Be Cool vs half price radiator

Does Be Cool really mark their radiators up a lot or are the cheaper radiators really not as good, as in, able to just get you by? As far as I know there are two aluminum radiator manufacturers in the Detroit area, Be Cool and then the half price people.

Also, don't aluminum radiators cool better than the identically sized copper/brass?

 

aluminum radiators don't hold up well in my opinion, especialy in michigan. ALWAYS better off with traditional copper-brass. cools better and lasts longer. although efforts can be made to stop it or slow it down, electrolysis kills aluminum rads. leave them to the pro touring guys!

 

Buying a be cool radiadiator is like buying jordash jeans. I don't know who th half price people are so I can't tell you if they produce a reliabel product or not. what you want to watch for is if the radiator is welded or epoxied.

I am sure that we have discussed this before and some of it no doubt was heated discussion. You can read articles that say aluminum cools better and others that say that it doesn't.

I have a large aluminum radiator in my basement that I bought to save money over the brass equivelent, it has never been used because as it turned out I didn't need to replace the brass radiator.

What is it that you need to cool anyway? Maybe a high zoot street rod radiator isn't going th be a necessary part for you car.

 

be cool goes to spring carlise and sells their blem rads, I know that a trip from mich. All the rads are repaired and pressure tested. I bought one for my Model A for 175. I cant complain it keeps my 390 cadillac running at 175 to 180 with a good mechanical fan.

 

I removed a high dollar copper brass 4 tube from my anglia and replaced with a two tube cheapo, worked just as well with more room. I vote for them

 

I don't know about Be-Cool, but I bought an aftermarket aluminum radiator online because it was cheap. It came out of the box out of square (no joke!) the rad cap doesn't fit right and the petcock is messed up as well. It works, but it's junk.

I think re-coring a factory radiator is the way to go, if you can find someone who will do it.

 

Just looking around the net today reveals 100% vote for the brass/copper cooling better, far as I can tell thus far. I'm enjoying seeing the comments you all have regarding this issue. Thanks!
P.S. ~ We're talking fully welded aluminum vs half price fully welded aluminum & I'm trying to cool anything thats not pro-touring or drag racer or trailer queen cars/trucks.

 

Takes less to cool a stock 235 in good shape than it does to cool a built to the hilt 392. Harder to cool a Duece with smooth hood sides than it is a Duece with louvres. Your answer is a little vague or this is just a question in general?

 

I have a Be Cool sitting in the shop ready for use, it looks like money well spent- time will tell- i like that it's not epoxied, and i got a great price through jegs.

rick

 

some cheap aluminum radiators are put together with epoxy, not solder. they are cheap for a reason. been plenty of info posted here and online aluminum vs brass.

 

Be cool works on my 53

 

everything is situational and will have different circumstances. i had the orginal radiator in my 58 willys pk and i kept over heating. changed thermostate...over heating. water pump. over heating. swithched to an aluminum job from a local radiator shop. i can step on it all day long carry high rpms and not break 190.

 

I used a Be Cool radiator in my '65 Biscayne with a 60 over 454 and mechanical fan. Worked great. I go by the adage, "You get what you pay for", I don't scrimp on cooling an expensive engine.

 

This is really funny reading as most all radiators from the factorys are all aluminum and plastic now. They seem to last forever so................................ I'm not aftaid to jump to aluminum if I can't afford a $700 radiator if I can buy a cheap one for under $200. I run a 12 second Pontiac with a $170 aluminum that replaced a 4 core copper brass unit that was new. I had to take it out and put it in a different car so anywary, to make a long story short, 170-175 degrees in stopped traffic for hours . Thats incredible for Pontiac engines. If you dont mind the look of aluminum rads, go for it as millions of new cars have them.

 

Fact........Brass/copper cools better than aluminum. As for cost, its how they are made and where, beware of glued together radiators. I have been repairing cars and trucks for a living since the mid 70's and the new aluminum radiators are ok for light duty. If you have a truck that tows you will be replacing the aluminum ones much more often than the old brass radiators. Bottom line, if you have a small motor anything will work, if you have a blown Hemi then you better buy a brass copper radiator or plan to have problems. Just my .02.

 

Fact...... your wrong (sorry)if you had a 4 core alum and a 4 core brass/copper radiator, the alum would cool much better. The problem with alum is corrosion. I dont know if be cool uses a better grade of alum (to fight corrosion) than the cheaper brands but if they did that could be part of the higher cost.

 

I have a truck with an aluminum radiator that I pull with and use for work daily, it has over 100,000 miles on it with the stock radiator. Offering opinions is fine but please don't spout bad opinions as fact. That's not fair to people trying to get answers.

 

I don't know anything but I have read oppinions and talked to the reps at Be Cool and Griffith and both told me that copper/brass radiators cool better size for size, but, the aluminum allows for designs in the fins that are not possible with brass? I own the Be Cool in my daily OT driver, 7 years with no problems, a 388 S-10 parts chaser that runs 12.90s on 195-70-14s as it sits in the drive and it runs 180 even in Oklahomas 115 weather. I also bought the Griffith for my current '62 Galaxie 500XL warmed over 390 project as I believe that it will cool better for it's needs. The 42 Chevy Coupe with the 8-71 blown BBC? I will need to do more research but right now am looking at a very expensive brass unit ($1200.00!!) But, you get what you pay for and what does your engine cost? And do you want to be the guy always eyeballing his gauges in traffic? Just saying...

 

Its the 21st century!! Brass/copper does NOT cool better! If it did the auto companies would still be using it, they like to go "cheap" but not if it will hamper the proformance of the car.
if your looking for "traditonal" Paint the alumn rad black!
There is a reason why all this "traditional" stuff is traditional!! Its out dated & insurfficiant!
Sorry for the poor spelling!
JimV

 

Read the facts..........

14 Rules for Improving Engine Cooling System Capability in High-Performance Au

 

I had a Be-Cool in my O/T Chevelle for years...worked great. As far as corrosion being an issue, Be-Cool advised using distilled water in it rather than tap water.

 

Thank you, very good read, I saved this for future rereading as it makes a lot of sense and sometimes that take time to sink in, thanks, Tim

 

BeCool makes a bunch of types though. Down flow, crossflow, dragster, etc. They make good ones and cheap ones? I need a Radiator for my 409, which are notorious in running hot. There are allot of differences in the Radiators, from Be cool and others. Tube sizes, fins per inch, 2 core, 3 core. I opened a big can of worms researching the radiators. I am even more confused now.
I guess most important is that it also mounts in the right holes, hoses on the correct sides, etc.
I like all the opinions here, it helps. I didnt know some were epoxied. I will look for that. I looked on Ebay and they vary from 180.00 to 500.00 for Aluminum Rad's.
But the above poster is right, you get what you pay for.

 

Oh, and I also use water out of my De-Humidifier. Clean water, and then I use a conditioner for corrosion and lube for the pump.

 

I have heard some good things about the Champion aluminum radiators (ebay) from guys on the P15-D24 forum.

 

the 67 could not be driven in hot weather before the be-cool rad. i have never tried the cheaper ones, but to me it was worth every penny to drive in 90 degree heat and the car never gets over 180

 

I've always heard that aluminum cools better as copper is a better conductor for heat, but on the same note, would copper not be a better conductor for cold?

Either way, every Northern rad i've seen has been twisted out of the box. A co-worker brought one in for a customer with a 39 hudson, we went through 3 or 4 before he got one that was 'satisfactory,' they were all twisted or out of square, and looked like a high school kid had welded them. If you ever buy a Northern Rad, pull it out of the box and put it flat on a table, you'll see what i mean.

 

If you want an aluminum radiatory try Superior radiator in MtClemons Michigan. I dealt with them in person and was very pleased. You could drive there and see their work before you buy.

 

I have a Champion one about to go in a '57 Bird that looks great. . . for the money it is unbelievably nice . . . Time will tell. It came when promised, even earlier, in fact. Post above mentioned Superior, and I posted elsewhere about the lies they told me about a radiator for my Corvette. I wouldn't buy from them UNLESS I went there in person. Strike that, they lie so I wouldn't but from them anyway . .. And I'll keep the fingers crossed on the Champion one . . . (like $185 delivered for a 3 core!!!!!) John

 

you are soo right auto makers wouldnt use plastic parts and fasteners if they were not far superior to steel and actual bolts....its not like they are going to pinch pennys or anything!