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Experience with LMR/Fluidyne/Ford Performance Radiators?

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Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
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I'm looking to upgrade the radiator so I can get more than 10-12 minutes out of a track session before having to run a few cooldown laps. There's the Ford Performance radiator for about $700, the Fluidyne for about $475-500, and Late Model Resto has either a rebranded name brand or in house aluminum radiator they are marketing for $275. That sounds tempting, but as I run track and have established coolant temp issues, should I spring the money for Ford Performance, will Fluidyne suffice, or is even the LMR good enough to get by considering I'm upgrading from the OEM plastic?

Thanks guys!
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
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Phoenix, Az
I ran a fluidyne for 7 years without issues. Made a meaningful difference. I’m trying a mishimoto now which is considered a budget radiator but keeping the fluidyne as a spare (nothing wrong with it, just 7 years of wear and I needed a spare)

I would opt for the fluidyne over the ford piece, at the ford price there’s some other radiators I would consider first.


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Do you have your grille opened up or using a 302S grille?
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
How is the Mishimoto? It looks like some speculation is that the SVE is a rebranded Mishimoto?

I don’t have runtime on it yet but the core itself is fairly identical to the fluidyne design. The end tanks are more thin walled aluminum but I would expect similar cooling performance.

610c266a87239dddefd2f0ef4c46a378.jpg7342c9fc0d23290bb5e0ef48e96e0120.jpgd22a472adde01a3b18f17feded1b42f1.jpg8e1dfbc4db74623df38317cb0497bd15.jpg


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Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
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So it sounds like anything over a factory V6 radiator is an improvement. I found a thread with Terry Fair from Vorshlag going over all the additions they made, apparently he even blocked the upper grill for aero once, added a splitter to the front, and put in a Mishimoto for insurance and still had no issue on a 2011 GT?

For $265, the SVE seems a bargain

In 10 years experience with classic cars, I always went with aluminum radiators from a variety of brands, and had one issue that revealed itself on the initial fill. So we'll see how the SVE unit goes!
 
... I found a thread with Terry Fair from Vorshlag going over all the additions they made, apparently he even blocked the upper grill for aero once, added a splitter to the front, and put in a Mishimoto for insurance and still had no issue on a 2011 GT?

There was a lot of work done to allow us to block off the upper grille without consequences. There was a tight duct built to feed the radiator, and a large vent used to evacuate it.

The huge sealed inlet
_DSC0154-L.jpg

The equally huge evacuation vents and blocked off grille
DSC_8079-L.jpg
 
Voodooboss is right that the easiest and most effective cooling improvement is improving the upper grille airflow. I did upgrade from the stock Ford GT radiator to the Ford Performance 302s all aluminum; there was a marginal improvement, but didn't extend the session by much (both were in conjunction with the Boss 302 oil/coolant oil cooler and still have the AC condenser); the one advantage was a faster coolant temperature reduction once engine load was removed.

In a back to back session swapped out the stock GT grille with fog lights for a Roush style bar grille with more open area and that made a bigger difference than the radiator upgrade from the amount of run time to coolant temp issues.

There are some threads listing out the cooling upgrades on the forum which can give more insight. Rough order of cost/effectiveness : high flow grille / remove grille, high flow fan, oil cooler (setrab style), radiator, hood vents (boxing the airbox if the condenser is removed or you see large gaps is the other inexpensive effective step). These are debatable, but the radiator normally doesn't provide the improvement anticipated. All of this was from the 5.0L perspective, but would expect it to be similar on a V6.

If you change the radiator, not sure is it is the same on the V6, but getting all of the air bubbles out of the system on the 5L without a vacuum fill machine takes patience.
 
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FWIW the Ford Racing radiator moves the condenser about 3/8" forward of its normal position.
It really makes an oil cooler a tight fit and we all know we need an oil cooler for track time.
I cut my condenser mounts off shortened them and welded them back on.
It worked out but was sure a PIA.Also had to remove my Airaid intake because it just wouldn't fit.
 
Good point. I did the Ford Racing radiator in an upgrade phase before the oil cooler bracket fabrication so didn’t notice the forward movement of the condenser (made brackets with an offset), but did notice the wider radiator taking space towards the engine - took about 3/8” off the top coolant hose, air intake tube space really tight, the radiator mounts posts shimmed to fit with tape due to play between the bracket bushing pin.

Last couple thoughts as gww52 jogged my memory. During the removal/install take the grille/front fascia off to get to the condenser/radiator bolts; I didn’t at the time so it is possible, but a royal pain reassembling with a net longer time. Second, if you are considering upgrading the fan do that at the same time since it takes no extra time when replacing the radiator and packaging just gets worse so no space to do on the car - again I didn’t do this at the upgrade phase and regretted it later.
 

Apex Wheels

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I run a CSF Radiator on my personal 2011 GT. Have had it out in the 100* Thunderhill heat this summer and highest temp I saw was around 218*. This is with a Tiger Hood, open billet grille, and Setrab 948 cooler. I also run a mostly stock engine so don't not shift the car very high compared to others, which will make a big difference in heat generated.

- Cory
 
So it sounds like anything over a factory V6 radiator is an improvement. I found a thread with Terry Fair from Vorshlag going over all the additions they made, apparently he even blocked the upper grill for aero once, added a splitter to the front, and put in a Mishimoto for insurance and still had no issue on a 2011 GT?

For $265, the SVE seems a bargain

In 10 years experience with classic cars, I always went with aluminum radiators from a variety of brands, and had one issue that revealed itself on the initial fill. So we'll see how the SVE unit goes!
Did you end up getting the SVE radiator? Looking for a track review
 

Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
567
401
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Durham, NC
Did you end up getting the SVE radiator? Looking for a track review
I ran the sve for a few years until discovering a small leak 2 days before a VIR event. I put the factory piece back and have had no issues.

A boss 302 r race car grill and a vented hood will do a lot more for you than the radiator.

1 star review.
 

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