Looking for a radiator for my LT1/YJ conversion.
I heard the 19X26 will fit fairly easily.

Griffin or Howe? Which is fully welded/higher quality?
See the poll.

Will use the Taurus fan as well. Require a relay?

I have a Griffin. It works fine, and the price was right. I've heard the Howes are better, but I dunno. Yes, run a relay with the Taurus. It pulls 30+ amps constant!

I've got a 19X27 Howe. Cools my 454 just fine. Seems a lot more solid to me than the Griffin. I think the price was even a little better on the Howe when I got mine.

I have a 27.5 x 15 Griffin. Supposed to be good to 400 HP. Cost me $180 from summit. No complaints.

I run a howe in my mustang and my ranger,
I think they are comparable in quality but I went with the howe because I think it looks a little nicer with the fabricated tanks and not stamped. At least the ones I seen.

John

Originally posted by Nobody
I have a 27.5 x 15 Griffin. Supposed to be good to 400 HP. Cost me $180 from summit. No complaints.

same thing here on my LS1, cant comment on how well it cools yet since im not done with the swap, but its nicely fabircated, and ~150$
hard to beat that for a nice big alum rad.
~John

I have had both. They are both great. Howe is prettier and looks like someone spent more time on it. My Howe cost a lot more tho.

I have both and even though the griffin was cheaper would not buy another one. The howe is much higher quality, from the welds to the thickness of the tanks. howe tanks are brazed to the tubes, griffin is epoxied. And the howe's flat fabricated tanks are easier to weld brackets to.

Edit; 19 x 26 howe cools a stock 460 just fine.

i have a 19" howe. quality is good and i would buy it again. if i recall i got mine from summit for aprox $180.00

never any problems with it

Griffin radiators are epoxyed. Don't know if Howe are welded or not. I now people that run Griffins and are very happy. I run a Be Cool and I am very happy.

C&R Racing makes a real quality Al radiator. http://www.crracing.com/

If you're looking for THE best quality aluminum radiator... Ron Davis is the place to go. On average they're about $30 more than the comparable Griffin, but if you take a look at their work, it's simple to see how much more you get for your money.



Ron Davis Racing Products (http://www.rondavisradiators.com/)

I have a howe and have no complaints. One thing to keep in mind is how the lower hose comes off the radiator. I believe Howe's come out straight, and the Griffin's have a 45 degree bend.

My Howe radiator is fully welded... beautiful work, too. I had mine customized by Howe for very reasonable bux...

How has stock options straight-out hose fittings or angles, and as noted, the capability to go full custom.

Randii

Sounds like no one has complaints about Griffin or Howe. Thats cool.

I have a Griffin in both of my vehicles. They are damn cheap, Cheaper than some standard replacement radiators.

I run a Howe in my YJ with the TBI 350. I have a friend who runs the Griffin (same size) with his 302. Both work fine, but side by side comparisons make it obvious the Howe has better construction, for all the reasons listed already.

And cost comparison, for same size radiators, the Howe was only $20 more from Summit. To me that's a no-brainer.

I *heard* that aluminum radiators are not all they are cracked up to be, and that "dimple tubing" copper radiators are where its at. I have never heard of dimple tubing except from this one guy, so I figured I'd go to the experts and see what they say. Everything else I've ever heard says aluminum is best, and I'm inclined to agree, just wanted some oppinions.

Aluminum will, by nature, transfer the heat faster or more efficiently than copper, but both can work well. I'd go with one of the proven ideas though. Everyone says these aluminum radiators cool their rigs, even with big motors, with no problems at all. I'd say that $180 is a cheap price to pay to make sure your engine stays cool.

I have a griffin but haven't run it yet since I have put it in..I have heard they are very similar...I went with griffin cause I heard nothing bad about them and it was $20 cheaper than the howe...$20 is $20 when they both work fine...

one more thing to consider though is how are you going to mount it...if you can tig or get it tigged then aluminum all the way otherwise you will need to come up with a clamping method which could be a pain...FWIW

Size for size, the Howe will outcool the Griffin because the brazed construction transfers heat better than non-brazed.

Lead is not good at transferring heat, and serves to reduce the efficiency of soldered copper/brass radiators.

Here's another vote for Ron Davis radiators.

I have two, one's the double pass, the other is a triple pass.

The double is in front of a 283 mounted in a super super tight engine bay of an 80-inch Land Rover. That truck runs 165-170 all day long.

The triple pass is in front of a 350 mounted in a not-quite-as-tight-as-the-80-inch-truck's engine bay. Tight, but a little more wiggle room. Truck is the 145inch crewcab custom Land Rover equipment hauler (appx. 6500lbs), and it runs at 175 all day long. Towed the 80-inch back and forth from Moab to Vegas last month and it didn't even break a sweat.

The Ron Davis radiator's are becoming the defacto standard in the Land Rover SBC conversion crowd.

Have to admit though, I have heard about Griffin and Howe and wondered about them. I'm completely sold on Ron Davis, but just curious about the other two (sizes, prices, longevity, etc...)

I recently read that aluminum radiators can handle higher pressure before "blowing their load"; and that for each pound of pressure you can get, you add 3 degrees of protection against overheating. This may be a major reason that poeple stay cooler with aluminum.

So....If you go from a 12 pound cap on a copper radiator, to a 24 pound cap on an aluminum radiator, then you've just added 36 degrees to the point of overheating!

Add that to the fact that aluminum is "supposed" to be able to transfer heat better and why wouldn't you go with aluminum?!?!?

Just something to think about!

If you want the best, then go with a Ron Davis. They just revamped their www site.

http://www.rondavisradiators.com/Welcome.htm


C&R rads and Fluidyne are also good. But RD is the best, imho.