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Aluminum radaitor on a cummins & Electric fans

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My soon to start conversion-'80 K20

Rad Hose for a GMC/Chevy Conversion

Would ones of those radaitor setups from Flexlite or be cool handle



a 6bt in a suburban conversion ???????????



Thanks



Donovan
 
thats what i did when i put a 5. 9 in my old 79 ford. I used a radiator off of ebay that a guys sells brand new. I think the brand is northern. Summit sells the same radiator but alot more expensive from them. I then went with dual flexalite fans. I would get a little warm at 90 + degrees outside sitting in traffic but once you were driving or towing it never got hot. So to answer your question, yes you can use a setup like that
 
Works great in mine. The radiator is from a '96 Dodge Cummins, and the FAL unit is the one they sell for GMC Duramax's (#284) - good to 18,000lbs GVW. They're 6,000CFM. I like the idea of good cooling at low speed/rpm and at idle...



Nice bonus is that they come with an excellent shroud. It wasn't hard to fab the brackets - I made a few measurements, whipped up some drawings on Visio, and took it to a local shop to have them cut out of aluminum (diamond-plate for the top, plain bendable aluminum for each side). Cost $35 for all three.



Of course if you have something in the rig now and it's working, I wouldn't spend a lot just to change... ?



In planning stages to do a conversion?



Mark

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DVolk said:
Would ones of those radaitor setups from Flexlite or be cool handle



a 6bt in a suburban conversion ???????????



Thanks



Donovan
 
Aluminum Radaitor

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!



Yes im going /in process of doing a conversion .



My engine didnt come with the fan hub assy ,i still need to find a gen 1 harmonic balancer if any one has a good one , i sold the stock 6. 2 radaitor ,



id just like to find a good inter cooler ,and either use a 4 core gas radaitor or go the aluminum one ,what evers best for economics and performance .



hopefully my profile with trucks will attach if not how ?????????????? to do so



I was on the side lines reading postr now i can answer post finally !!!!!!!! Oo.
 
HOpe the conversion goes well for you. We absolutely love ours. I currently have a gm gas radiator and a ford intercooler. My fan does not have a shroud and it gets warm on me. I am getting ready to order an electric fan setup. I wanted to use the duramax electric fan from Flexlite but my radiator isn't large enough. I still may try to make it work.



Shane
 
Does anyone know what cfm's a stock dodge radiator puts out at specified rpm? I would love to find that information but haven't been able to yet.
 
Aluminum Radaitor

How much bigger is the Duramazs radaitor ?? Id never use one those Plastic

tanks never work they all tend to leak ,my dad was in the radaitor buisness for 30 years so i can get any thing built . The 6. 2 would of been been too think and a hassel to try to work an inter cooler ,im not even shure if a stock gen 1 unit wouldnt be a wise choice any ideas ??????????,since i want the ac working as well , the stock 87 1 ton duallys had a pusher electric fan on the truck stock plus the solid fan but those were in the 454s only that i know of ,

when i was young and dumb ,i almost bought one . :cool:
 
I just used the stock radiator in my Sub. It works well. I get a little warm now but I basically do not have a fan. I have no shroud and my fan is about 3" away from the radiator. Hopefully, that will be changed within a month.
 
Aluminum Radaitor

How did you get 3" of room ? Whose mounts and style did you use ,every photo ive seen theres less than that ,im not oppose to useing the stock setup its just which one and if i can locate one . If any body that has the complete assembly from the block out and a harmonic balancer/buttom pully combo . Id be iterested in buying it to fit a gen 1 engine . As well as id like to find either a aftercooler or intercooler that will work as well .

Last stuff I bought on line was junk and sent them back and took for ever to get my $$$ back :(
 
DVolk said:
How did you get 3" of room ? Whose mounts and style did you use ,every photo ive seen theres less than that ,im not oppose to useing the stock setup its just which one and if i can locate one . If any body that has the complete assembly from the block out and a harmonic balancer/buttom pully combo . Id be iterested in buying it to fit a gen 1 engine . As well as id like to find either a aftercooler or intercooler that will work as well .

Last stuff I bought on line was junk and sent them back and took for ever to get my $$$ back :(



I have tons of room. My brother got the mounts. Not sure exactly but it was from someone in Arizona, I think. I did have to put a 3" body lift. My brother then put a Cummins in his Suburban and he made his own mounts. He only has about 2. 5" from the radiator to the engine. He is struggling right now trying to get an electric fan that puts out enough air but is small enough to fit in his space. The engine stays cool but his a/c won't stay cool on a warm day and if he is stopped.
 
We have installed factory dodge diesel radiators in nearly all the conversions we did. ('94 and newer designs which are aluminum with plastic tanks). The cummins fan will out perform any electric unit made that I've seen to date, not to mention any other clutch fan in the light duty truck application.

Suburban's have plenty of room to run the dodge radiators and innercoolers without issue. (both the old straigh axle bodystyles as well as the IFS 1992 and newer). I have done several of each while working with Kenny at autoworld as well as on my own since then His # is 406 727 8915, just give him a call, he has good prices on factory dodge compatible parts that will fit with little mod's to the core support besides spacing the A/C condensor and headlight mounts a little bit. I like the dodge radiator mounts because they have rubber isolated mounts top and bottom, not to mention allow for OEM radiator hoses from a dodge without alot of searching for other application curved hoses. (a very important issue to think of when you pop a hose on the road somewhere).

The aftermarket radiator's are nice, but I have not seen a good mounting system for them that allows for vibration dampening like the rubber isolators on the dodge radiator's. I'm open to links or product pics/model #'s that have rubber mounts if anyone has found one.

One other reason I like using parts that are a factory part from a manufacturer is to give an adjuster a way to list out parts in the event of an insurance claim. Most will total out a vehicle if they can't just input part#'s off of their spreadsheets and cost estimater program. It's hard enough to fight with them to repair the non factory engine as is it is most of the time.

I've never had a complaint of overheating with this solution, even in the boiling hot middle of the summer in the mountains.

The factory dodge innercooler will fit into the GM core supports if you reindex the charge cooler's inlet and outlet neck's to the outside. This requires cutting them and tig welding them back on 180 degrees from stock, but it is well worth it for the space it gives you.



That's my feelings and solution on it for what its worth. [/
 
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Aluminum Radaitor in Suburban/Cummins

Does any one have a photo ,or better yet an entercooler thats been set up

and ready to bolt in a suburban ???????



Ive heard that the 92 radaitor will fit the gm core support better ,will the stock ac squeeze in there as well or does a person use the dodge one there too ????
 
DVolk said:
Does any one have a photo ,or better yet an entercooler thats been set up

and ready to bolt in a suburban ???????



Ive heard that the 92 radaitor will fit the gm core support better ,will the stock ac squeeze in there as well or does a person use the dodge one there too ????

There is no "bolt in" solution, everything you find will need to be fitted since it is not factory optioned. Even the aftermarket radiators for a specific truck usually require mods to mount them unless they specifically say "meets OEM spec's". The 2nd generation dodge innercoolers and radiators are the easiest to fit up and also remain dependable long term. The old style Dodge radiator mounts (88 to 93) do not hold the tanks as well as the second generation (94 to 2001 ish)

Banks was selling a turbo kit for the olde suburban a while back, they may have innercoolers to fit the GM radiator, but the GM radiators that we've used have leaked through the header plates more times than not. This is why the 2 nd generation dodge radiators are such a good option for the suburbans and same bodystyle GM pickups, the radiator and innercoolers out of a dodge are designed to fit within millimeters of one another. It gives you the tightest fitment you could ask for without trying to fabricate a custom assembly that you'll not be able to replace quickly when you hit something like a deer, dog, human, car etc. Think beyond the install, think about day to day issues like this when selecting parts.
 
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Aluminum Radaitor in Suburban/Cummins

Some people Ive talked to say since mine is an 83 that Im better off to use a gen ,92/93 cooler and radaitor because the core supports are diffrent

on the later ones /89 to 91 .



I thought that banks or ats made a cooler as well so one would have to check , i thought of anouther idea ,other than finding an old industral after cooler ,is to check out some of the large case magnum tractors were powerd by 5. 9 L cummins had some intercoolers on them and compact in size any body seen one to verify ?????????
 
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