Can I install a big block radiator in my small block burb?

[89Suburban]

Couple of tests:
-It should be pretty stiff to turn when cold (cold=engine hasn't been run yet).

-It should roar for about the first 5-10min after cold start up in the morning, and then go silent. If it doesn't do that, it's dead.

-If you see oil w/ dirt stains on the face around or behind that temp sensing spring, or out of the backside where the shafter enters, it's either dead, or soon will be.

-They don't engage until 230*F so it takes a lot of heat to get one to hook up. But once they do, it actually sounds like the transmission has down shifted because suddenly the engine just roars like a freight train. It's very noticeable inside.

And yes, they are sensing air temp coming through the radiator.

Well, according to that list I can tell you mine must be shot. It only does that cold start roar very rarely. Like once every month or 2. Another part to buy.

 

[austinado16]

Save your money up, and only buy an OEM one from the dealer. The aftermarket ones don't work right, and don't last.

The one I have from GM is about a year or 2 old. Every "cold, ie, hasn't been driven in a long while," start up it roars and then takes about a mile or 2 before it goes silent.

When my gauge gets over in the 230 area, the fan locks up and just roars. Moves so much air I can watch both the coolant and the trans temp gauges move back to normal temps in a matter of minutes.

 

[HotRodPC]

I agree with Todd on this. Some things you just don't skimp on, like Electric Fuel pumps. You get AC or Delphi from the dealership and be done. Same with the fan clutch. Sure you can get aftermarket with a fair or good bearing in it, but it's thermostatic resistance doesn't seem to fare to well. It won't be cheap either, but it'll probably last you another 15-20 years.

 

[smurph20]

Not to change the subject but you all say to buy the AC or Delphi fule pumps when i did that for my S10 it lasted a year and a half and the normal everyday parts house pnes have lasted me five or more years in it. Sometimes i just dont think it matters.

 

[HotRodPC]

There are aftermarket fuel pumps that last just weeks or months. May depend on the model too. For full size trucks, the AC or Dephi is the way to go.

 

[wildcatjason]

I had good luck with a Holley pump I bought from summit. It was about 100 bucks.

 

[austinado16]

IMO, the entire automotive parts industry is on it's ass right now. Just about everything is made in a "3rd World Country" and is basically just a replica of an original. Quality control has been replaced with the mentallity of "I don't give a ****, because this part costs 25 cents to make."

It's become nearly impossible to repair vehicles right the first time. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's almost become a joke. For example, my radiator replacement. A job that should have taken me 48hrs took about 2 weeks. Why? Because I wasn't willing to slap in a Chinese replica part and just hope for the best each time my family and I are out on the road, towing the camper on a vacation, up in the mountains.

The issue of parts quality has completely changed how I work on vehicles....my own, and customers. In the past, if I was doing a radiator R&R on my Suburban, I would have also done the water pump, top and bottom hoses, and heater hose. Instead, I now have the mindset of, "I'd rather have 100,000mi old original parts, that are still good, then replace them with the **** that's being sold today." Like the poster above said, his OEM fuel pump lasted 18mo. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Same thing when I replaced the ACD plug wires with the Bosch wire set. I don't think I got a year out of the Bosch set before they failed. Now a lot of people might say, "Dumb ass, that's what you get for putting non-ACD parts in a small block." To that I say, "Yeah, right. The SBC knows if it's got a non-ACD part hung on it?"

Anyway, I go out of my way to source real OEM parts for anything I work on, and even then, I can't be assured of quality or longevity, and in the case of my radiator, I'll take a used OEM part over a new replica Chinese made part, any day of the week.

 

[austinado16]

Had a nice attack of stupid today.

Remembered that there was a 454 fan and clutch assembly in the bed of the pickup truck where I'd found the 454 radiator shroud. Saw online that they are 7 blade instead of the 5 blade one for the small block.

Went over to the yard, bought it, spent an hour or so screwing with installing it, only to discover that the 454 twists the opposite direction, and upon initiial start up, I had a nice amount of wind blowing out the grill. D'oh.

Guess I didn't pay close attention to which way the blades were bent when I sat them side-by-side and decided, "Yeah, that'll fit."

 

[HotRodPC]

Yipee, I'm not the only one that had a case of stupid today. Towing a car on the roll back, with one on deck. Couldn't see the car in the mirrors cuz it was centered up. It was a small car on the wheel lift, and full size Ford Van on deck. Forgot I was towing a car and about knocked a lady out of the fast lane doing 80mph doing a lane change in front of her. Boy did I feel stupid !!! She must have been doing 78-80, I was doing 84-85 and passed her in the slow lane and needed to get over in the fast lane cuz I was coming up on a big rig pretty quick. I didn't even realize it until I look in the mirror as coming over and seen her car do a nose dive she hit the brakes so hard.

 

[skysurfer]

Well, the good news is you'll get more mpg in reverse now.

 

[89Suburban]

Yipee, I'm not the only one that had a case of stupid today. Towing a car on the roll back, with one on deck. Couldn't see the car in the mirrors cuz it was centered up. It was a small car on the wheel lift, and full size Ford Van on deck. Forgot I was towing a car and about knocked a lady out of the fast lane doing 80mph doing a lane change in front of her. Boy did I feel stupid !!! She must have been doing 78-80, I was doing 84-85 and passed her in the slow lane and needed to get over in the fast lane cuz I was coming up on a big rig pretty quick. I didn't even realize it until I look in the mirror as coming over and seen her car do a nose dive she hit the brakes so hard.

Speed racer, wreckless driver, you making the truckers look bad!!!!!

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Had a nice attack of stupid today.

Remembered that there was a 454 fan and clutch assembly in the bed of the pickup truck where I'd found the 454 radiator shroud. Saw online that they are 7 blade instead of the 5 blade one for the small block.

Went over to the yard, bought it, spent an hour or so screwing with installing it, only to discover that the 454 twists the opposite direction, and upon initiial start up, I had a nice amount of wind blowing out the grill. D'oh.

Guess I didn't pay close attention to which way the blades were bent when I sat them side-by-side and decided, "Yeah, that'll fit."

I did that too, on my '89 K1500. I bought one of those aftermarket flex fans and didn't realize I had reverse rotation until I got a few miles from home and the fugger started overheating, lol!!

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[austinado16]

My learning curve continues to be steep on this little project.

Saw and ad on CL today with a guy parting an '87 2500 Suburban. Call him, it had a SBC, but he says the radiator is the 4 row 3" wide core, 28" wide. I go take a look, and sure enough, it's the thick radiator, but instead of having a "smooth" flat surface for the top of the core, it's stepped, with about a 1" wide boss that's taller right down the middle.............wait for it........

.......so that it fits with the original SBC fan shroud.

In other words, no 2 piece BBC shroud like I've just fitted, and no need to spend $24 on a 2" wide spacer to move the fan more forward. Plus, the fan remains centered in the opening of the shroud, instead of off-set to the bottom of hte shroud like mine is now.

Son of a.........

Anyway, for $50, I brough it home.

 

[89Suburban]

My learning curve continues to be steep on this little project.

Saw and ad on CL today with a guy parting an '87 2500 Suburban. Call him, it had a SBC, but he says the radiator is the 4 row 3" wide core, 28" wide. I go take a look, and sure enough, it's the thick radiator, but instead of having a "smooth" flat surface for the top of the core, it's stepped, with about a 1" wide boss that's taller right down the middle.............wait for it........

.......so that it fits with the original SBC fan shroud.

In other words, no 2 piece BBC shroud like I've just fitted, and no need to spend $24 on a 2" wide spacer to move the fan more forward. Plus, the fan remains centered in the opening of the shroud, instead of off-set to the bottom of hte shroud like mine is now.

Son of a.........

Anyway, for $50, I brough it home.

 

[austinado16]

Thought I'd post a little update.

Had our first camping trip since the upgraded radiator was installed. Air temps were in the mid to high 90's, and during our long slow 2 lane hill climbs, the temp needle would only get to maybe a needle width past vertical. Previously, the needle would be way over at about 2 o'clock, and probably indicating about 230*F. The clutch fan comes on much sooner, at about the 210*F mark, and is quieter. Previously, it didn't come on until the needle was way over at about 230*F.

Trans fluid temp, taken in the pan, followed radiator temp much more closely, when loaded down and pulling long grades. Never got above 210*F pulling even the longest grades. Running down the road flat, torque converter locked in OD, turning 1,500rpm (3.42's) at 55mph, it held steady at 165*F in the heat.

Not sure why the fan clutch is quieter than before. Maybe it's due to the shape/design of the BB shrould? Or how I have the fan positioned in the shroud.

 

[smurph20]

So it sounds like it was a success