When I had marginal cooling on my factory V8 I purchased a '25% uprated' but
otherwise identical radiator. I was disappointed with how little difference
it made. But thinking about it each row you add suffers from the law of
diminishing returns i.e. the 4th row has air blowing over it which has
already been heated by the previous three rows and so picks up relatively
little additional heat. Also with staggered rows each row adds more and
more restriction to air flow, which reduces heat transfer even more. Modern
aluminium rads tend to be single flat row, very thin so you can get a lot of
them in the space, but the spaces are clear allowing freer air flow, i.e.
the opposite theory. I do agree that individual tubes one behind the other
will be less effective in heat transfer than staggered tubes.
What made the biggest difference on my V8 was going through the electrics to
the twin fans cleaning up the connections, adding additional local grounds
at the bonnet slam panel for each fan, and providing a fused 12v supply
direct from the spare spade on the alternator to the relay (which is
controlled by the thermo switch).
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
> Interesting point about the "less heavy density" rad.
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