[DeTomaso] fluidyne radiator

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/21/14 12 20 22, michaelbarnessrt10 at hotmail.co.uk 
writes:


> Anywhere in England  i can get a new Fluidyne or similar radiator ,chaps
> 

>>>I don't know of any Fluidyne radiator retailers in England.

One of the world's premier radiator manufacturers is located in the 
industrial park at Silverstone raceway:

http://www.dockingengineering.com/products.html

They make all the cooling bits for most of the F-1 teams, among other 
things.

I have driven a Pantera equipped with one of their radiators.   It was 
exquisitely built, fantastically expensive, and didn't cool worth a damn.   
However, I don't blame them--the owner of the car is a fanatic about light 
weight, and he specified that he wanted a radiator that was smaller than stock to 
cut down on the weight of the water it carried!!!!   His 'reasoning' was 
that England rarely gets hot enough to tax a car's cooling system.   I drove 
his car to Italy in summer heat, and the temp needle hovered in the red zone 
the entire time, but it never technically 'overheated'.

So, having said all that, I'm sure they could build you a proper radiator 
that was adequately sized for the job (I'd use the existing unit as a 
template for sizing purposes).   

Having said all THAT, if it was my money being spent, I'd bypass the whole 
aluminum radiator thing and just get a drop-in brass replacement from Hall 
Pantera:

http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&
item=20270

Simply put, these things are terrific.   They have something like 30% 
greater heat dissapation versus the stock unit, yet they occupy the same space.   
They come with modern screw-in thermoswitches and diodes to ground the 
cooling fans to the body too, a nice bonus.   The one in my car is more than 20 
years old; this past weekend, I drove my Pantera slowly around Lake Tahoe, 
sometimes grinding up steep hills in first gear behind endless traffic.   My 
539 hp engine never got over 190 degrees.   I could see that the #2 radiator 
fan was cycling on and off, indicating that the cooling system was shedding 
heat efficiently enough that it wasn't needed all the time, and certainly 
was not needed anytime we went more than about 25-30 mph.   The #1 fan would 
shut off when driving on the highway, even climbing almost 8000-foot 
mountains.

Best thing about a brass radiator is that any local shop can repair it.   
If you pick up a rock and hole your Fluidyne radiator, it goes into the bin.

I am using the matching drop-in-replacement pusher fans:

http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&
item=20271

Great stuff there too.

Mike
-------------- next part --------------
   In a message dated 10/21/14 12 20 22, michaelbarnessrt10 at hotmail.co.uk
   writes:

     Anywhere in England  i can get a new Fluidyne or similar radiator
     ,chaps

   >>>I don't know of any Fluidyne radiator retailers in England.
   One of the world's premier radiator manufacturers is located in the
   industrial park at Silverstone raceway:
   http://www.dockingengineering.com/products.html
   They make all the cooling bits for most of the F-1 teams, among other
   things.
   I have driven a Pantera equipped with one of their radiators.  It was
   exquisitely built, fantastically expensive, and didn't cool worth a
   damn.  However, I don't blame them--the owner of the car is a fanatic
   about light weight, and he specified that he wanted a radiator that was
   smaller than stock to cut down on the weight of the water it
   carried!!!!  His 'reasoning' was that England rarely gets hot enough to
   tax a car's cooling system.  I drove his car to Italy in summer heat,
   and the temp needle hovered in the red zone the entire time, but it
   never technically 'overheated'.
   So, having said all that, I'm sure they could build you a proper
   radiator that was adequately sized for the job (I'd use the existing
   unit as a template for sizing purposes).
   Having said all THAT, if it was my money being spent, I'd bypass the
   whole aluminum radiator thing and just get a drop-in brass replacement
   from Hall Pantera:
   http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&ite
   m=20270
   Simply put, these things are terrific.  They have something like 30%
   greater heat dissapation versus the stock unit, yet they occupy the
   same space.  They come with modern screw-in thermoswitches and diodes
   to ground the cooling fans to the body too, a nice bonus.  The one in
   my car is more than 20 years old; this past weekend, I drove my Pantera
   slowly around Lake Tahoe, sometimes grinding up steep hills in first
   gear behind endless traffic.  My 539 hp engine never got over 190
   degrees.  I could see that the #2 radiator fan was cycling on and off,
   indicating that the cooling system was shedding heat efficiently enough
   that it wasn't needed all the time, and certainly was not needed
   anytime we went more than about 25-30 mph.  The #1 fan would shut off
   when driving on the highway, even climbing almost 8000-foot mountains.
   Best thing about a brass radiator is that any local shop can repair
   it.  If you pick up a rock and hole your Fluidyne radiator, it goes
   into the bin.
   I am using the matching drop-in-replacement pusher fans:
   http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&ite
   m=20271
   Great stuff there too.
   Mike