lets talk alloy rads

[BROWNY 1968]

so over the holiday ive been on a lightening mission again with my escort. i removed the radiator to gain acess to the inside parts of the front panel to clean up and repaint, i didnt realise how much my brass/copper radiator weighs, 6kg with the fan attached, just wondering if its worth me swopping it out for an alloy one, does anyone have one sitting in there garage waiting to be fitted that they could weigh for me to give me a comparison ?

as its a race car we did talk about a smaller rad holding less water, but if i ever get to take it drifting, it will probably end up boiling its knackers of so maybe we'll just stick with a full size one.

cheers.

🙂 

[Miniliteman]

Have a Ralloy big header alloy radiator (for BDA) with a Spal fan, that combo weighs 4.9 kgs.

[katana]

I was going to say my original brass rad, without fan, weighed about the same as the alloy RF one, with fan, that replaced it - I guess about 1kg difference?

[BROWNY 1968]

 thanks for your replys guys, cheapest alloy rad i found  is about £150, or there is a black one i like which is £170, i will need to change my bottom hose though as the rad in mine i think is one from a cortina as its got 90 degree elbows top and bottom

cheers. 

[Rally Pack 2000]

I didnt really notice much of a weight difference between them. Just that the alloy ones didnt seem to last all that long that I prefer a traditional copper cored one. Ive also mentioned before I dont like the look of alloy ones it just makes the engine look like it has been modified even if it hasnt, being a black one though that would help.

[Miniliteman]

Same here, don't like the look of an alloy radiator also and have seen some badly made items. That's why I bought a Ralloy Classic-look radiator , see photo.

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

20 hours ago, Miniliteman said:

Same here, don't like the look of an alloy radiator also and have seen some badly made items. That's why I bought a Ralloy Classic-look radiator , see photo.

 

Thats the best looking alloy radiator I have ever seen! If you had to get an alloy one thats the way I would go, its awesome.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Do any of the European Escorts have fan shrouds that attach to the radiator? And in turn do any of these alloy radiators have the fixing bolts to attach them?

[Miniliteman]

About the shrouds I do not know. That would have been one of the first things we threw away if fitted. My Ralloy radiator came with fixings for the fan never seen them with provisions for a shroud.

[Rally Pack 2000]

3 minutes ago, Miniliteman said:

About the shrouds I do not know. That would have been one of the first things we threw away if fitted. My Ralloy radiator came with fixings for the fan never seen them with provisions for a shroud.

I was wondering if it was just an Australian thing? As I cant remember seeing them on any images of European car engine bays.

[Miniliteman]

Ralloy radiator with fixings for fan.

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

15 hours ago, Miniliteman said:

Ralloy radiator with fixings for fan.

 

Thats a very professional looking thermo fan install. So was that a kit with radiator and fan together or were the brackets on there and you had to get a fan to match?

I was more thinking about the fixing bolts for a fan shroud. But Im not sure any European cars came with them?

This is my engine and you can see the fan shroud behind the radiator and under the top hose. There are two pieces to it, with each piece covering one side and the top or bottom with openings where the hoses go in to. There are 4 fixing bolts as an integral part of the radiator which stick out and the shroud pieces have holes and allow them to rest on the bolts and then you simply affix them with nuts and washers.

That local Justin guy lists one as a shroud for RS2000 / Mexico but he is wrong and its not for a Pinto engine at all. It was used on early kent engine cars where the radiator is closer to the engine and not squeezed between the radiator supports like it is on Pinto engined cars. Thats where the much thicker 2 Pieces shroud is used.

Ive been looking to find images of the 2 piece shroud for Pinto engines out of car but cant seem to find any, it seems most people must have thrown them away.

 

[katana]

I've often seen them fitted to Yankie cars but never this side of the pond! I guess in theory it is more efficient as the fan is drawing air through the whole rad core not just directly behind / in front of the fan - I think modern cars are also going down this route as they minimise the rad size to keep running temps higher and reduce drag via frontal area. I think that as europe doesn't tend to have the extremes of climate compared to Aus. and the USA, a little radiator inefficiency wasn't a big issue? Maybe when thermo fans and then electric ones became more common their use was extended?

[Miniliteman]

When I bought the radiator from Ralloy you could specify you wanted the fan (blow or suck) plus the brackets to mount it. Also has the 'hole' for the temp-switch in the header of the radiator.

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 hour ago, katana said:

I've often seen them fitted to Yankie cars but never this side of the pond! I guess in theory it is more efficient as the fan is drawing air through the whole rad core not just directly behind / in front of the fan - I think modern cars are also going down this route as they minimise the rad size to keep running temps higher and reduce drag via frontal area. I think that as europe doesn't tend to have the extremes of climate compared to Aus. and the USA, a little radiator inefficiency wasn't a big issue? Maybe when thermo fans and then electric ones became more common their use was extended?

I always just assumed it was part of the European design and came in with the rest of the parts from all over Europe when they assembled the cars. I have a list of uniquely Australian added features but I never suspected that the radiator shrouds would have been one of them. I thought you guys just must have thrown them away like many here did.

[Miniliteman]

Shroud is in the Mk2 parts book.

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

9 hours ago, Miniliteman said:

Shroud is in the Mk2 parts book.

 

Does it say for what engines? It looks like the Kent engine one pictured above for late Mk1s early Mk2s.

[BIG G]

I remenber alot of 1600cc cars had these back in the day but were removed as became a problem when changing fan belts and were not reall needed in this climate. 

[katana]

Looking at the part pic. it certainly isn't a RS rad as its mounts are shown forward not back as required for RS models (not sure about RS1800's?). Also the rad has specific integral tabs / ears for the shroud fixing, so, if those aren't present you can't mount the shroud. Most Yankie ones are two piece to assist with belt replacement - which makes sense. RP - belt replacement on yours looks a nightmare!

[Miniliteman]

11 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Does it say for what engines? It looks like the Kent engine one pictured above for late Mk1s early Mk2s.

When a part is for a specific engine it normally says TL or KL in the parts book but there is no mention of that here.

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 hour ago, katana said:

Looking at the part pic. it certainly isn't a RS rad as its mounts are shown forward not back as required for RS models (not sure about RS1800's?). Also the rad has specific integral tabs / ears for the shroud fixing, so, if those aren't present you can't mount the shroud. Most Yankie ones are two piece to assist with belt replacement - which makes sense. RP - belt replacement on yours looks a nightmare!

Being Two Piece with only 4 nuts holding it in place you have have the shroud removed in a minute or two so I cant say its ever been a problem. You can even manipulate the fan belt over the fan with it in place but you do tend to indent some of the radiator fins so best to do it properly and remove the shroud for better clearance.