'MIGHT' be time for a new Radiator?

[Snake]

4/29/15
62497 miles

Ron Davis radiator 18vp9502 from Jon B.
Snake oyl 28242022200 water pump & Gasket
Mishimoto silicone hoses & clamps mmhose-vip-96 ebay
2 gal distilled water 2 gal zerex g05 anti-freeze o'riellys

[dave6666]

Year and a half & 6000 miles a go!!

They may have improved their design then. I heard they had. My first one started leaking after a few months and the warranty replacement leaked new out of the box as I tested it before the reinstall. I have never had interest in that brand since. Went with a Roe then and it failed almost as quickly and just as miserably. Their warranty epoxy repair lasted about a month. And safe to say I've never had further interest in their product again. Sean told me the reason they were doing their own was that the Fluidyne, which used to be their typical aftermarket replacement, had gone the way of cheap Chinese junk. Not sure of the current status of that radiator, although my interest was due to an overall thicker tank - 4" vs 3". But with my triple fan setup and 110+ ambient 160+ pavement temps I'm able to keep cool sitting in traffic with just the 3" OEM size tanks. So have not followed up with Roe / Fluidyne on the quality matters.

While on the subject of 3-pass radiators, which the RDR is, the Roe house brand is, and my current radiator is, I may have discovered the weak point in that design having finally failed one after 5 years and 25K miles. All that service in the hot Texas climate mind you. But anyway, you are taking the flow path and dividing it by 3 as the tanks are now split into multiple chambers. So given the theoretical same flow but with 1/3 the flow path a 3x the flow length, safe to say the pressure on the inlet of the radiator went way up. As I did the autopsy on it you could follow the flow path and see that up until about halfway across the 2nd third of the radiator that the tubes had swelled, which collapsed the fins between them, and ultimately caused a rupture of a tube right near the radiator inlet. But given the unacceptable life of the other brands that I've tried, I'll take 5 years / 25K miles any day.

[Coloviper]

Does Griffin make a unit for the Viper? I have a dual pass, Busch Grand National spec radiator with two 1300scfm fans and aluminum shroud on my 408cid S351R Saleen and love it. Solved my heat problems on that blown S351 I have. High quality and American made. Had to create my own upper mounts and a Painless relay power circuits but zero issues for 7 years afterwards and still no issues today. Not in a Viper but if they had a model that fit, it might be a good way to go.

[dave6666]

Does Griffin make a unit for the Viper? I have a dual pass, Busch Grand National spec radiator with two 1300scfm fans and aluminum shroud on my 408cid S351R Saleen and love it. Solved my heat problems on that blown S351 I have. High quality and American made. Had to create my own upper mounts and a Painless relay power circuits but zero issues for 7 years afterwards and still no issues today. Not in a Viper but if they had a model that fit, it might be a good way to go.

I know they made at least one. Mike had it.

On you other car, what was the radiator you replaced with the Griffin? And how did the dual fans and shroud cool with it before you put the Griffin in?

[Coloviper]

I know they made at least one. Mike had it.

On you other car, what was the radiator you replaced with the Griffin? And how did the dual fans and shroud cool with it before you put the Griffin in?

Dave, prior to the Griffin, it was suppose to have the 1995 Saleen S351R Upgraded 3-Core hi-flo radiator from the factory with a dual speed but single large electric fan and plastic shroud. Not sure what Saleen used then but thought it was a factory Mustang 5.0 Rad that was recored to Saleen specs. When I started to have some heat issues (some was tune, some was crap radiator), I took a look at it and Saleen never upgraded the rad (as per the MRSP sheet) and it still had the factory 5.0 2-core rad in it.

In 1999 Saleen came out with a fix on those 1999 Saleen S351Rs and it was this Griffin Dual Pass Busch Grand National Spec radiator set up. I put that in my 1995 S351R and wired up some extra protection relays from a Painless Wiring kit since those big SCFM fan draw big current. It completely solved the issue.

I will see if I can dig up part number and pictures.

[Coloviper]

On my Saleen I needed a radiator overflow bottle like from Jegs - Be-Cool Radiator Overflow Tank Part #70058; just paint it semi gloss black and it fades away in the design. Finally you will need to add in a Dual Activation, Dual Fan Electronic Relay kit from Painless Performance Products, Jegs PRF-30116.

Still trying to find part number of the Griffin Radiator and Dual SPAL shroud but was similar to this: http://www.griffinrad.com/load_detai...ge&model=Racer