when to use a dual pass radiator

[chevy art]

is it wise to use a dual pass radiator on a high performance street strip sbc. its a 400 block(they overheat at times). think i read an article published by the company called stewart that says it may not be a good idea to use this radiator for street use. any ideas on this matter, thanks art

[statsystems]

is it wise to use a dual pass radiator on a high performance street strip sbc. its a 400 block(they overheat at times). think i read an article published by the company called stewart that says it may not be a good idea to use this radiator for street use. any ideas on this matter, thanks art

I can't think of a reason to use a double pass radiator.

[j-c-c]

is it wise to use a dual pass radiator on a high performance street strip sbc. its a 400 block(they overheat at times). think i read an article published by the company called stewart that says it may not be a good idea to use this radiator for street use. any ideas on this matter, thanks art

I can't think of a reason to use a double pass radiator.

Only one I can think of is, hose routing, not sure how often that is enough of an issue to justify downsides.
It does sound "cool", pun intended.

[Geoff2]

I think the short answer is: never.
Read the Tech Tips on this link, & you will probably be convincved


www.stewartracingcomponents.com

[Geoff2]

Sorry, wrong link, try this one: www.stewartcomponents.com

[mag2555]

Use Evans waterless coolant, it's far cheaper than a new Rad!

[psychomotors]

Sorry, wrong link, try this one: www.stewartcomponents.com

Very good link. Found some info that I had been wondering about.

[Racerrick]

I think the short answer is: never.
Read the Tech Tips on this link, & you will probably be convincved


www.stewartracingcomponents.com

Tell that to a NASCAR team. LOL. Maybe Steward should do the flow test with a 3 core double pass. I use CR 3-5 core double pass on everything I can.

[1989TransAm]

Interesting subject for me. I have LS3 based 427 in my 65 Buick Skylark and a Griffen dual pass radiator. The main reason I chose it was the inlet and outlets were on the same side and it made things easier hose wise and air intake wise. It does run a little hotter than I would like being it is a mainly a street car. So all of you are saying a single pass radiator would be better? I might be able to reroute the lower hose.

[Geoff2]

Er, most of us are not doing 200 mph all the time, so less air available to cool the radiator for the non-Nascar folks...

[RCJ]

My results don't agree with Stewarts finding on several things .I don't think he simulates real world conditions.When I used a dual pass it didn't hurt or help.LATER I found that directing coolant to certain areas of the motor lowered temps the most.Been wanting to try a dual pass again.

[1989TransAm]

I think my problem with the dual pass is I have a 25% under drive balancer/pulley. From what I have read is the dual pass radiator has more pump restriction than a single pass. So in retrospect I need to change the pulley back to the stock 7.48" diameter. Looking at the ATI 918628. One of the reasons I was not concerned with the alternator and A/C is my idle is at 800rpm which is higher than the stock Camaro.

[user-612937456]

At first I thought all being equal if it has the same surface area it's going to radiate the same heat out of the coolant. In the real world how efficient is a single pass radiator if the coolant enters the top of one side of the core and exits the middle or 2/3 down the other side of the core how efficiently is coolant flowing through the bottom third of the core? I have found instances that different zones of some radiators had a noticable difference in temprature. Are you going to have a more even distribution from the top to the bottom of a single pass core than you will with a dual pass radiator core with 50% less flow volume potential. On the negative side of the dual pass. Does it restrict the volume trying to pass through a radiator that only passes half of the volume of the single pass? I'm sure there are few more things to consider about this like parasitic pump losses by the water pump as it works a little bit harder? My vote would give slight advantage to the dual pass radiator but not enough to make a noticeable difference except in a few extreme cases on both sides.

[user-23911]

The better radiators have vertical tubes and flow top to bottom.

[Geoff2]

Then when high pressures are developed under race conditions, the pressure can force coolant past the cap on an up/down rad because the cap is on the pressure side. On a cross flow radiator, the cap is on the low pressure/suction side.