Radiator Question.

The problem buying a radiator from flea bay is the fitment I know the one that Nick Forza sells for $1200 is an exact fee without any modification. It’s like plug-in play.

 

Not so much of a advantage but two disadvantages is not original and expensive. One other choice if you can do is have your original Radiator recore and upgrade your fan to the latest more modern SPAL.

 

Good luck finding someone to actually do a recore. I couldn't. I wound up buying an aluminum one from Superformance. Also did the Spal fan upgrade.

 

For a recore you can contact Greenwood Radiators in Seattle Wa. I am sure there are plenty of other shops in the world. These are the only people that I can vouch for. They did all my radiators and tanks when I brought my 308 back to life. I have know Ron for 30 years and I know I can always trust him.

 

Ive been running a Ebay aluminum radiator for 6 plus years , works/fits fine . I still have original radiator to recore one day .

 

When I bought my QV in 97 I had the radiator out twice to rod , clean etc. It helped a little I guess. I installed a larger aluminum one years later and that was about 50% better but you still didn't want to get caught in Atlanta downtown traffic on I85 in the summer.

I installed larger spal fans on those little mounts that look like stock motors and that seems to have finally done the trick. That was a pretty good upgrade because I modified nothing in the car. total swap only.

 

I bought the alloy one from Superformance, and it fit, sort of. The top mounting brackets were off by about 10mm per side, the bottom condenser brackets were moved inboard about 30mm per side compared to my original, and the drain tap thread was wrong. All things I could deal with, and better than paying return freight, but very annoying given the price.

 

Nick's radiator is produced by Wizard Cooling. It works great with 2- 10in electric fans (12in will fit as well). Add shrouds for better performance. Also a good time to upgrade the AC condenser. Don't forget to replace the foam around the radiator and the hood. Install your battery cover.

 

My 328 never had any cooling issues in summer Atlanta weather. however my 308 was horrible always close to overheating. I think the 328 standard radiator is very good, as long as its all working right. I'd go with Nick's as a very good upgrade, that protects the engine. Flushing it every year helps as well.

 

If I were you, I'd take a look at every coolant hose you have. If they haven't been changed, change them.

It took me two flushes AFTER I replaced all the coolant hoses to get the crap out of the system.

Remember to drain the block as well to get all the coolant (or most of it) out.

My car simply doesn't overheat now. I had to sit in 100 degree Texas weather behind an accident for about an hour and it never even got close to overheating.

 

Try the Spall 10 or 12in fans. Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Yep I got this exact kit and it works great.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175351792736?_skw=ferrari+308+fan+mount&itmmeta=01JTK51RT071FP1Y9C2SFQHRXK&hash=item28d3c80460:g:qxsAAOSwfs9i0JFC&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eL03Pphl6fj%2FaNalCqf9juanp%2BBUtAWC8OMazjbS%2Fff7DSnLNOz%2FPZbVNhfFP5OW7ulxWFjPl2pZatouwDDkLVDHIr%2B54ykmsOUlSW5uqVScbUqMuUonzgVbMfrvqfCiQaA5Q7HTztzLeYhvWl2duoI6vv5mGfos9NX%2BwFx9N6OTwWP5VyPeUwZI9jCtGg1Q5s4TcRf50%2FW4nA3AooNYjmcx68hbd6NfAGFYXkKBn3ZMpfUi9KpZcS461fRVPb8Cg%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6aNh-XUZQ

 

You can buy the fans for less than $100 ea from Summit Racing.

 

Yeah I priced out doing it separately, buying the adapters and then fan. It worked out to within 20 bucks or so, so I just bought the whole thing from the guy. I don't mind throwing him a little profit.

 

I got tired of starring at the temp gauge wondering if it would creep too much beyond 1/2 way. I used the "big hammer" and did everything at once. Cored radiator (at local shop in Baltimore), new fan thermostat(lower temp), new water pump t-stat(lower temp), new seal at radiator bleed valve, removed a/c condenser, added overflow tank(so that factory tank can be kept full). No issues at all now. In fact the fans don't run at all unless it's a very hot day. Temp stays at 1/2 way mark. I really like the overflow tank; much easier to see what system is doing. Radiator shop said the old core looked fine. I think core was $400 5 yrs ago?

 

Nick sells a much better version of the water pump if anyone needs to replace their pump. It is much improved design with better water moving capacity and a larger bearing.