Radiator Time
 

Well giving it is only April and mid 80s, I am starting to see overheating issues on the track after 15-20 minutes of hard driving. Basically, I think I have limped to stock radiator as far as I can go. Hoping the radiator will solve my issues as I already have the Boss oil cooler. So if I keep the coolant and air cooler, I should have lower IATs (in theory, could be wrong).

I was thinking of going with a CSF Heavy Duty radiator. Seem to have good build quality and are reviewed well on them internetz...but forums can be mixed with honest opinions. Plus, I wonder if I am going to have any figment issues with the ProCharger which is a whole other question.

A lot of people seem to be pushing Mishimotos and some other cheaper options, but I am unsure about going cheap as always.

Anyone have any experience?

Im going to look up how many CFM the fan procharger supplies is, The one I use is 2500cfm, could be a cheap upgrade

Remove Fogs. Should give you a lil extra cooling.

Definetly fogs, Also seen where the Z28 cutout the chevy bowtie for extra airflow, what about dremel out the pony?

Removed plenty today (engine cover, underhood cardboard trim, hood vents). Didn't do the fogs though, but that is all going to be minimal if anything as with the rest of the "cooling" mods I have done. Really I can give it a hard lap then I have to take one easy, then back to hard lap.

I am looking long term, real deal that doesn't require me to disassemble the car ever time I hot lap it...which is why I just want to go straight to the radiator option. I can limp it through this weekend taking it easy, but I think fans, thermostats, and coolant additives are just short term solutions.

Your really going about this the wrong way. Remove the fogs do a little ducting work. A radiator is only as good as the airflow its getting. Take out the fogs and i guarantee you will be surprised. There is a reason why the boss 302s has the mesh instead of fogs. I fail to see how removing an engine cover and underhood trim ect is gonna help. Get a different hood with vents to vaccum air from the engine.

Boss 302S grill should be the first step, it's more than just opening up the fake foglight holes, it's opened up more everywhere. Beyond that I agree on the cheap radiators, I'd be looking at something like Fluidyne.

Air air air is right. If you like your grill, you can try cutting out some of the plastic behind the honeycomb and maybe cut out the dogs and fill it with mesh.

Boss302 is a good way to go or Maybe the Roush high flow upper grill and lower delete? I saw the high flow upper the other day and it has way more open space than the stock grills.

Removed the dogs this morning, got an extra lap in before similar situation (which also could be due to the weather being 5-8 degrees cooler this morning). May look into the 302S or a high flow grill as I do understand the importance of airflow to the radiator itself. However, I still think I am going the radiator route also. With summer coming up, this is just going to get worse. Talking with alot of the track rats out here with similar mods, most validate a larger radiator fixed the problem more than anything else.

Also tired of running the heater on high trying to help the car out :D

Go with a fluidyne but remember these arent race cars. They will eventually over heat. Also, that alot of wear your putting on the engine being at the track so much. lol Take the condenser out and i bet gd money your cooling problems will be gone.

I understand my car isn't a race car. But the stock 5.0L radiator isn't enough to handle what I put my car through. I removed things from under the hood that could possible trap heat in the car or improve airflow. After looking into the Boss 302S Grill and how open it is, I was able to find a track buddy with one that he will sell to me cheap.

Granted I normally run events that only go 20 minutes at a time, but this extra 10 minutes make a big difference on the car. I am not trying to build a forced induction car that can run endurance racing, but dissipating heat over time is something my engine will benefit from in the short and long term.

The boss 302 radiator is nice. Probally should have gotten the track pack. A vented hood would help more then you can imagine.

I would have loved the radiator from the track pack, but I would have ended up changing out everything else that came with it outside of the LSD and radiator. Good thing about radiators are that they are relatively cheap. $hit, the 302S grill retails for $300ish and a new radiator from a top manufacture are in the $400-600 range that can reuse the stock piping.

Also might try running more water instead of antifreeze through your cooling system. Water is what actually provides the cooling, so I believe a richer mixture of water to coolant may help as well.

-Alex