All Aluminum Radiator - Looking for Tester - So Cal Only!

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draleu

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Looking for someone in So Cal (prefer LA area) to test immediately - all aluminum 3 row radiator with sensor bungs for fan and temp sensors. Tester have option to purchase radiator at huge discount at the end of testing.

Please pm me for info and requirements.

Thanks.
 

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Great option

I have a custom aluminum radiator installed. It works great and probably shaved 15 lbs, or more, off the front end. It does not look stock, but in a Polaris car it blends in with the paint work. You could paint it black to give it a more stock appearance. This would be a nice upgrade for someone down south.
 

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what is the retail price on something like this?

Mine is looking pretty worn.
One time I wish I was still living in So. Cal.
 
Beautifully constructed. Would not mind getting one for my coupe. Looks like the all aluminum (Wizard Cooling) that I had purchased for my 88 M6.
 
Sorry was in Arizona all day and just got back. Will get to everyone's pm tomorrow.

If all goes well with testing I will have to decide how many to make in the limited production run. I am shooting for $399 + shipping if reaction here is good enough to give me confidence for production. Anyway, please chime in and let me know.

Thanks.
 
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Sven said:
I have a custom aluminum radiator installed. It works great and probably shaved 15 lbs, or more, off the front end. It does not look stock, but in a Polaris car it blends in with the paint work. You could paint it black to give it a more stock appearance. This would be a nice upgrade for someone down south.
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Looks great on the Polaris Sven. Not a stock look but a definite improvement on it.

Johan
 
Draleu, please put me down for one. Great price for what looks to be an outstanding product. For price comparison sakes, paid about $575 for my all aluminum Wizard Cooling E24 M6 radiator, which looks very similar in design and construction to Draleu's fine unit.
 
Wally Siswadji said:
What's the advantage of using aluminum compare to other material, beside lighter.
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That's an awfully good question. Aluminum has about half the thermal conductivity (*) of copper (205 vs. 401 W/(m.K) ) See: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html

* Thermal conductivity is the quantity of heat transmitted through a unit thickness in a direction normal to a surface of unit area, due to a unit temperature gradient under steady state conditions.
 
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Guys, I've just dropped off my fuel tank for cleaning and the business also specialises in radiator builds/ repairs so took the opportunity of asking about aluminium radiators . The owner said that apart from the weight factor , they are also good for dispersing heat ...he provides them for drag race cars and "show" cars . HOWEVER , he said that if they get damaged, they are basically a "throw away" item because they are not repairable ( or not economically so ?)....or may just be an OZ thing ?! :wink:. Some that know a lot more than I do about these things may call BS on what he said but I thought it was worth raising .

Also, from a maintenance perspective, he sad that the coolant in alluminium radiators should be replaced every 3 months and engine flushed every 6 months ...not sure I'm that diligent !!

Cheers, Simon
 
I have had two aluminum radiators for different cars. I have a Koyo in my Miata and it appears to be very well made. I purchased a Mishimoto for my M3 and decided against putting it in and installed a plastic tank Behr instead. I found the fins to be quite soft and flimsy on the Mishimoto. On the E9, I just went with a high efficiency recore and kept the brass tanks. (no idea how well it works at this point)
 
Wally Siswadji said:
What's the advantage of using aluminum compare to other material, beside lighter.
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Much cheaper than copper, internal oxidation stops as Al2O3 forms a semi-ceramic barrier, and stronger than copper/brass.

Most of the newer vehicles benefit greatly from aluminum radiators for durability, rather than performance reasons. Most OEMs now use plastic end tanks with gaskets, which tend to leak after many thermal cycles. Then there's the E39 radiator neck breaking thing.

Older cars with fully-metal radiators (like ours) can see performance improvements due to better core designs, better manufacturing methods, and reduced material requirements. (thin walls mean better thermal gradient, which means better heat transfer if conductivity is constant)
 
x_atlas0 said:
Much cheaper than copper.... Most of the newer vehicles benefit greatly from aluminum radiators for durability, rather than performance reasons. .
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Cost and weight are two reasons for using aluminum:

- Currently, the spot price for Cu is $3.44/lb, while Al is a quarter of that, $.85/lb.

- Pure copper weights about 3.2X as much as pure aluminum (.31 lb/cu in vs. .098 lb/cu in). Of course, these numbers would vary a bit for the the alloys used to build a radiator. Still, for the same material thickness and dimensions, an aluminum radiator would certainly be lighter.

Older cars with fully-metal radiators (like ours) can see performance improvements due to better core designs, better manufacturing methods, and reduced material requirements (thin walls mean better thermal gradient, which means better heat transfer if conductivity is constant).
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Yea, except that thermal conductivity isn't constant - as I wrote in post # 15, for a given thickness, aluminum has about half the thermal conductivity of copper. So the material in a hypothetical aluminum radiator would have to be about half as thick as that in a copper radiator to dissipate heat at the same rate. Since aluminum is stronger, the thickness probably can be reduced somewhat, though probably not by 50%.

An auto manufacturer can design a new car to accommodate a larger radiator to offset the lower heat conductivity of aluminum. At 1/4 the price and 1/3 the weight, a larger aluminum radiator would still compare favorably. But when retrofitting an aluminum radiator into an existing car, you can't simply increase its size.

Please understand that I am not trying to be critical of draleu or his product. I'm sure aluminum radiators are stronger, lighter, and look totally cool. I just wanted to understand under what circumstances aluminum would make a better radiator material than copper.
 
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