[GtoFM]

I picked up a Champion aluminum radiator at Norwalk this wknd I will use it until I want to afford re-coring my original. My '64 389 is all iron. Anyone using a sacrificial anode? Most are designed to install in place of the petcock. If I put it there, I will fit up a tee and use both. Some are incorporated into the radiator cap.

Your thoughts on if needed or not and what style and location. TIA

[78w72]

test the system to verify of you have an electrolysis issue going on, if not no need for a anode rod. if so, its best to verify what is causing it & correct that, make sure all ground wires are installed correctly. if there is an issue & you cant or dont want to fix it, then an anode rod is a bandaid to help slow or stop the damage to the radiator.

i have champion radiator in a 72 firebird street car and have a couple friends that use them too, excellent radiators in general but cant be beat for the price. mine is 7+ years old with no signs of damage or electrolysis, friends has been in use in a race car for 12+ years & doing fine too.

https://www.griffinrad.com/electroly...ing%20properly.

[Ccass]

yep! Easy to test if you have current running through your radiator. If not, no need for a Anode. Even if you do have current, fix your ground and you are all set.

[GtoFM]

Thanks guys!

[ZeGermanHam]

Agree that it's easy to test for. I put an anode in mine just as an extra safety precaution.

[Don 79 TA]

i just put one in that replaces the drain petcock
cheap insurance, but then again it's been a while since i bought one
i hadn't seen any issues with it, nor seen it wear, i'd assume if there was an issue the tip would errode down?

[chrisp]

Stay away from GM orange Dexcool it is very troublesome. It is reactive with many types of gasket materials, also becomes very aggressive in attacking metals when air gets into the system. GM had and has a lot of trouble with this stuff, it does not tolerate any lack of owner maintenance and will make one hell of a mess if any leakage or a failure of the recovery system lets air into the cooling system. From simplicity and reliability old fashion green coolant is very good.

For the most part pressure kills aluminum radiators especially those with 1 inch and larger width tubes, when getting into cap pressures above 12 psi many of these radiators will balloon their tubes.

Keep tap water out of the cooling system, it comes with too many metal salts, chlorine, and sometimes fluorine; these things will etch the metal parts, especially any aluminum, and can act as an electrolyte making the coolant conductive as well as chemically active. Use either deionized or distilled water to dilute the coolant.

Zinc, on an activity scale, is not sufficiently far enough from aluminum to be very useful. Works better with copper, brass, and iron but it offers little if any protection for aluminum. Grounding of the radiator and heater is useful, these are in more modern designs mounted in rubber or plastic, so if the coolant is the least bit conductive these electrically floating parts will etch out. A big help is to ensure the engine is well grounded, especially the heads and intake should have independent grounds rather than hope the head bolts which are often installed with sealer are making a grounding connection with the block such that the transient spark voltages are grounded out through structure rather than coolant.

[Geoff]

I had a custom alum rad made for my GTO. I had a lug brazed onto one of the tanks so that I could run a ground wire to the bat. Has been in the car for 25 yrs, still like new. I use pre-mixed coolant..