is the "Frostbite FB167 Aluminum Radiator, 4 Row, 1973-1991 Chevy/GMC Pickup" garbage? bbc c30 getting hot with ac on

[winfred]

What is your fan to shroud clearance like?

as it should be as it's all factory parts and not modified, motor mounts aren't sagging as the gap is even all the way around, i'd say it may be a little deep into the shroud, as you'd like it out of the back a little for radial ejection of the air, but big block is big block and it's using most of the room between the core and firewall, rad is pulled into the core support as well as i can considering how bad a square tank aluminum radiator fits stock mounts, i got creative with some urethane mounts and got it wedged in tight enough to not move

 

[winfred]

the answer sports fans is, yes, the fb167 frostbite is garbage, i replaced it with a standard plastic tank 2 row (2.25" core) big block replacement radiator and on a 10 mile drive with the ac on, towards the end after a while at 60mph it was regulating at 192 according to the holley display, and at the end of that drive i idled at the shop for a good while before it got to 215, engine would've probably barfed up a head gasket if allowed to idle that long before, this is with the stock condenser and no electric, plus it cooled down with a rev and the ac still on, i have a parallel flow unit that's going in and may or may not help with the heat load on the radiator, but will help the ac

best guess is the fact the FB uses 4 separate rows of tubes, the face tubes are in good air but they get progressively hotter deeper into the stack, normally thick cores will use deeper tubes, like the unit that replaced it is a 2 row/core, but they likely have the same or more area without the wasted space/air turbulence between the extra rows

not only does it stay cooler but the fan seems more responsive with access to better air flow

ill update this further once the condenser is swapped and i have the data for the longer and faster trip home, plus electric fan install (guess im putting that 73 grill i bought on the wall in my den, as there's no room between it and the condenser, maybe get the headlight pieces too and add lights )

now to see about the chances of getting my $500 back from speedway...........