Well I did the F-Body radiator, my thoughts

[Sinical]

All things considered for those thinking about it, I would've gone with a nice stock style radiator instead. By the time you add up all the nonsense that I needed to make the swap happen (longer hoses, oil cooler, misc fittings) trying to find a place to make the hoses, then I overtightned the fittings and needed to have them fixed. All the down time. Not worth it.

IMO if you're noob and need to a radiator, get yourself a quality dropin that will bolt right up. The F-Body radiator cost me more to do when everything is factored in and I had alot of down time.

Just my 2 cents, that being said it seems to work well. I do regret going that route though.

 

[Red C5]

How much did it cost you to do the whole thing and how much time do you think it took? Did you do a oil cooler and trans cooler?

Sometimes we learn the hard way, I know I've been down that road more than once. Oh well, live and learn. I know I try to do things right the first time now and avoid cutting corners to save a couple of bucks.

 

[Sinical]

How much did it cost you to do the whole thing and how much time do you think it took? Did you do a oil cooler and trans cooler?

All told it cost me about $700.00 and my car was down for over 6 weeks. I used the transcooler in the rad and did an external oil cooler. The lines raped me bad as I had logner braided lines made for the trans and oil lines. Those were $300.00 alone and then another $100.00 to repair 2 ends that I overtightened. I know alot of this is b/c I made some mistakes and b/c I'm a noob but thats my point. A nic aluminum drop in rad wouldve been way better for my application.

This whole ordeal has left me quite soured I must say.

Edit: I saw your ad after I had already started the process. Definately regret it.

 

[Sinical]

Breakdown:

Rad = $130.00
Oil cooler = $60.00 (got a deal too)
Lines = $300.00 + $100.00
Misc tools for the lines = $50.00
Fittings for the oil cooler = $30.00

There was a few other things too + tax etc = over 700.00

 

[VictoryTrans86]

No offense, but the way you make it sound is that everyone will spend $700+ and be down 6 weeks on this swap, and thats just not true. A post like this may keep someone away from a very cost efficient and worthwhile upgrade. I understand your offering your opinion, and thats cool because thats what this site is for, but theres no reason this should take more than a day, even for a "noob" as you call it. Spending $300 on braided lines is not a necessity, and I feel an external tranny cooler would've been more efficient anyway. And also you can't add $100 for repair of the fittings, although unfortunate, it was your own mistake. I agree that the F-body radiator is not the BEST option out there, but for the majority of people, it can't be beat. I know of tons of people that got one for under $100, including myself, and even if you went w/ both external coolers and factor in misc. items, theres no reason it should be more than $300

 

[VictoryTrans86]

I just read over that again....sorry if I sounded like a jerk, that wasn't my intent at all

 

[Steve V]

Please....this is a simple swap with minimal $$$ and work. I have done it on 4 cars,lots of info on this board about how it's been done. I don't regret it,it works better and I can return my stuff to factory anytime I wish. $400-$500 for drop in for a driver is a waist IMO,money is tight these days.

 

[Sinical]

I just read over that again....sorry if I sounded like a jerk, that wasn't my intent at all

No problem, again I was just giving my experience and how it broke down for me. The lines were my downfall and although I tried I couldn't locate the proper lines I needed and when I finally did I got some stainless braided that the shop made for me.

Again I wanted to offer up my experience and this was through diligent searching but nobody could help me with the lines.

Yea I included the 100.00 repair but even without that I still wouldve been better off.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

Post the part# of the rad you got as this swap is straight forward with no rad hose mods needed.

Some use the rad cooler for oil and then run an external for the trans ( better ).
There are plenty of posts here on what fittings you need to make it work for the stock oil cooler lines and the rad lines.

$700, that would upset me also.

 

[Sinical]

Post the part# of the rad you got as this swap is straight forward with no rad hose mods needed.

Some use the rad cooler for oil and then run an external for the trans ( better ).
There are plenty of posts here on what fittings you need to make it work for the stock oil cooler lines and the rad lines.

$700, that would upset me also.

I didnt have to mod the rad hoses, just the longer oil cooler lines and the extension lines for the tranny lines.

 

[novaderrik]

i don't know all the specifics of what's involved- but if the tranny lines needed to be modified, then i'd be just throwing a good external cooler on it. same with the oil cooler lines- in both cases, an external cooler works better and keeps that heat out of the coolant, which means a cooler running engine- which is really the point of swaps like this, after all.

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

link TurboBuicks.com - Upgrade To The F-Body Radiator Mine works great so far, up to 26lbs boost on a regular basis, 160/165 usually last weekend at BPG Nationals 185 after a 1/4 mile blast.

Chuck

 

[challengermike]

I just got rid of the engine oil cooler and ran a external trans cooler.My car has great oil pressure and runs inbetween 162-173.I payed about $89 for the f body rad and i am very happy with it.

 

[excobraguy]

I did the swap when I put in my new engine. I too did away with the engine oil cooler and added a B&M tranny cooler. No fittings or hoses to buy, they all came with the B&M kit I bought from Jegs. Only took 1 hour from start to finish and cost a total of $200 for the radiator and trans cooler. Losing the engine oil cooler was worth it. My temps while driving at 98 degree heat never got above 180 in the car while idling.

 

[Sinical]

what exactly is involved in removing the oil cooler adapter? I may just remove the adapter and use my oil cooler for the tranny instead.

 

[fitz3820]

Some of us don't want to run without an oil cooler...

I got a nice drop-in from Cottons, runs cool with a frontmount and the stock fan...

 

[excobraguy]

what exactly is involved in removing the oil cooler adapter? I may just remove the adapter and use my oil cooler for the tranny instead.

It's simple, where the oil filter currently screws onto the adapter there is a bolt head, I forget the size, get a socket on it and screw it out. This removes the oil adapter, the piece that the oil lines feed into. Then, you just screw on a new oil filter where the oil cooler adapter was located.........piece of cake.

 

[excobraguy]

Some of us don't want to run without an oil cooler...

I got a nice drop-in from Cottons, runs cool with a frontmount and the stock fan...

I was skeptical about running without it but now that I have been, it's been just fine without the oil cooler........

 

[Sinical]

It's simple, where the oil filter currently screws onto the adapter there is a bolt head, I forget the size, get a socket on it and screw it out. This removes the oil adapter, the piece that the oil lines feed into. Then, you just screw on a new oil filter where the oil cooler adapter was located.........piece of cake.

Awesome, thanks.

 

[Project TNX]

I bought the radiator, a Summit oil/tranny cooler for $85.00 and called it a day. So I saved ~$175.00 minimum to the stock style setup.