[DeTomaso] radiator deal

Fri Feb 25 01:33:17 EST 2011

I have a single pass aluminum radiator that Quella built using a design
sheet that I sent him.  It includes two oversize spal fans in an aluminum
shroud.  All the seams and tubes are tig welded with absolutely no epoxy.
Since installing this radiator, there have been no episodes of gradual heat
soak overheating that occurred with the previous dual pass aluminum radiator
(which was replaced after the epoxy sealing the water tubes cracked).

One thing to think through for a single pass is placement of the coolant
inlet and outlet on the radiator body.  Ideally, inlet and outlet on a
single pass radiator should be on diagonally opposite corners, and placed as
far into the corners as possible.  This is completely different from the
typical two-pass radiator (i.e. stock Pantera locations) where both the
inlet and outlet are on the same side of the radiator and usually somewhat
centrally located rather than at the extreme top and bottom.  The under-car
coolant plumbing will have to be repositioned to connect to a single pass
radiator.  And you will probably find that a Pantera also has obstructions
such as the headlight bar (on a lay down radiator) and/or the lower cross
member that may compromise the ideal inlet and outlet positions.  I ended up
doing some hammer modifications to get everything to fit.  Another
consideration is whether to have 45 or 90 degree aluminum bends in the
inlet/outlet pipes where they contact the radiator and how everything will
connect to the under car plumbing (set up for single pass).  I ended up
using one welded on aluminum 90 degree bend (which has to be perfectly
oriented by the way) and one silicon 90 degree elbow which can be rotated
slightly to allow easier connections to the under car tubes.

None of this work is all that difficult, but don't expect converting to a
single pass radiator will be completely plug and play.

Dave Bell

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
[mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of Ken Green
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 4:41 PM
To: detomaso at realbig.com; JDeRyke at aol.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] radiator deal

Jack,

    I have run into several people that think a single pass radiator is
better in a Pantera because the cooling system is limited by flow rate. 
Basically, the system is already overly restricted, and using a multi-pass
radiator just makes it worse.  The water flow can't keep up with a high flow
water pump, and cavitation results, providing a coolant flow with a lot of
bubbles to the engine which reduces cooling.  Dennis (Mad Dawg) could not
control temp with a Fluidyne radiator, and has been able to control the temp
with a big four row single pass Ron Davis super speedway radiator.  I also
have been told that Quella (I have not verified this) now sells a single row
Ron Davis radiator, and John Taphorn is using a single pass radiator with
excellent results as he documented here:

http://www.spacecitypanteras.com/Technical/Pantera_Cooling-JTaphorn.pdf

   I have run into people who did a lot of research and came to the same
conclusions John did.  Basically that increased flow rate is necesary for
high HP, and the flow rate is limited by the Pantera cooling system design,
and by multi-pass radiators in particular.

Ken

--- On Thu, 2/24/11, JDeRyke at aol.com <JDeRyke at aol.com> wrote:

From: JDeRyke at aol.com <JDeRyke at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] radiator deal
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Thursday, February 24, 2011, 11:35 AM

In a message dated 2/24/11 11:15:18 AM, chrisvkimball at msn.com writes:

> Do you know of any members that might be interested in purchasing a
> aluminum radiator for there Pantera? Someone on eBay is selling them for
480.00
> with a buy it now or best offer.
>
Thats about what I paid for a known-quality Fluidyne rad. There are two
basic construction methods for aluminum rads: all-welded and partially
welded
with epoxy sealant. Failure rate of the epoxy types is much higher. Next,
there are two configurations: single pass & double pass; double pass is more
efficient and is how your stock Pantera cooling system is configured.
Finally,
Fluidyne is an all-welded, two-pass, three-row rad, and is a bolt-in. There
are single row rads for drag racing and two-row types (both cheaper to
build), and some need adaption. I haven't looked on E-Bay, but any purchaser
should look for all the above features, then call his Pantera vendor and
make
his best deal.
FWIW, the economy is getting worse and the Chinese are flooding us with
"almost-speed parts".   We're losing known-good suppliers rapidly. Barry
Grant
just declared bankruptcy and there are more lining up. Support your vendors!

End of rant- J DeRyke
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