[chrisp]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

I chose the cold case since my 455 with the 3 row was not staying cool. Rather than get a typical 4 row brass (as in original equip with a 455), i figured since spending $ anyway might as well try out the aluminum per others' recommendation. Don't know how it would compare to the 4 row brass, don't have one to compare, but the cold case does the job!

George

Was the 3 row a champion or GM ? I would like to compare cold case to Champion .

[Stripes]

I ran another test yesterday with my new Cold Case radiator. Before with a 4 core brass OE radiator the 469 with 3:55 gears in this Firebird convertible would run 190F below 50 mph, and 230+F at 70 mph, per my new SW gauge. Before the radiator change, I tried a 160 thermostat, a new Flowcooler water pump, reduced the backing plate gap from 1/4" to a hair above the impeller, a smaller water pump pulley. It actually ran 5 degrees warmer with the Flowcooler water pump! The other changes made no improvement in cooling visible on the gauge. I switched to the Cold Case radiator and driving around town (<50mph) temps went to 170F (running a regular 165F thermostat), and at constant 75mph in 96F temps over 30 minutes was a solid 180-185F. Never hit 190F. The only issue left is after a long run at 75, if I stop and sit at a light or in traffic, it still will go to about 200F. It drops like a stone as soon as I start moving, not a real concern, but I have a new severe duty Hayes fan clutch and a factory 19" fan, so I'm surprised, with all the factory baffles and such.

[george kujanski]

Chrisp.....the 3 row was a harrison brass....Obviously not OEM on my GTO. I bought it that way from the PO.

George

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by chrisp

I would like to compare cold case to Champion .

Isn't that what the original post here did?

[Ccass]

It is true that we can all argue the merits of copper/brass vs aluminum but the real world results and comparisons are what should matter. The couple of stories in this topic inspired me to tell my stor. My story is probably the main reason why I started the Cold Case brand. I have a 462 dual quad carb intake motor 67 GTO that many of you have probably seen over the years. . From about 2005 to 2013. each year we traveled to the Woodward Dream Cruise for the week with the GTO. I can't tell you how many times I had to pull over on Woodward to avoid spewing fluid all over the road if I got stuck in traffic. Several times I was too late. Either way it was frustrating and embarrassing. At the time we were trying to promote our Pypes exhaust products and it wasn't helping that the car would run so hot. It seemed like no matter what we did, each year, the car kept running hot when stuck in traffic. Once the car got moving, the temps would come right down to 190. That sounds clearly like an air flow problem, right? I had a 4 core copper/brass radiator with stock fan/shroud combo. Tried multiple fan clutches, thermostats, water pumps, ac seal kit etc.nothing seemed to make a difference. Then I. upgraded to a Rodney Red big core dual 1" aluminum radiator with electric fans/shroud combination and ran a little better but all it did was delay the overheating. Finally found an even bigger radiator from Mark V out of Michigan I believe and had a custom fan shroud designed with 2 Spal fans. (Spal fans are by far the most expensive on the market but also considered the best pulling fans) Jack pot! The GTO cruised Woodward at 190-195 all week the last couple years we did Woodward. Finally!

So what was suppose to be just an air flow problem, ended up requiring a higher volume radiator and more air flow to achieve a practical solution.. It took both components and about $1500 to get the job done.

So now it is 2017, I own and run a performance radiator company and my 67 GTO still had that same old radiator combination in it because I'm pretty sure that the then current Cold Case dual 1" core offering is just not big enough to get the job done for my car. So I set out to make a 64-67 Super Duty High output GTO radiator kit. This Spring we swapped out that perfectly good $1500 setup and installed one of the new SD/HO kits we had been working on. That's our SD/HO radiator, aluminum shroud and our own dual 12" fans. We picked a super hot day and drove it all over town, let it idle for 30 minutes, drove it around town again. Took it out on the highway. Ran errands with it. Basically beat on it for about 5 hours. The same mechanical gauge read 190-195 which was the exact same temp the $1500 kit ran for the last 6-7 years. So in this case we're not claiming that Cold Case is better than that $1500 radiator kit but we are claiming it's just as good at less than 1/2 the price. The kit retails for under $700!


Now this kit is certainly not needed for most GTO owners. I had a big and maybe somewhat inefficient motor that just needed more volume to get the job done.
My story also answers a question we also get asked all the time......'how can these 12" fans pull enough air when they only draw under 10 amps each?. You can't compare your fans to Spal at less than 1/2 the price' The truth is I honestly don't know but we proved that they work! So yes we can compare them.


Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[Mister Pontiac]

Thanks Chris for that story. And thanks to others who have contributed.

I too am on the hunt for a new radiator for my 72 LeMans (which will soon be receiving a 455 transplant), so I am reading a lot on the topic again. Living in the desert as I do, and daily driving with the A/C on, I need the best cooling I can get. I am now looking to the Cold Case myself as I know my original core isn’t likely to cut it going forward.

[chrisp]

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

Isn't that what the original post here did?

No. their was 3

Champion's 4 row
Eastwood's 2 row, triple pass
Cold Case 2 row, triple pass.

[OCMDGTO]

I put my Cold Case through the wringer yesterday driving home from the Pypes show 160 miles in 95 degree heat and lots of stop and go traffic on the highway with no issues at all.

[JMB36TA]

This thread is very informative and I came across it at the perfect time. The 400 in my 69 Firebird was consistently running at 230. Living in southern Arizona where temps go from 70s in the winter to well over 100 for a couple months straight in the summer, I knew I had to do something. I had a rebuild planned so I put in a high flow water pump and set a close gap between the blades and plate, and replaced the thermostat with a 180. There was no change in the temp after the rebuild. It's still at 230. The next thing on my list is the radiator, which is what brought me to this thread. After reading all the stories and comparisons I feel confident with the Cold Case. Big tubes or small tubes, more tubes or less tubes, copper or aluminum, those things don't matter. The only thing that matters to me are the results and it seems like everyone who used the Cold Case reported better cooling engines. I'd like to be in the 190 club too.

[Speargun]

One new update on my cooling woes & cures:
I removed my thermostat the other day & now my car run 185 to 195 consistently. At idle, it will climb to about 190 where the second fan kicks on and then drop back down to 180 where both fans turn off.
Temps around here have been in the high 90's with a "feels like" temp of 108-113!

[400 4spd.]

All of this feed back about the different aluminum radiators on the market has led me to order a Cold Case this week. It's going into a customer's car, and because he lives 10 hours away in Atlanta I need to be confident that what I deliver to him will be trouble free.