[TR] Aluminum radiators

[Skip Gurnee]

Hi David-
I bought one for the TVR from Griffin Radiators, and I'm a satisfied 
customer.  They're back east in Piedmont, S.C.  Look them up on the internet 
(www.griffinrad.com) and/or call them at 1-800-722-3723.  You can specify 
your own radiator as I did, by filling out forms provided on their website. 
I can't find a record of how much I paid for it, but I remember it was 
rather expensive, probably in your $700 category.  The product was worth it. 
It's perfect dimensionally, well made, cools much better than stock, and 
it's pretty!  I think they have dealers in California, but custom units come 
from the S.C. factory.
Skip Gurnee
64 TR4 bought new in 1963
70 TVR Vixen race car
and others...

-----Original Message----- 
From: David Ljung Madison
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 5:58 PM
To: triumphs at autox.team.net
Subject: [TR] Aluminum radiators

My TR3A is finally coming back together.  I have it at Greg Solow's
Engine Room in Santa Cruz (I believe he did TeriAnn's Triumph).

They are saying that the radiator doesn't have lots of flow and
are recommending switching to an aluminum radiator.  Somewhere
in storage I have a stock radiator in good shape that has the crank
hole (my current one doesn't).  I checked on ebay and the
prices of aluminum radiators vary massively - from $250 to $700.
Greg can get one that is good quality for ~$700.

So my options:

1) Use the current radiator, and don't go on the race track
2) Use the storage radiator so I have the starter crank hole again,
   which is amusing and can come in handy.
3) Buy the $250 aluminum on ebay
4) Buy the $700 aluminum via Greg

I know that if I use the radiator with the starter hole that
I lose something like 5% of my cooling, though the radiator
is probably cleaner than the original, so it's probably about
the same.


Does anyone kynow how to tell the difference between the
radiators on ebay?  Anyone buy one of these $250 aluminum radiators?

And any thoughts on the difference between aluminum and stock?