Hot Rods Flathead radiator question

I’ve been driving my roadster for about 20 years with a 4” core radiator, chopped 2”. As a test, for the past two years I have been driving it with a piece of waterproof cardboard blocking the bottom 5” with no difference in cooling while moving. I do have to run the electric fan when in traffic, just as I had to do without the cardboard.

0554074E-044F-4AFD-A6C8-846F321D8B43 by hfh posted Dec 6, 2017 at 4:27 PM

I always thought that the ‘32 grille looked too massive for this car so since it’s winter here, I thought it would be fun to try some alternative grilles. Using either of these will require having a custom radiator made. A friend who builds race cars thinks I should use an aluminum radiator, since switching to aluminum on the race cars has improved cooling. Any thoughts? For the new radiator, do I just need to approximately match the number of square inches in the old core or since the new core will be narrower and taller, will,the number of square inches need to change?

B948DEFA-7992-4311-B544-32EFB61EFF13 by hfh posted Dec 6, 2017 at 4:27 PM

93BF2BDF-04B1-45C2-8469-08A5CDDE0B2E by hfh posted Dec 6, 2017 at 4:27 PM

So my questions are: brass or aluminum? Minimum number of square inches needed. Thank you for any thoughts. Howard.

 

I'd talk to Lee at Brass Works. I'm sure he could assist you with the sizing issue. As for aluminum vs. brass I think you can figure out what he'll suggest based based on the name of his company.

 

Thank you for your thoughts. Any other ideas out there?

 

definitely not the 37

 

I like the 37 grill and personally if I see an aluminum radiator in a traditional car I feel a little sad.

 

Kind of like the Riley grill it fits with the speedster type screen and overall size of the car.
At a show it will be a point of difference (better) for sure.

 

Cool car. Don't think I've seen it around.

 

Thank you 51504 for your suggestion that I call Brassworks. Lee was very helpful. One of the suggestions he made was to make a wooden radiator in the configuration I want so that I can be sure that everything will fit. I included radiator hose locations and I made a fan using some foam that I had. I did decide to use the Riley grille for now and the core is shaped to work with this grille. I have just about the same cubic inches in the new configuration as my old radiator. If I get daring I might cut 2” off the bottom since the bottom tank is just slightly higher than my front axle. This would reduce the area of the core by 28”.

 

Nice mock up. I'm sure the actual radiator will be spot on when you get it from The Brassworks. I know their radiators aren't cheap but in the long run it will be worth it. IMO.