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40 replies

Radiator looks like it might blow!

P paulfMember
Hi all, I've replaced the belts and hoses on 6144, but am still having some overheating issues. I have purchased the correct RS 333-180 thermostat and bypass restrictor plate from Marlin Jack (Thank you MJ!) from the advice I have gotten here (thank you all - especially George P. and John B.). My next steps most likely will be to change out the water pump for the Flow Kooler #1648, add the SACC billet pulley and install the thermostat. I wasn't sure if I was going to change the radiator, but upon further inspection I don't like the look of the top nipple at all - it's got a nasty bulge as you can hopefully see in the picture. I would rather go with a copper core radiator and am considering the Hall radiator. The car has been fitted previously with Flex-a-Lite sucker fans which still work (although wired directly to the ignition, another fix needed). I have measured the distance out from the back of the radiator to the 90 degree bend (inside) of the nipple and it appears to be 3 1/4- 3 1/2 inches. Is this normal? Will the Hall have the same amount of clearance? When the radiator was previously out was the nipple extended to allow for the fans? Should I just ditch the current fans and go with the Mirriah pushers? What do you think?

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rockyrockyMember
I agree.

With a S/N 6144 you should already have the horizontal Radiator Baffle, but that would be an easy check when the radiator is out of the car.

The shop could likely put new tubes there for you...

I do have the Hall Phoenix radiator - it's pretty stout - maybe not the lightest piece in the world, but mine is well constructed.

Rocky
pantterapantteraMember
As seen here, The Hall radiator outlets allow just enough room for the hoses to clear the radiator fins, i.e. no room for those fans.
In my experience, installing a Hall radiator, a SACC billet water pump pulley, and re-building the pusher fans has resulted in stable coolant temperatures and no more overheating.
Your temps may vary.............

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George PGeorge PAdmin.
Pantera 6018, for which I am the current custodian, is also equipped with a Hall radiator. Without an oem radiator available for comparison, and based upon my admittedly less than perfect memory, I would advise Paul that the outlet nipples of his Pantera's oem radiator have been extended to make room for the sucker fans.

Extended or not extended? Pictures from folks with oem radiators would be very helpful at the moment.

If extended, is that the "only" cause of the bulging of his Pantera's radiator outlet nipples, or is the radiator's copper thin "in general". The copper of radiators does get thin with age and mileage.

I know Paul is leaning towards a replacement radiator. But is that his only choice, is a re-core a possibility? All input will help him assess the status of his radiator.
marlinjackmarlinjackThe Machinist #5723 AMARGOSA MACHINE 'Running on Empty- Middle of Nowhere'
...Fans are wired off the Ignition Switch??

That's a No-No! The High Amperage will Melt the Contacts of the Switch, or at least Burn them up to Failure.
The Fans should be wired off (2) Relays, One Each Fan, Controlling Current Directly from the Battery to Each Fan (They will Run at Full-Blast), And the Ignition Switch Energizes ONLY the Relays (low current). The relays are Grounded through the 'Temperature Switches' mounted on the Rad. Get the Relays with Contacts Rated at Least 30 Amps. I Like to 'Over-Kill'.

Second, looks like the Radiator Pipes may be leaking, loosing coolant and pressure. Loosing pressure will allow the system to overheat.

I Appreciate Your Support.

P.S. I had My Original Brass Rad Rebuilt by a Shop that Knew What they were doing. They ReBuilt it with (5) Cores. Cost Me the Same as a New Aluminum Rad, $500. Guaranteed for 5 Years. (I do NOT recommend the Aluminum Rad)

Good-Luck with It!
Last edited by marlinjack
P paulfMember
Thank everybody for the input. I was lucky enough to see George's Hall radiator in person last evening and it was instantly obvious that the elbows were much closer to the radiator itself than than the ones on my are. I know the radiator has been out and recored at least once, and suspect that at that time the decision was made to go to the Flex-a-Lite sucker style fans and they had the shop doing the recore extend the elbows to give the added clearance. PanTTera's excellent picture clearly shows that a stock, original radiator also had the elbows closer to the radiator than mine does. Anybody else out there who has had to do this mod to accommodate sucker fans? I appreciate the suggestions to consider repairing/rebuilding this one, just how many times is that really feasible to do? The Hall radiator I saw yesterday looks to be thicker than mine which as I said I believe to an original factory stock unit that was recored and had the nipples extended. In this picture you can see the top of the radiator with text saying FIM and Bologna Italy and you can also see a small plate that says 133470 Performance AZ.

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P paulfMember
Ok, so my options are:

1. Recore this original again if possible.

2. Go with the Hall and the Mirriah fans

3. Go with the BrassWorks custom radiator with 2 12" Spall fans. See it here:

BrassWorks

I'm not sure of the cost of #1 but I've heard it's as much as a new Hall IF you can find a decent place to do it right, #2 is $1,100, and #3 is $1,325.

So I'm asking you - the brain trust - to help me decide. What do you think?????
rockyrockyMember
Of course you can do it.

None of the approaches is rocket science. The Brassworks setup looks pretty cool, and must come with wiring so that all you have to do is get a high power feed up to the fans, and the sensors and relays do the control work.

Option #2 & #1 probably have a lot more wiring challenges.

I was surprised to hear a radiator repair / recore would be that expensive, but I haven't priced radiator work in a while.

Good luck. You won't have any (major) problems with any of your choices.

Rocky
davidnunndavidnunnMember
P.I. Motorsports has a cool new fan kit for the Fluidyne aluminum Pantera rad. It uses 14" fans, which are the largest I've seen on a Pantera:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DeToma...AOSwnbZYCmkO&vxp=mtr

Here's a link to the Fluidyne aluminum rad:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DeToma...%26sd%3D282228124862

Here's a rad/fan/shroud setup that looks identical to the package Pantera Performance in Colorado sells (that's made for them by Ron Davis):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-1...AOxy79JSXs9Y&vxp=mtr
O osofastMember
My car has had the Phoenix radiator for years, and years. About 5 or so years ago it started leaking at one of the tanks so I pulled it out to have a shop look at it. Hall did a good job on the Phoenix design. It is a combination of automotive, and heavy equipment radiators built as one.

My radiator needed recoring, this is where the heavy equipment part comes in. The core is from a fork truck. If you see one you will notice how tightly packed the fins are in those cores...and as others have said it is close to 5" thick.

While I had my radiator out I also replaced the pump, and thermostat. I used the Stewart piece and it is a very well built pump, using a shrouded impeller.
Stewart Water Pump.
Jeff
P paulfMember
Anyone have pics of their Mirriah fans in place. I believe I have decided to go in that direction (long story why it has taken so long) and it appears from my picture that everything is still there in front of the existing radiator to allow the new fans to be relocated to the front (anyone disagree?) and I'd like to see how they look in place. Also, from the hall website (not very big on multiple pics or descriptions of products lol) these fans seem to have no surrounding protection of the fan blade tips at all. Is that correct? I thought they would at least have some sort of outer ring to protect the blade tips. Any pics and advice is very welcome! Thanks
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