Hi PSB,
I got it from RonDavisRadiatos.com and Tim Crosby helped me out. I bought a radiator from them in the past and had it installed in a GTV (race car) and although I did not get a chance to test it (I sold the car before even testing it) I did see that the temp was much lower after that! Quality was good so I decided to go back. Tim said that if any of us went to get one for our Alfas he would give us a better price!
My car has a 2.0 lt full race engine prepared by Rex Chalmers of Alfa Sport in Wisconsin (formerly Omega Motorsports in CA) and although I could keep the temp within limits by easing off the pace, I did not want to do that! I run against a 3.6lt. 911!!! Imagine that thing on the straight against a 2.0 Alfa!! I figured the new radiator will no harm and lot’s of cooling = “insurance”?? (I HOPE!!!). And this way I could go full throttle for the 30 min. duration of the race.
After measuring the original radiator from the Spider (101.23) and talking to Tim this was what we came to: Original one is DOWN FLOW, Tim said CROSS FLOW is better so we went that way. This meant having different inlet and outlet ports and new custom hoses. While at this Tim said that “If we can make it a double pass (all depended on the port sides) it will lower the temps much more!”, so guess what I picked? A double pass has a parting line in the middle and allows (or makes) the water go twice trough the front of the car by the incoming air and you then get twice cooling effects, this does not mean twice the results. Go to
www.rondavisradiators.com for a better explanation.
All this meant new hoses, new custom made brackets and some effort. I wanted to do this myself (stubborn). Tim installed 4 mounting bosses so I really only had to do 2 very simple straight brackets and 2 90° ones. Installation was not hard but it does take time and you have to make sure it does not make any contact with the steering linkage and that you will be able to put hoses on it! If I had to make a new one I would make some changes, minor ones only.
Besides temp dropping, one other very good thing going to Aluminum is weight savings!! AMAZING how light and jet still very solid it feels. I noticed this when I took the original off, it’s heavy! I discussed the thickness, Tim said it makes NO sense a 4 row because it does not allow as much air to go through the radiator and cool the water and it acts as a WALL and slows you down, so we kept it a 3 row, besides Spiders are tight, we did not have much space!
I will test the car this weekend, if works allows, right now I am swamped!!
I will keep you all posted, thanks for the interest!!
