misguidedangel Discussion starter. 59 posts · Joined 2007. #1 · Jul 9, 2008 (Edited) Hey guys. I recently did an engine swap in my 73 Nova from the original Inline 6 to a 350 SBC. One of the only original parts that I kept under the hood after the swap was the Radiator. Now, the power difference of my new engine is extremely evident.

Aluminum vs. Copper/Brass Radiators. Copper is a better conductor of heat than aluminum. Copper/brass radiators usually have copper fins, but brass tubes (70% copper, 30% zinc). The bond between the fins and the tubes may be made with soldier (A tin/lead alloy, or high-tin alloy) or with a braze material (mostly copper).
You'll do fine with either 1" or 1-1/4" tubes but as already mentioned, pay attention to core thickness. I guarantee that the radiator cores are copper tanks may be copper/brass alloy. Copper cools better than aluminum but some aluminum radiators have a different design that may make the equal to copper/brass.
Time to continue the story about radiators for liquid cooling. We have covered the basics about radiators in the Part 1 blog, and in Part 2 we even showed some charts. Part 2 clarified things about radiator performance, how radiator performance is expressed and how do we read radiator performance charts. We have shown how two of the most popular radiator sizes (120 and 140mm), with different
The aluminum radiators are less expensive and easier to build, so hence cheaper to buy. The aluminum radiators do usually cool better though because the cores available usually have larger tubes, so a 2 row 1" or 1.25" can cool better than a copper/brass 4-row. But, they do look out of place unless you can get a thin coat of paint on them. Mark. Here is the article discussing this topic: hX6p6mP. 107 259 386 241 258 127 247 121 316

do aluminum radiators cool better