Aftermarket Radiator with True Forged tanks

01yellercobra said:

So some quick measuring shows there's about 2" of clearance between the core support and the lower part of the tank. I think I can make something work.

I found this, but it's just a touch too wide.

Fit 97-04 Ford Mustang GT/SVT V8 MT Full Aluminum Core 3-Row Cooling Radiator | eBay

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Albatross said:

I will solve all your problems and take that tank off your hands. Hahaha! Always wanted that one piece tank. Post up some pics when you get an upgraded radiator in there.

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909venm said:

I’ve never heard of that brand before; just be weary as some of them only epoxy their tanks on and not weld them so the can fail at the tubes. And you will need mishimotos hold downs to prevent cracking.

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01yellercobra said:

Lol. I appreciate the offer. I'm really surprised there aren't more one piece set ups for these cars. They look so much better IMO.



What started it was the search for the Speed Daddy radiator you posted a couple years ago. They look about the same as this one. At least in the pics they do. And the pics for this one show things are welded together. I already have the Mishimoto radiator mounts. Actually, I think they're UPR, but you know how that goes.

So the SVE is 2" thick and just might work. But the one I linked and any other one I find like it is 2.25" thick. I'm half tempted to order the one I linked just to see if I can make things work. If it doesn't I'm fairly certain I can offload it pretty easily out here.

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909venm said:

Good point; I found the original I had years ago turned out to be a copy of the champion I now have in the car minus the trans cooler. That original failed at multiple tubes so I had to trash it… but the other guy I knew who bought it the same week as me hasn’t had any problems with his yet so they may he hit or miss. One thing I didn’t realize was the fans didn’t seal to the radiator like factory; easy fix with some weather stripping from home depot.

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NateDogg said:

Do it!! I recently sold my TF tanks and plan on getting Harpell tank .. You can basically name your price for the TF tank and it will sell.

The harpell tank match with his PS tank looks killer.

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94 Cobra R said:

Stock rad is far superior, so I would find a used one and have a rad shop flush it and rod it.

The stock fan doesn’t sit flush against the radiator either. There’s a thread about using some weatherstripping on it to help seal it.

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01yellercobra said:

I one I have is essentially stock. It's all metal like a stocker. For the most part it works good. But things get a little warmer than I like when I'm going through 100+ degree temps in the desert with the A/C going.

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94 Cobra R said:

What's the actual temps you're seeing? And what do you mean essentially stock? The cobra rad is different from the others except for the mach 1.

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01yellercobra said:

I'll see 215-220 degrees going through the desert before I'll turn the A/C off and let it cool down. Which I know is within stock parameters, but I'd rather keep it under 200 in those conditions.

It's a factory replacement. It's thicker than the GT radiator that was in my son's car and has metal tanks. But it has brackets bolts to the core that are for the mounts. I don't know if the stock radiator has those brackets as I never looked at Cobra radiators that close.

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94 Cobra R said:

Unfortunately, there are no aftermarket replacements, either OEM style or Hi-efficiency, that are actually made for our cars. The OEM replacements are not the same size in regards to the core and the aftermarket performance rads are usually not as efficient as our OEM, with the except of the Ron Davis. I've gone through over a dozen of them at a parts house that specializes in Mustang parts and we were amazed at how many of them were listed as direct replacements yet were at least a 1/4" narrower in the core tubes but had bigger tanks.

I assume you have an aftermarket water pump, t-stat and fans are programmed? 220 in desert heat is pretty normal, esp with the A/C on.

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01yellercobra said:

The aftermarket unit I have in my garage is 2.25" thick across the core and tanks. It's pretty beefy really. I had to tweak the A/C lines a little to get it to fit. But once I did that it dropped right in. Only issue was my True Forged tank wouldn't clear and there wasn't enough room to wiggle things around. So right now I'm waiting for Harpell Auto to release his one piece tanks. Honestly, for $100 it's worth trying IMO.

170 degree thermostat, fan set up so only the high speed comes on at 185 degrees. I'm sure the water pump is a stock replacement that was put in when the engine was replaced. In my experience I haven't seen an aftermarket pump make a difference in temps. So I tend to stick with factory replacements.

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94 Cobra R said:

I think most set at 186° for low (which shuts off around 176°), and the high will come on at 190° if necessary. If you have the low not coming on, that's asking a lot to just all of a sudden try to cool the system down. And the Stewart pump has better impeller design (as described here). And is something you should consider.

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