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drolston · 10-12-2017, 09:47 AM

I went for the shiny Champion radiator, rated for 500 HP, for my '41 coupe. I have been fighting overheating at idle ever since. They have plenty of tube and fin surface area which gives them great cooling capacity, but only if you get enough air through them. And that is a problem because the air passages are so restricted. At idle, my stock fan would not even hold a sheet of notebook paper to the front of the radiator. I added a shroud around the fan and now the air flow is improved at idle, but it still gets over 210 at idle on a hot day. No problem at speed.

My advice would be to restore the stock radiator.

10-12-2017, 09:47 AM	#7
drolston Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 1,627	Re: 42ford half ton radiator I went for the shiny Champion radiator, rated for 500 HP, for my '41 coupe. I have been fighting overheating at idle ever since. They have plenty of tube and fin surface area which gives them great cooling capacity, but only if you get enough air through them. And that is a problem because the air passages are so restricted. At idle, my stock fan would not even hold a sheet of notebook paper to the front of the radiator. I added a shroud around the fan and now the air flow is improved at idle, but it still gets over 210 at idle on a hot day. No problem at speed. My advice would be to restore the stock radiator.