Technical 56 chevy radiator

Looking to replace the radiator in my 56 chevy. In traffic it wants to run hot. It is a stock brass/copper I had cleaned and repaired.
What's every one using. Looked at Engineered Cooling Products on line and they looked ok but I don't know any one who has used their radiators.
The car has a 60 over 350 with flat top pistons, 10 to 1 and Edelbrock Alu heads. Has a good shroud and 5 blade fan.
I just think the radiator is not enough to keep it cool.
Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions on who makes the best radiator.

 

How hot is hot? Does it push coolant out the overflow or is it just hot on the gauge? If it isn't pushing water, I'd check the accuracy of the gauge first.

 

Cooling Rule Of Thumb - runs hot at low speeds not enough fan or shroud. Runs hot at highway speeds not enough radiator. The original 6 cylinder radiator does the job cooling a warmed over 327 in my 56.

 

Show us some pictures under the hood....

 

I've been running an aluminum Champion radiator for a few years now with no issues

 

I would look into a shroud if you don't have one.

 

Shroud?
Anything in front of the radiator?

 

It will run 220 in slow traffic. I have a overflow tank. It has never boiled over. I have a nice shroud and am using a stock 6 cylinder rad. I will post a few pictures later today.
Thanks

 

Might want to play with ignition timing, too....try different sources of vacuum for the vacuum advance.

 

two things you might check... a guy on youtube I follow checks his thermostats & senders outside the car in a boiling pot of water. Parts quality & consistency isn't what it used to be, is why he checks. He says he occassionally returns/tosses stuff that doesn't work properly.

 

I've got an Engineered Cooling products radiator for my 48. I haven't run it but it is a pretty decent looking radiator.
Plus the tank looks like a real radiator tank and not some welded up flat aluminum.

 

Added some pictures. The flex fan might be part of the problem. Measured pulleys and looks like bottom pulley is 7" and water pump pulley is 6". Not sure if a smaller water pump pulley would help.

 

I hesitate to say this because a lot of people do it and that is use a long WP on a 5,6,7 Chevy with a V8 and the radiator in the 6 cyl. position in front of radiator support. I will always run the short WP and radiator behind support in the V8 position. I never had a heating problem and ran a stock 4 blade fan in some and a 5 blade OEM type steel fan. From stock to hi-perf. motors with stock copper radiators. Just my opinion and what works for me.

Pat

 

Ran a l88 427 in my 55 with 6 cyl rad never overheated.Change to a real fan not the crap flex fan.If yoy have vacuum advance put it to full manifold vacuum.Jimmie King

 

That fan is a really bad design, and won't move much air. I'd change to a good fan, before worrying about the radiator.

Thanks for the pics, they help a lot.

 

I've got to agree with Mopar363000 that fan won't blow a sick whore off a pot, you need a real fan rather than that Ricky Racer special . I had one the same style on my 48 because I had tight clearance issues and same problem, it wouldn't pull enough air at low speeds to write home about.
I'm not a big fan of flex fans in the first place having had a couple break on me but this style pulls far more air than that one. Cat wanted to know what the hell I was setting on his back porch. Still the best would be a good clutch fan with a serious set of blades on it.

 

What about an electric fan option? Just asking?

Sent from my XP8800 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

If your radiator is in the six cylinder position, you need to get the fan as close as you can to the radiator. Probably need a long water pump and maybe fan spacer.

 

There's an obvious problem, which is the really bad fan he has in it...no need to go electric, or long water pump, or different fan spacer, or anything. Put a good fan on it, see how it does.

 

As others have said, you have a problem that you need to find and fix. Rather than slapping in a different part...that most probably will provide the same outcome.

My old 56 210, 2dr. with several engines over the 13+ years of ownership, from the original 265 to a 327 to a 350, all ran with the "same" radiator between the fenders.
Only heating problem I had was two stuck thermostats over those years. One time I ran some store bought cleaner thru it. I did solder a tube shut after a rock opened it fairly big. I just closed the whole thing off. Luckily that tube was almost at one edge.
Not sure, but I "may" have had it professionally cleaned once, not positive on that one.

Hell, I never even ran a shroud..! All I did, early on was to install a five (six ?) blade fan off a non-clutch assembly.

With a 180° thermostat, it ran a solid 185°/190° even in SoCal 100° summers, other than sitting in a fast food line, then it would hold at about 205°/210°. But would begin to cool as soon as I started moving. Never gave any hint of trouble...other than the two bad thermostats.

And just another bit of info...thousands upon thousands of 55 thru 57 Chevy's had the same basic radiator in them. Most without a hint of trouble... At least not enough for the GM engineers to build a different design radiator.

Start digging, find your real problem.

Mike

 

From what I can see in the pictures, the fan is to close to the core and inside the shroud.

Some of the air the fan is pulling is coming off the tips of the blade and becoming trapped in the shroud. Shorten the fan spacer and see what happens. If you don't believe me, look at your daily.

 

Replace this fan, which is designed to not have much drag, because it doesn't move much air:



with this fan, which is designed to move air:



and magically it will stay cool.

 

All cooling aside Jim, I have a cat that could be the twin to that one.I kept this short because it is not Hamb related although I don't have mice probs in my cars so maybe it is.

Pat

 

I’m running the suggested fan. No issues.
Running 220 ain’t too bad. Many vettes I worked on ran in the 215-220+ range.
Late model vette electric fans turn on around 225. Shut off around 215.
The only issue for me is it starts to have carb issues in traffic running the corn fuel.
The different style fan should bring the temp down a few for ya.

 

Reinstall the radiator to grill pan, your air is going around the rad rather than being forced to go through it. the air is taking the path of least resistance and going around rather than through. Ralphie

 

It's good to have that pan under there, but it works more at highway speeds (which aren't a problem in this case), than in traffic (which is the problem in this case).

 

I spent a lot of time screwing around with my '56 trying to get it to keep cool. I have a very stout small block with the 6 cylinder copper radiator and a shroud. I agree with the others who have said to swap that fan first thing. I ended up using a steel 5 blade with a good fan clutch.

Also, I'm with squirrel about checking the timing. I lost a couple degrees 'all in' timing(break in I assume) over the first year that I had the car together. I checked the timing and advanced it to where it had been when the motor was on the dyno and it now runs anywhere from 6 to 10 degrees cooler.

Also, make sure you have the correct temp thermostat for your motor. I learned the hard way(surprise) that having the wrong thermostat can hinder cooling.

 

I totally agree with Jim, the fan is about the worse one on the market and a lot of people have had problems due to running it, it moves very little air, especially when your sitting in traffic.

The fan I use is a 6 bladed fan and I have used it on several cars in the past and I currently have one on both my cars.

They are available in several different sizes and I use the 17" fan on my sbc powered Deuce and the 302 in the wagon, neater car ever runs hot,even in Saturday night traffic debacles in Pigeon Forge , Tennessee.


As far as pulleys, I too have a 6" w/p pulley and a 7 1/4" crank pulley.

I have used almost ever radiator on the market over the last 5o years of building hot rods, from re-cored originals, aluminum radiators and copper/brass.

A hard lesson learned,at least for me was to bite the bullet and by what the manufacture used in these cars when they were new and that is copper/brass and Walker proved the best bang for the buck for me, yeah they ain't cheap but they do have longevity on their side.

The Walker radiator in my '32 is now over 33 years old and I've never had a problem with it. HRP

 

Absolutely that Flex Fan is part of 55onefifty's problem. Throw it in the garbage. I'm also not particularly impressed with the shroud. It looks kind of cheesy to me. Replace both and tell us the results.
Good thing he posted pictures before buying a Chinese radiator.