I know running a heater is sissy, but if I did I ought to be able to reduce temps since my radiator is most likely under-staffed. I guess I'll just fry the passenger a little extra on those 95 degree days!! I was actually thinking of running a trans cooler with a baby fan under the car. Hey, it's like having a helper radiator, right? I think I could find the room for one. Anyone tried this? Should I stick with a heater unit like the one speedway sells (and fry the passenger)? Thanks in advance!
I've had that same thought. Money and effort are probably better spent upgrading the radiator or adding a seperate transmission cooler if you're running an automatic.
sure running the heater has always been part of a "quick "overheating cure but adding other coolers and extra lines may cause more leak problems than cooling cures now... expansion tanks like vettes and early tbirds use and a good large circulating coolant system working.... right pressure caps and overflow return systems is always more smart ya hafta remove heat from the system and big surface area is the key ... timing issues ... on and on and on
That's how I got through Houston in late June of '70, dragging a big UHaul with my old '61 Chevy 6 holer. Roll the windows down, turn the heater on and drink lots of water. Dropped the temp back to near normal until I could get to the South edge of town and cut the speed. For you Houston guys, the South edge was Texas Instruments on 59S. Town's grew some.
If I'm stuck on the idea, could it get me by until I can get an aluminum radiator made? VERY tight space available for the radiator, like 18.5" overall height and 19.5" width. Curved top tank also, so core height is very small, like 13 or less inches.
ive seen mini guys running ford heater cores as a helper in coopers with big bores. (still only a little over the capacity of 1 cylinder in my engine though haha)
One thing to consider is that, sometimes, adding water capacity can be as valuable as adding core space or core tubes. Cutting down the tank size to gain core area can sometimes cause problems. One example of this is when a partially "filled" block is used...(a racing thing)...there might not be enough water in the system anymore to sufficiently absorb the heat. In that case, adding more upper tank space can help, if you have the room. To directly answer your question, it will probably help, if you have adequate air circulation through the heater core. I'm not sure what you mean by using a trans cooler, unless you mean "using a trans cooler to help cool the transmission fluid, too." If you're thinking that this will help cool the trans fluid BEFORE it goes into the radiator, thereby decreasing the load on the radiator itself...yeah, it will help, but not huge amounts, unfortunately, so far as the radiator is concerned.
Are you running a radiator shroud ??? On my T-bucket, running a warmed over 350 sbc and the radiator out in the open, I never thought of overheating problems......but it happened. At slow speeds the air was going around the radiator and not threw it...... I installed a shroud on the rad. and the problem was cured, completely. I could set at idle all day long with no temperature concerns........ I also was using the stock fan on the front of the engine.........
if it's running that hot take out the t-stat, clip off the temp sensor/spring and re-install the outer ring only. isame as the moroso cooling discs you buy at the speed shop but home made ( the smaller the restriction the longer it stays in your radiator bigger the hole the more flow . I had a 383 sbc race engine in my street car for years and ran that set up in in and never went over 185 on a 95 deg day at a stop light! average cruise temp was arounf 160....It wasn't my everyday car but I beat on it every weekend on the street.
What I meant by run a trans cooler is plumb coolant through it instead of an actual heater core. I can get one cheap and run a little fan on it under the car. But maybe they are less efficient than heater cores. Again, my radiator space is extremely confined, unless I alter the way the car will look. I simply must exhaust all other options before doing that. I can't really raise the grill shell or body up more than 1/2" without it looking wrong. I am just wondering if there is a way to add some cooling capabilities to the anemic radiator. (Can't afford a custom one just yet).
I figured I would need Aluminum since it dissipates heat better than copper/brass. I am just working with a VERY small radiator space, and foolishly hoping I can still cool my very mild 302. I soldered necks onto the copper radiator I have that fits, and it doesn't leak. It just is so small! I am afraid it won't quite be enough! I do have room for the engine fan and an electric pusher, maybe this will make a difference. The radiator is 3 rows, 3/4" tubes, and about 14"hX18w" core size. Probably not quite enough...?
I built a mini truck with a sbc for my Dad. I tried re-coring the stock radiator, didn't work. Tried a V6 Pinto radiator and added extra cores. Didn't work. I drove the truck to my local radiator shop and explained the problem. They built a thick copper/brass radiator that was so efficient, the heater quit working. A friend of mine owned Crandels radiators. He said most problem are caused by insufficient air flow, not coolant capacity.
heaters are great, with a heater the girl in the passenger seat with the short skirt is less likely to cover her legs with her jacket
The big block 55 Chev I used to have had similar heating problems on hot slow cruising days. I bought a 5 core aluminum stock car radiator and it still got hot in slow traffic on hot days. I was reading an article in an Old Rodders' Digest which mentioned changing the waterpump pulley to a smaller diameter. I found another pulley 1 inch smaller in diameter and it solved the problem. The pump and the fan moved faster circulating more water and pulling more air. It dropped about 20 degrees on a hot day and never overheated again. Pulley $1.00 at the junkyard New fanbelt $7.50 About 25 minutes to change. Super cheap cooling fix. overspray
If running a heater and saying it is to help cool the engine/trans makes you feel less of a pansy, go for it........................wimp...........
Tman, you are giving me some hope... And Poncho62, what kind of Poncho? I'm a BIG fan of Pontiacs, if that's what the name means.
Use of a tranny core would probably be detrimental, the ports are too small to allow enough circulation through...even adding a heater inline would be the same thing...too small a port to allow proper circulation...notice why heaters "on", decrease temps and they run in a somewhat parallel fashion to the cooling system...taking heat out of the coolant and putting the "cooled" coolant back in the system....not in series/inline with the coolant system where they would restrict the flow. Hope this makes sense.
I'll be the dissenting vote here. Everytime I pick up an old ford heater core I'm fascinated by the potential. I keep thinking of combining enough cores in line to cool a car. Eliminate that big goddam blocky radiator and just show a few side scoops in your sheetmetal. Could be awesome.
3Mike6- So if I ran a heater with 2 ports (in and out) it may help (parallel), otherwise no? I'm just making sure I get it right.
As long as there was adeqwuate pressure pushing the coolant through a core, you could remove heat from it and put it back into the system...take a gander of how your heater is now plumbed...probablyout of the waterpump, into the core, and back into the intake port to the coolant system...i/e the "parallel" coolant used is pushed back into the system via the waterpump. I don't think there would be much benefit to say just adding a heater core in parallel with a radiator hose...as water, just like electricity, will take the path of least resistance. Compare heater hose ID's (to radiator hose ID's, and you can see where the flow will go. Now noone says you can't mount a heater box ouside your cab area, and no one says you can't run two heaters together..noe inside for winter and one outside the cab for summer...plumbing (unless well hidden) would look like a turd, but can be done. Hope I'm not babbling too much, just tying to give you a big picture of things how I see it.
ok got to put my 2 cents in.crashed my roadster a few years back had to pinch off 10 tubes in the radiator .after that had a bit of a heating problem and didnt want to have it recored at the time so i took a AC condenser off an old chevy van bolted it under the cay and run the heater lines to it .never had a problem after that.also never had a fan on it....
The radiator is the biggest challenger the stylists face when designing the body. If a small one with heater cores stuck somewhere was viable, they probably would have done it by now.
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