Cool it!

Well my new radiator from Ron Davis Racing came today...
And of course I did the proper thing,
I took the rest of the day off to rough in the installation!

 

When I get a chance I'll post which radiator model it is,
and any mods required for it to fit in a 308.

 

FANTASTIC, Dave! That sure does look nice... More importantly, it sure does look EFFECTIVE!

Can you give some more details about the radiator? Cost?

Did you do any comparison with this vs. the one that Nick Scianna (FerrariChat Sponsor) sells? I understand there was some difficulty in the installation of his radiators to the 308s...


Thanks Dave,

--Mike

 

Whats the contact info for Ron Davis Racing ? I cant see the photos on this computer, is the rad plastic or metal ? I heard that in the UK Maranello Challenge series they would use MB rads in 308s to chop some weight of the cars. Good Luck

 

It looks...COOL! What's the story with your car, are you rebuilding it? The front spoiler and underside is missing, or did you need to remove that for installing the new radiator?

 

WOW nice unit. Do you have more info, price, phone #
Looks great.

Mario

 

William, if your on a Mac, use Safari...

First off, for those of you that don't know me, my normal disclaimer...
If you want a concours correct car, "Do Not" follow my car mods.

Bert, as my winter project I decided to go through the whole front clip... pads, rotors, S/S brake lines, all bushings, all hoses, aluminum racing shocks/springs, quick-steer rack & pinion, new aluminum racing radiator/fans, bead-blast the chassis and A-arms, prime, rustproof/undercoat, re-paint chassis.
Basically everything forward of the cockpit.
I had the spoiler, bellypan, spare tub and such all removed to access areas for blasting.

The web address is rondavisradiators.com


One of my big dark secrets, is I'm a weight junkie!
I always start a HiPo makeover by putting the car in question
on a diet, before I start any major engine mods.

At some point I guess we need to collectively put together a list of
weight saving mods...

On to it, The stock radiator with a/c condenser and stock dual fans
weigh in at 43 lbs.
The aluminum radiator with dual fans and shroud weigh in at 22 lbs. A weight savings of 21 lbs. Almost half the weight of the stock unit.

I basically ordered a generic chevy style 26x16x3 radiator
without a filler neck/sealed, with 1.5" in/out.
The price on just the radiator was very reasonable,
and that was how I originally was going to go as I had already updated my fans with dual Haydens.
But felt that the extra money for the new shroud/fan combo was worth it for final fit and finish in the car.
That kicked the price up to $644 US.

Ron Davis Racing had a listing for a 308QV radiator, but it was a bit more pricey than the generic chevy style, and you know me, I always like to save a buck.

The fans are dual 12" putting out 3152 CFM total
and the cross flow design should help keep this sucker cool.

So far I have had to mod a small area of each radiator perch,
I'll post pics when its light out.

 

I had planned on posting update pics today, but we are in the middle of a thunderstorm and I wouldn't want you to read in tomorrows paper about the fool who was struck by lightning while photographing his Ferrari.

 

I contacted Ron Davis Racing and they quoted me over $900 for a 308 radiator. What gives?

 

"they quoted me over $900 for a 308 radiator. What gives?"

Like I said, a radiator made for the 308 is a bit on the pricey side,
a stock unit will cost even more.
There are a couple of other places that sell aluminum units for the 308,
but as someone mentioned, there have been install problems to be had.

So I decided to adapt a 26163 chevy style radiator to fit the 308.

Looks like I will be moving the horn compressor.

 

I used a chevy radiator too, but went 26x18 for $180 from summit and went with a single 18" fan, I think it was another $100...it all required a little more "fitting", and I also had to move the horn compressor. It runs very cool though.

 

This is really slick. I also am really interested in the wt savings.
How does the 26x16x3 Chevy radiator compare to the stock radiator in size?
Way cool!
rt

 

Russ, the stock 308 radiator without A/C stuff is about 25 7/8 x 17 x 2 1/2

The reason for the possible horn compressor move,
is the water outlet is located a little higher than on the stock unit.

 

Nice radiator, Dave.

Nice pusssy, too...

 

Hey Dave, that pusssy is 20 years old!

 

Hey guys,

I've got kind of a time-sensitive question, and wanted to get your thoughts. Ron Davis is qouting over $900 for the radiator.

IF price was no object--that is, if the cost of the unit was taken out of the picture--is this a good radiator?

Will the 308 one fit WELL, that is, with NO or MINIMAL modifications? Remember, there are radiators for sale for 308s that "don't" fit well...

Also, did the $900 from Ron Davis include fans or a mounting bracket for fans? Can they add them? Would it make sense to skip the factory fans and do the Haydens or Ron Davis' idea of fans instead?


Thanks,

--Mike

 

Had a chance to get it in.
You can see I had to remove the horn compressor for the outlet.

 

Mike, they build a Very Nice radiator, but Like I said, I'm not sure about the Ferrari unit.

 

For those interested in price comparisons check out www.alumrad.com they did my alum rad for under $300. It did require a little mod for the install but not too bad... specifically I took out the original rad mounts (too narrow for the new/wider rad) and ran two peices of angled galvanized metal stock across for support. I put in some leather protectors in the chanel and was off.
I love guys who are willing to look into projects like this and do it themselves...great job Dave!

 

Like Scott said, www.alumrad.com is another great choice,
and the radiator I ordered from Ron Davis was under $300 bills as well,
without the shroud/fans & wiring kit.
My price went up because of the bells and whistles I added.


The reason I went this route was because of other owners,
who have replaced their radiator with "drop-in" aluminum radiators
made for the 308... That ended up Not being "drop-in" units.
I figured that if I was going to have to do mod work to get a
$1200.00 radiator to fit, I might as well do a little more mod work,
and pay much less for the radiator.

 

Well I had a chance to fire it up and check pressure... all is well.

And I was able to move the horn compressor back to it's original location,
close though.

 

Dave this is a great thread, as usual. you need to get Rob to give you a consultant membership! cheers.

 

OK here is a problem if you are going to use the stock spare tire tub
with where I have the radiator located.
I guess I could move the radiator a little more forward in the car,
or I could fab a new part of of carbon kevlar.

 

I couldn't get the spare tire well back in mine either....but at least it runs cool...

 

So Dave do we assume that you took out the AC system. Also why did you go with puller fans instead of pushers? I guess so far I have been lucky with temp. Even though we have 80-90 degree days here during the summer my car usually runs around 170-180 degrees and on a hot day in traffic with the AC on it stays at 195. Usually the fans cool it back down. What kind of engine temps are you guys seeing that you go to Alum. rads. Also is this just for a track set up.