328 radiator options

FYI
Nick does not drop ship.

 

"I always thought aluminium dispersed heat better?"

AL is quite good - around 4 times better than cast iron (re cylinder heads) but copper is around 50% better than AL at heat transfer. Only silver is better than copper, and only slightly at that. Nobody's going to make a radiator from silver anyway!

IMO, it would be much better to make an replacement radiator using copper in the relevant parts but AL is much cheaper and, as noted, if the heat-exchange surface volume is increased, you can end up with the same cooling capability. BUT, if it's not increased, you will have a radiator that doesn't cool as well as the OEM.

 

It's a bit more tricky though. Copper while a better metal conductor, radiator construction with copper is vastly different from aluminum. Setting aside fin size, surface area etc.. the problem is brazing. Lead is an insulator. Copper radiators are mixed metal, tanks etc and brazed with a lead solder. It all adds up to a radiator with poor thermal conduction compared to an aluminum one.

 

Call it what you like, my radiator came directly from West Falls New York. NFF is in Washington.

 

re-core your one, or maybe even a cleaning with acid at a radiator shop already is enough: 328 cooling system is bullet proof

ciao

 

I have Nick Forza’s aluminum radiator as back up/spare in the box but the original radiator in my QV is working just fine.