cooling duct work

[9car]

do many of you guys run duct work from the nose piece to the radiator? i have a nose that looks like one you would see on an asphalt late model where the cutout for air inlet is low on the bottom , i am wondering if i try to use that spot down low is it going to be effective or just pick up dirt and mud ? what experince have you guys had?

thanks for any help

[istock11m]

It will put more mud in the rad. Good shroud, pulleys,fan, and pump.

[9car]

thanks , those areas i have addressed, just looking for something extra. would you leave the nose completely solid ?

[hnamea]

My nose is solid and I tape up the bottom 5-6 inches of my radiator to keep mud out. I run a stat to get up to temp.

How do you manage that . we run a 2 pass radiator and still run around 195 to 200

[Racer96m]

My nose was always closed. Keeps dirt out of rad. I had a hard time getting above 170 and would also tape bottom of rad to get heat. You need a 5" strip of plastic hanging down below the rad for an airdam. That will feed the air from under the nose. Need to have a tight fan shroud and 1 to 1 pullies. I ran a double pass rad, no ristrictors. I saw 200 once on one of the hottest nights of the summer.

Dave.

[SRXSRULE]

How do you manage that . we run a 2 pass radiator and still run around 195 to 200

Go back to a GOOD single pass and fix the rest of your system. Double and triple pass radiators are a joke. All they do is increase system resistance and make your water pump work harder and rob more HP.

A stage 3 stewart water pump, 1:1 pulleys, and the correct fan and shroud will make all the difference in the world.

Quality also varies greatly in radiators. Eric

[9car]

Go back to a GOOD single pass and fix the rest of your system. Double and triple pass radiators are a joke. All they do is increase system resistance and make your water pump work harder and rob more HP.

A stage 3 stewart water pump, 1:1 pulleys, and the correct fan and shroud will make all the difference in the world.

Quality also varies greatly in radiators. Eric

thanks for all the info guys, what if we switch gears here and talk about quality radiator. i have a griffin , thoughts..... shoot. 200deg i wouldnt have a problem with .

[MM90]

195-205 is perfect, when you get over 220 is when power drops off. I wish my old stock car would have been at 210, but most nights it would get around 220.

[Werflus]

Had holes in nose with screen covering them . Made a cover that was held on by two wing nuts, ran that for hot laps and heats then for main ( dry & dusty ) removed the cover worked well.

[istock11m]

How old is the radiator? They get plugged up with fine dirt and all the little fin dings add up. I change mine every season, unless forced too earlier!

[Racer96m]

How old is the radiator? They get plugged up with fine dirt and all the little fin dings add up. I change mine every season, unless forced too earlier!

Thats a good point. I like to remove the rad every 5 races and clean it out real good. If you drop it on the floor from a couple inches, you will be amazed how much fine dirt you can get out. It ends up being several pounds, and that is from a rad that looked clean and was blown out with an air valve. Some people soak them in a kiddy pool to loosen up all the dirt. Keeping it clean is a big key to how it works.

Dave.

[SRXSRULE]

Ive had very good results with Northern radiators. My last one was 4 years old. I wash them out every week with a long flex head sprayer, the kind you would use to water flowers. It has a shower head design and it flexes which allows you to reach into all the corners. I use hot water and work from the top to bottom. The fine silt dirt just rolls out.

I use a piece of plastic to block off about 6-8" of the radiator to help keep temps up. I like that better then tape so I can remove it quickly each week when washing.

The fan, and style of shroud also play a key role in cooling. The big 4 blade that lots of guys say is a must have is not needed. I tried 4-5 different fans on the dyno and the one I use only takes 6hp to run and I still stay way cooler then I need to be. Eric

[9car]

the radiator is new . i am just finishing up the car so it hasnt been raced yet, i am just trying to cover all my bases . cheaper to get it right now than to waste a trip to the track and find out something isnt right , i just dont want a DNF for cooling(or anything else for that matter) issues.