

Hey, cool! (or "cooler"?). Let me know how it works out, Eric.

 

Standard insulating foam tape from your local home improvement store will do just fine. There is not an extreme amount of stress on it so as long as there is a bit of compression on the foam, the sticky side will hold it in place. Take a good look at the gaps around the radiator and get foam tape thick enough to fill them. You can double it up if you have extra large gaps. Again, if you have enough compression on the foam the sticky side will keep it in place. Anything you can do to make sure the air in front of the radiator goes through it rather than around it will improve cooling at speed. And anything you can do to make sure the fan sucks air through the radiator and not around it will improve cooling while sitting still.

 

Another possibility for certain applications could be the preformed foam used on pipes as insulation. They are available in various sizes and will stay in place under slight compression. Adhesive is not needed. Check with a hardware or home improvement store.

 

I'll look into both options. I was looking at truck-topper foam tape since it's fairly thick and wouldn't need doubling. I wasn't sure it would take the heat of the radiator and the trans cooler hose, though.
Ozzie, I also considered the pipe insulation because of the heat issue. I'll see which works best.
Thanks guys.

 

So far so good, installed today and with extended idle in my garage seems to keep the temps at 185*. I'm using the pos spectra single row aluminum with plastic tanks. Radiator dimensions are 28.25x17.25x1.25 Inlet Size:1 5/16 in. Outlet Size:1 9/16 in. No shroud and fan is mounted with a spacer 1" from the radiator. Outside temp was 70*, we'll see how it does when the temps hit 100+.

 

I didn't know you Texans knew the meaning of 70*

Anyway, it's too late for me. I've spent the last few weeks (in my very little free time) heavily modifying in order to fit a four row.

So, no clutch with that fan, true?

 

If you run the factory radiator, clutch fan and shroud you should not overheat.

The shroud is the most important part of the cooling system.

 

Open the drain petcock, use a garden hose to keep pouring in cold water while the engine is in it’s break in period. Just keep the radiator full