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Which aftermarket radiator?

JCSIX13

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Agreed, we're not competing in NASCAR and most of us have dual purpose (street/track) cars that aren't dedicated track rats.
It's terrific that C&R made a drop in unit for the Mustang, it's just unfortunate that it's overbuilt for what 99% of people are doing. I think Fluidyne and DeWitts hit the sweet spot. I didn't want to do a 3 core and dual 1.25" cores provides the capacity without the 3rd core.
I am pretty confident that just the increased cooling capacity will help tremendously.
please let us know how it works for you.

Thanks
Jack
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EFI

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How thick is the Fluidyne one? I thought I saw it being 2.5" also.

To those that responded in the thread, thanks for the input. After much deliberation I opted for the dual 1.25" core from DeWitts. I went that route for the following reasons:
-Largest dual core option that I could find
-Limited lifetime warranty
-Subsidiary company of Afco
-Lots and lots of positive feedback from the Corvette community on DeWitts solving cooling problems on high horsepower engines
-Excellent phone support. The tech guy (Jesse) at DeWitts spent a lot of time answering my questions and was more concerned about my application than trying to get me to buy a radiator.

For those who are considering buying a radiator DeWitts will be having their Black Friday sale in a few weeks (the week of Thanksgiving) and will be offering 10% (possibly 15%) off plus free shipping making the price pretty reasonable. After that, for those that want to buy a radiator, I was told that DeWitts would support a group buy which I am happy to kick off if there is interest.
 
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turbofiveoh

turbofiveoh

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Fluidyne states their radiator is 2.5" thick (29" L x 20.5" H x 2.5" D). The external dimensions of the DeWitts radiator are not published, unfortunately. Once I get the radiator I'll take measurements. Because the cores themselves are 1.25" thick I estimate the radiator, itself, to be over 3" thick.
 

EFI

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Fluidyne states their radiator is 2.5" thick (29" L x 20.5" H x 2.5" D). The external dimensions of the DeWitts radiator are not published, unfortunately. Once I get the radiator I'll take measurements. Because the cores themselves are 1.25" thick I estimate the radiator, itself, to be over 3" thick.
Oh so core thickness x number of cores =/= overall thickness dimensions?
 
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turbofiveoh

turbofiveoh

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Correct. As I understand it, the additional thickness comes from the spacing between the cores and the fins and plates.
 

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turbofiveoh

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The radiator got here this week and it looks to be very well built.
11.jpg

Large 1.25" tubes:
12.jpg

The radiator was thinner than expected because the upper plate was sized to the fins, not the tanks:
01.jpg

Here is the PP radiator compared to the DeWitts:
03.jpg


The ac condenser clips are aluminum blocks welded to the tanks with slits cut into them so the condenser needs to be lined up perfectly when the radiator in getting installed. It's a pain in arse to get the clips into the slots. Having a second person would be have made the job much easier.
02.jpg


The fan shroud goes on pretty easily and I would strongly recommend adding fender washers to between the head of the bolt and the fan shroud. I would also recommend adding some thread locker so the bolts don't vibrate loose:
05.jpg


From here installation is pretty straightforward. I pulled the foam strip from the top of the stock radiator and re-installed it on the new radiator. Don't know if it's necessary, but it was easy enough.
The thickness of the radiator has the AC condenser tight up against the plastic core support. It's at the very top edge behind the hood latch. The next time I have the bumper off I'll trim that section of plastic so the condenser has more room. It's no more than .125" that is touching.
13.jpg


Unless you want to drill new holes for the radiator mounts you'll need to pull back on the radiator in order to get the bolts started because of the contract between the AC condense and the plastic core. It's a tight fit but it does fit.
10.jpg


For the people with Whipple superchargers, the clearance between the serpentine belt and the upper radiator hose is now very close due to the added thickness of the radiator:
06.jpg


It was too close for my liking so I cut 1.5" off of the upper radiator hose and reinstalled the hose.
07.jpg


The spacing between the belt and the upper hose is now much better. There's plenty of slack in the upper hose so there are no kinks or anything to worry about after removing 1.5" from the radiator end of the hose.
08.jpg


Still need to fill the radiator with water and I figure while I've got the car up in the air I might as well change the oil...so I haven't driven it yet. Once I get it filled up and get a chance to drive it hard I'll provide an update on how the new radiator does on keeping the engine cool.
 
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turbofiveoh

turbofiveoh

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Finally had a chance to drive the car and the results were encouraging. Under similar conditions the CHTs are generally 10-15 degrees cooler than the OEM PP radiator. Where I saw the biggest improvement is the time it takes for CHT to climb above "normal" and how quickly the CHT recovers. The DeWitts radiator holds about 40% more coolant than the OEM PP radiator.

To test: Before changing the radiator I subjected the car to a pretty hard sustained load at mid RPM range with modulating throttle and saw the CHTs peak at 210. Doing a similar test with the DeWitts radiator the CHT peaked at 193. Under normal cruise the CHT sits at ~175 vs 185 with the OEM PP radiator.

What was really impressive was how quickly the temps recover. Bringing the RPM back normal cruise and reducing the load resulted in the CHT dropping back to 175 in just a few minutes.
After the engine was at operating temp and making some hard pulls to build up the heat I let the car sit and idle for a few minutes and the CHT stopped climbing (or slowed tremendously) at 203. Once the car started moving the CHT dropped back to 175ish pretty quickly.

The true test will be how well the new radiator manages CHT on the road course. So far the results are encouraging.

Edit: Please note that I also have the FRPP "Gen 2" water pump which, according to Ford, increases flow rate by 30%. The water pump has been on the car for a while so the A/B testing described above is reflective of only the radiator swap. However, the larger radiator coupled with the increased coolant flow may be resulting in better performance.
 
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Hostil

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Finally had a chance to drive the car and the results were encouraging. Under similar conditions the CHTs are generally 10-15 degrees cooler than the OEM PP radiator. Where I saw the biggest improvement is the time it takes for CHT to climb above "normal" and how quickly the CHT recovers. The DeWitts radiator holds about 40% more coolant than the OEM PP radiator.

To test: Before changing the radiator I subjected the car to a pretty hard sustained load at mid RPM range with modulating throttle and saw the CHTs peak at 210. Doing a similar test with the DeWitts radiator the CHT peaked at 193. Under normal cruise the CHT sits at ~175 vs 185 with the OEM PP radiator.

What was really impressive was how quickly the temps recover. Bringing the RPM back normal cruise and reducing the load resulted in the CHT dropping back to 175 in just a few minutes.
After the engine was at operating temp and making some hard pulls to build up the heat I let the car sit and idle for a few minutes and the CHT stopped climbing (or slowed tremendously) at 203. Once the car started moving the CHT dropped back to 175ish pretty quickly.

The true test will be how well the new radiator manages CHT on the road course. So far the results are encouraging.
June of this year I bought a 2015 Mustang GT with Procharger HO kit, upgraded to P1X and Stage 2 intercooler from a good friend of mine who's 65 and never drove the car. Do you think I might have any fitment issues with a Centri?

I've noticed CHT between 212 and 228 in the gas, normal driving 203, red-light and temps are 216 and quickly heading north. I been looking for ways to cool this car before making more hp.

I'll be buying this radiator this week, along with a 170 thermostat and I'm also looking into the MMR head cooling mod. Just wanted to say, thank you for the detailed write up!!
 

Flyhalf

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I have the mishimoto one. Really well done piece. No issues so far.
Btw. Racelouvers vents are much better for also cooling purposes. Lots of datanin their website. However they are way more aggressive than trackspec once.
 

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turbofiveoh

turbofiveoh

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June of this year I bought a 2015 Mustang GT with Procharger HO kit, upgraded to P1X and Stage 2 intercooler from a good friend of mine who's 65 and never drove the car. Do you think I might have any fitment issues with a Centri?

I've noticed CHT between 212 and 228 in the gas, normal driving 203, red-light and temps are 216 and quickly heading north. I been looking for ways to cool this car before making more hp.

I'll be buying this radiator this week, along with a 170 thermostat and I'm also looking into the MMR head cooling mod. Just wanted to say, thank you for the detailed write up!!
It's difficult to say if you will have fitment issues. That being said, the radiator moves everything toward the engine by ~.750-1.000". After looking at some pictures of P1X installs, the primary area of concern would be the inlet tube. If I had to venture a guess I think it will fit...it will just be close.

Edit: I found this thread in which somebody installed a Mishimoto radiator with a procharger and didn't have any issues.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/mishimoto-radiator-with-p1sc1-procharger.80833/
Thickness and placement appear to be very similar to the DeWitts version. If after taking some rough measurements you're concerned about fitment issues Dewitts also has a radiator with 1.000" tubes. The overall thickness of the radiator should shrink by .500" if all else is equal and it will still offer better cooling than the OEM PP radiator.
The other option is to use a Mishimoto since others, like Flyhalf, are having good results and there is documented evidence that it fits with a procharger.
 
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turbofiveoh

turbofiveoh

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I have the mishimoto one. Really well done piece. No issues so far.
Btw. Racelouvers vents are much better for also cooling purposes. Lots of datanin their website. However they are way more aggressive than trackspec once.
Since I only track the car a few times a year I opted for a middle of the road solution that offered vastly improved airflow versus the OEM piece while retaining a quasi-OEM look.

Edit: Trackspec is working on a removable Gurney flap that will improve the extraction performance. I did some yarn testing with their prototype design and with the flap installed the extraction improved tremendously. Without the flap installed only about 20% (if that) of the louver is actually functional. With the flap installed the functionality jumps to 80%+.
 
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Flyhalf

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Since I only track the car a few times a year I opted for a middle of the road solution that offered vastly improved airflow versus the OEM piece while retaining a quasi-OEM look.

Edit: Trackspec is working on a removable Gurney flap that will improve the extraction performance. I did some yarn testing with their prototype design and with the flap installed the extraction improved tremendously. Without the flap installed only about 20% (if that) of the louver is actually functional. With the flap installed the functionality jumps to 80%+.
I did the first test for them a year ago. With the 3 piece 3d printed gurney flap And i still have the side vents from trackspec :)
they are very nice for a main daily car.
It is a great company and John is a great guy.
 
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turbofiveoh

turbofiveoh

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I did the first test for them a year ago. With the 3 piece 3d printed gurney flap And i still have the side vents from trackspec :)
they are very nice for a main daily car.
It is a great company and John is a great guy.
Agreed...John is a really good guy and offers great support. I find the design to be a good aesthetic compromise. A set of the same S550 vents are now installed into the hood of my turbo fox body.
 

shogun32

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with the flap installed the extraction improved tremendously. Without the flap installed only about 20% (if that) of the louver is actually functional.
so why wouldn't someone elect for RaceLouvers if they wanted a product that actually works?
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