The Ford Barn - Radiator Flow test on the car.

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Radiator Flow test on the car.

We were able to flow test a radiator on the car. All we had to do was remove the hoses and hook up our contraption. It looks rough and we had a lot of fun doing it, I think we did get some good numbers.
Do any of you know the flow rate of the modern core with the small tubes? I think it is about 25 GPM. The old core runs around 35 GPM. Here is the video, and I left in some of the out takes. Crazy guys helped me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cDQ...cz4R0&index=84

Re: Radiator Flow test on the car.

Thanks again Jack for posting another informative video. The trial and errors that were experienced in the making of this ( sure to be oscar nomination) video, are a real learning curve for the rest of us. Keep us informed on the road test performance of this rad. As it doesn't get to the 36 gpm that we strive to achieve. Does it push the water out over 45 mph? Thanks Jeff

Re: Radiator Flow test on the car.

We ended up doing it the Redneck way. We plugged the outlet, carefully added water to the radiator while checking for leaks. Then we removed the lower plug and all the water ran out fast, with force. NO leaks. It turned out to be a real good original. We got 4 more to test like that, LOL!

Re: Radiator Flow test on the car.

Radiator flow rates will only find a badly plugged radiator. The core can flow over twice as much water as the outlet at the bottom of the radiator.

I have done a test on an original core I found that the flow rate for all 102 tubes combined was over 75 gal/min. I also found that the outlet at the bottom of the radiator would only allow about 30 gal/min.

A radiator with 1/2 the tubes plugged will have the same flow rate as an unplugged radiator.

Bob

Re: Radiator Flow test on the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Johnson (Post 1517072)

Thanks for sharing that, Bob. That is some very interesting information.

I once had a repro radiator that had less than a full-size hole cut in the lower tank where the outlet was attached. The effective opening looked like maybe a 2/3 full moon. It worked a lot better after I used some drill and grinder bits to open it up. Sorry, I neglected to take a photo. However, here is a picture of my new Brassworks outlet; it looks like it could stand to be opened up some more too, especially now that I know that that opening is much more rate limiting than the core itself!.

Thanks again, Steve