Hey guys, I am shopping around for an aftermarket radiator, such as a Griffen, Be Cool, Charged Air Systems ect.. I know that one or two of them need slight modifications to work, and the others drop in without a hitch. If you can give me some of your experiences with some of the brands I mentioned, that would be great. Also, it appears that some of them have a 1 inch or 1.25 inch core. If some specs could also be posted, that would be great too, thanks.




Nick

 

I'm installing some aggressive heads/cam first of the year (tax time) and I know I'll need some better cooling. I'm told they lower temps about 20 degrees (pretty much all of the brands you listed). They are all good but I think price makes the difference in installation, etc. For example my friends 11 sec 93 Formula 383 stroker has a Griffin, it's freakin HUGE and he runs really really cool like 170 max on a hot day idling. He had to do some modifications to make it fit unlike BeCool which just pops in but you pay considerably more. His rad cost like $135 I think and the BeCool was about $245 I believe. I'm going with a direct fit spending the extra because I'm installing the new SLP Ram Air hood for the LT1's. I want the true ram air and something like a Griffin interferes with the filter setup, etc. At least it did on his ram air setup, but he was able to get it right. I just want a painless setup. Hope this helped a little.

 

I currently own a Be Cool radiator and it was a pain to get everything to fit properly. If you plan on running a blower (12-rib setup) and a electric waterpump you will have to get low profile fans. There is not enough clearance to use stock fans.

 

Hey Brettinator , I thought most of these radiators were in the $350 to $500 range. If thats all he paid, he got a really good deal. Where did he buys his from, and where did you get that pricing for the Be Cool? IDOXLR8 , I dont plan on running a blower or electric waterpump, It will just be a naturally aspirated 396. I just want the added insurance in the summer time for stop and go North New Jersey traffic. Right now I am looking at the Be Cool, Griffen, and the one from Charged Air Systems. Is there any others that I am neglecting to consider?



Nick

 

Is there any aftermarket radiator that will work with an electric water pump setup?

 

http://www.radiator.com/index.cfm?

I don't no of any of the popular aftermarket brands Griffen/Be Cool ... that are direct replacements. Some fab or modification is required on all of them.

I believe Modine makes a direct fit replacement which is not as popular as the afroementioned; but, will work and last a long time. Cheaper than the rest too

Good luck

 

I installed a Be Cool and am running a CSI Pump. The only electric pump that causes a clearance Issue is the Meizer HD unit which sticks out a little further than the other electric pumps.

As far as modifications go the Be Cool was a direct fit replacement. All that needed to be modified was the lower driver side rubber mount needed to be modified to accommodate the wider radiator core. I did have to buy a fitting for my oil cooler which cost 2 bucks at auto zone.

I know the Griffen Radiator is taller that stock and requires modifications to the top radiator support, but it is slightly larger and that usually means cooler. This unit requires a little more work to install

His water pump may have cost about $135 but I bet his radiator cost close to $500. I did a bunch of research when I bought mine and they were all in the $500 price range. I bought my Be Cool from Summit for around $490.

 

I run a Griffin, and also have the stock fans in there with a Blower. So to the person who said the stock fan setup does not fit with a SC setup you are not 100% correct, on some models it will work other no. Make sure you are correct on your statment we don't want guy's spending money if they don't have too(more money towards go fast stuff!) .
For my setup I bought a griffin from summit or jegs(its been a couple of years since I bought it), I had to hogg out some of the plastic fan shroud that came close to some of the moving pulley's. The radiator is about twice as thick as the stock unit, but it fits in there, I also have AC and left the condencer in the factory location. Hope this helps.

 

Sorry I was referring to a 12 rib setup. Not trying to mislead anyone

 

Maybe I'm mistaken, I just left him a voicemail to find out for sure what he paid for his Griffin. If I knew the dimensions and setup I could find the Griffin price from Summit because they do theres different whereas BeCool is a direct-fit as they call it. Man BeCool is expensive. The most expensive Griffin I saw was 295 but again the dimensions are needed.

* http://store.summitracing.com/
BCI-60028 Chevrolet/Pontiac: 1993-98 Camaro/Firebird, manual transmission, satin finish, custom-fit aluminum radiator (S... $525.69

 

I just checked the www.radiator.com, and they sell the BeCool for $499, that's pretty good. They said they didn't offer one that had a provision for auto tranny oil lines, but I'm sure I've seen them.
Anyway, those people were pretty nice.

 

Just got off the phone with my friend, and he paid $130, universal fit from Spraker Racing, Schenectady, NY. he pulled his stocker out and measured, the universal is still taller and thicker. He measured the width and matched it, the Griffin was about 1-1/2" taller so he had to reangle it (tip the top toward the engine), the stock shroud will not work on this fat griffin, he made his own straps to mount the rad. Stock fans were flipped upside down and the plastic side hooks had to be cut off and thru-fin mounts held them in place.

He also got his rearend there it's a Moser Ford 9", strange 31 spline axles, stock centersection with a Full Detroit Locker and 4;56 gears, stock brakes, coil pads, etc came with it, full bolt-in replacement for $1850. About 300+ cheaper than most places online.

 

Is that a full aluminum unit? Man, the price is great, but I wonder if I coulf handle the customizing?

 

yeah it's full alum. You could handle the modifications, it wasn't that bad but just being a tad taller he had to angle it in and redo the mounting a bit to facilitate that.

 

I'm getting some pics developed for this install I did on my 97 Z28, with some special instructions, I'll shoot em in PowerPoint with some details, I don't really have a place to store them online, etc maybe Yahoo Photos or something.

I will say for 185 bucks it was worth the 4 hour install. There are some cooling hose variations, couple fittings to make the head bleeding setup work, and minor mounting modifcations, but well worth saving 250-300 using the Universal over the direct fit Be-Kool or Griffin.

I'll also post the part #'s etc. If your interested shoot me a PM and I'll send you what I get put together. Until I can host pics online I'll just PM them vs posting a link (which I don't have yet).