I agree in concept, the 250$ looks better... BUT

Once you do this mod, if you do it right next time you have to replace a rad, its 70$ vs another 250, if you're going plastic I think it is better in the long run. Plus with the oil cooler/thermostatic bypass I think that will help some as well.

my 2c...

As far as that radiator being more restrictive tom, I don't care for that... The tranny needs to be kept cool (it has 2 coolers vs the oil's 1) I'm not a big fan of restricting oil flow on either side as I can see it leading to potential issues.

Thanks for the tidbit on the mounting bracket... i'll cut mine now then (was planning on it anyways) but now that I know what it was there for I don't need to keep it

 

Tom I agree w the lower hose issue. Simplifying that would be nice. A regular rad cap that can have an air purge lever would also be nice.
It would be beneficial if we got someone who had zero cooling problems to do this mod. Then we could see if it really is worth it.

 

I'm pretty happy with the NOS "genuine" LR all-metal whatever one I bought second hand. If I'm gonna be hacking and customizing to fit a radiator, it better damn well be a nice Griffin or something, and not some parts store junk.

Just my $.02.

 

Yeah i cut the brackets of the old lr rad and fitted them on the new rad. I'm satisfied with the results and love the fact I can in the future if need be get another rad for anywhere from 30-70 buck vs 200+! I don't foresee me needing another for as long as I own this rig.

 

OK while I see this is very doable my time crunch has got the better of me went to my rad repair guy, he is taking the oil cooler from my worse brass rad and installing it in the aluminum one I broke

I am just gonna throw that in and put the clutch fan in for now and will re visit this later, been on leave and must return to work in a few days too much still to do

 

Well plastic rads fixed and back in seems OK with GM clutch will revisit all this later

Here is the inside of my original copper one never rodded, we took oil cooler from here to fix the other one

 

is that 5 cores???? holy.

 

No 4 cores dimpled for 5 though

Guess seems OK hate the GM clutch fan roars all the time thing is too hd

 

You probably want Imperial 215157 then.

 

Be careful with the HD clutches. Mine turned a great water pump into a broken one within ~2000 miles.

At the junkyard looking for a pump, I also pulled an electric fan from a late 90's volvo. It's the same as the famous Lincoln Mk VIII fan much loved by hot rodders except it comes with it's own 2 speed control module - no need to get creative with wiring and relays.

A few zip ties later it was installed in place of the factory shroud. Heavy gauge red wire off the control box to the battery, black to the core support for gnd, and the two grey control wires to a SPDT switch in the cabin. Center off, up lo, down hi.

Remembering to turn it on took a few tries, but now it's second nature like headlights or seatbelt. Lo draws more than enough air even in summer. I usually turn it off if away from city traffic - ram air above ~40mph is stronger than what the best fan can pull anyway.
I've only used hi when idling with the A/C on in 90+ degree weather. And now it's got manual shutoff for fording!

The truck has never run cooler, and as a bonus I was surprised by noticeably improved throttle response without that giant fan hanging of the front.