This thread is continued from the 3.80 gear swap that appeared to lead to higher running temps, but was not related to the gearing. When the guy cleaned and rodded my 3-core stock radiator, he gave it back with a nice thick shiny coat of black paint. Now, I have a little education in chemistry and physics, and I don't think that high-gloss black paint has very good conductivity (ie cooling properties). In fact, I would expect it to insulate quite well, keeping the heat inside. Three questions: 1-would removing all the paint from the radiator help it cool better? (I assume the answer will be yes) 2-What is the safest way, preferably chemically, to remove the paint without damaging the vanes? I have a small sandblaster, but fear that a couple thousand small holes in hidden areas of the radiator would probably reduce my ability to withstand heat...something about the water needing to stay INSIDE the radiator? Now, if I could find a way to constantly supply fresh water to it as it leaked out, I bet it would run MUCH cooler... 3-Are there any parts to this radiator that need paint for protection against corrosion? I assume it is 100% brass, and just may turn a little green after a few years. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for all the help so far. I will solve this heat issue, somehow. I honestly think this big old radiator can handle up to 300 HP, if everything else was working as supposed to.
answers 1. IMO No 2. use steel wool and brake fluid it will take it off like that! 3. yes the paint protects it! the tanks are brass. it will tarnish in like one week! very high maintance! griffin makes a stock replacement with out a a trans cooler and they also make stock ones with four cores but you must keep them clean! those work really well! also don't forget the high flow thermostats! this is a must! mr gasket and raybestos makes them... this can also make all the differance in the world. good luck!
actually black is a good color for radiators. radiates the heat better than other colors. its the thick paint that may cause a problem. usually radiator paint is thin cheap stuff that barely covers the metal. you can also help things by adding a large trans cooler & plumb it before the fluid goes to the radiator keep in mind tho that if your cooler is in front of the rad then some of that heat is going back thru the radiator. if you already have one you can still add another if you think it would help. perma-cool makes a neat cooler with built in fan that you can control separately when needed, & doesnt have to be installed in front of the radiator. keep in mind that by running very hot, you may be damaging your trans fluid. should try to keep it under 200 deg if at all possible. another way to drop trans temps (& radiator temps) is synthetic trans fluid. if you like gauges, you might want to install a trans temp gauge, too. that would tell you when to turn on that aux cooler fan.
I have used Berryman's Chem-dip on all my other metal parts. Eats through paint in seconds, may have to brush it on with a paint brush. Then rinse it off with water. All that is left is clean metal. I think I might try this, then run the radiator without paint for a day or two, just to see if it is affecting the performance. Then a thin light coat of paint. Should I use a flat, semi-gloss, gloss, or rust-oleum type paint? Or does it even matter. Also, any suggestions for a really good flush job? I have always drained the radiator, then run compressed air into the top with the bottom still detached, trying to push as much coolant out as possible. THen hook up a garden hose while running the engine until warm, with the heater on full blast. I do this until the water coming out looks clean and drinkable. ONce, I used a Prestone additive, where you add a quart to clean water in the system, drive a certain amount, then flush again. It seemed to get a lot of gunk out, but probably not much more than if I ran for 20 miles on plain water. Maybe the additive dissolved some deposits and kept the boiling temp high. I don't know.
flushed and new coolant I flushed the coolant out for about 30 minutes. Engine running, bottom spigot wide open, garden hose in the top of the radiator spewing water out the top, heater on, and water running throughout the entire system clean and clear. Engine ran for about 30 minutes at 160 degrees, with the garden hose in the top, and idle set at about 1200 RPMs. Then took out the thermostat, verified that it worked by putting it on the oven with the meat thermometer. Apparently, I did not install the 140 thermo, because the old 160 was in there. It opened, but it did not open much. I am not sure how much they are supposed to open. This is a stock replacement from hilo, $3 job. But at 160 degrees it opened about 1/8" or so. Took it outide, drilled 6 1/8" holes evenly spaced around the perimeter to make a crude "high performance" thermo. It ran a bit better, took a little longer to warm up, and rather than hitting 220, it maxed at 190, until i hit a long red light, then 200, then another red light, and almost 210. Ran it on the highway for about 30 miles at 3000 and 3500 rpms, around 70 mph. Got it home pulled the plugs, and found pretty new white splitfires. Clean as when I put them in 250 miles ago. I assume I am running lean, and need to do the Edelbrock metering Kit?
Flat-black paint actually helps it run cooler than no paint at all. Paint is not the source of your high-temp problem though. I'd leave it alone. I'd run a 180 degree 'stat. The numbers are simply the temperature at which the 'stat opens. Once it's completely open, it has no direct affect on operating temperature other than letting the coolant flow into the radiator. So a 160 degree 'stat does not make your engine run at 160, nor will a 180 make it run at 180. The cooling sytem and engine specs will determine what the maximum operating temp will be, not the 'stat...
Is the water pump belt still there?, , Just kiddin. Have you done a block check? Not much info on your cooling setup, unless I missed it somewhere.Unbelieveably, once I had an impelor(?) that was bad (loose on shaft). That was ROOT cause after it caused other problems like blowing up hoses which I actually think that happened when a head gasket went bad. The whole thing made me go .
if you are not pleased with the ..paint..take it back and have them ...rot... the rad. again and this time "don't" paint it. maybe the cleaning job they did to start with didn't get it compleatly clean on the inside...frank...
I am going to call a different guy today and see if they can do a "boil out" job, like they did with the heads. The heads came back just clean metal, no debris or buildup at all. The radiator guy just reamed out the cores, but left the calcium (or whatever it is) desposit along the inside surfaces.
I've done my own radiators before. That little bit of debris stuck to the sides doesn't hurt your cooling. If there was loose debris left over, yea, but rodding them out is enough.
Don't worry about your radiator. The paint isn't the problem. Your wasting your time worrying about paint on the radiator. How long do you think a radiator shop would be in business is they were painting radiators with paint that caused cars to overheat? Think about it. Also, weren't you running this radiator before the gear change with no problems? A large tranny cooler in front of the radiator will reduce the cooling efficiancy of the radiator, as it will be getting the hot air that went through the tranny cooler. Get a quality high flow stat, maybe consider a radiator with more capacity, and make sure your water pump is fine. It really seems like you are running in about 50 different directions on this one.
