ratdude747 Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share Posted January 29, 2023 True, but it’s a 1990 fan shroud in a 1984 truck. Cold Case was on my radar, it’s good to hear your experience with them. The radiator is spec'd for 1985-1997. And my core support is in effect a 1985-86. The liland global unit that failed was bolt in, no drilling. I think champion unofficially designs around the expectation of one using one of their e-fan kits, not keeping the stock clutch fan like I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 True, but it’s a 1990 fan shroud in a 1984 truck. Cold Case was on my radar, it’s good to hear your experience with them. True that would pose a problem as well, I know Cold-Case sells a retrofit radiator for when you transplant a 5.0 coyote in the 80-84 and 85-86 trucks. It is what we put in the '82 F150 that we put the 5.0 coyote in at work. I personally havent used one but that is the reason why I am going with it on my truck as they are nicely built radiators and like with Champion and others you can get the electric fan kit made just for their radiators. On the warranty we had the truck come back with a core leaking and we sent it back for warranty no questions asked. Thats also why I want to go with Dakota Digitial cause they dont ask questions and honor their life time warranty no matter whatjust like Cold-Case did for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 My Champion was also bolt-in. But Big Blue has a manual tranny so I didn't use the tranny coolant fittings, which is one place that Larry ran into problems. Might try Cold Case on Dad's truck to save the fittings issue. Why I was surprised that the Champion had 1/8" npt over 1/4" npt for the transmission cooler fittings. As far as I know I have never seen anyone make a radiator with 1/8" npt over 1/4" npt for cooler fittings. Even the fittings in the transmission itself are 1/4" npt as well. The Cold-Case one even clearly states it has 1/4" npt cooler fittings for the 80-84 trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 The radiator is spec'd for 1985-1997. And my core support is in effect a 1985-86. The liland global unit that failed was bolt in, no drilling. I think champion unofficially designs around the expectation of one using one of their e-fan kits, not keeping the stock clutch fan like I did. Lots of people do upgrade to electric fans when they go with the aluminum radiator upgrade. I personally am doing the aluminum radiator upgrade for the more efficient cooling capability of the 1 1/4" dual core design while retaining the OE fan shroud. Only thing I wont have OE is the fan, I am tossing my 5 bladed non AC flex fan in storage in favor of a 7 bladed flex-a-lite fan which is 1/4" smaller diameter than the OE 7 bladed flex fan Ford offered with trucks that had A/C. The 7 bladed fan I got is the same diameter as my OE 5 bladed, Im hopeful this will move more air and help my AC blow colder than the 58* F it gets down to in the heat of the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 The radiator is spec'd for 1985-1997. And my core support is in effect a 1985-86. The liland global unit that failed was bolt in, no drilling. I think champion unofficially designs around the expectation of one using one of their e-fan kits, not keeping the stock clutch fan like I did. Lots of people do upgrade to electric fans when they go with the aluminum radiator upgrade. I personally am doing the aluminum radiator upgrade for the more efficient cooling capability of the 1 1/4" dual core design while retaining the OE fan shroud. Only thing I wont have OE is the fan, I am tossing my 5 bladed non AC flex fan in storage in favor of a 7 bladed flex-a-lite fan which is 1/4" smaller diameter than the OE 7 bladed flex fan Ford offered with trucks that had A/C. The 7 bladed fan I got is the same diameter as my OE 5 bladed, Im hopeful this will move more air and help my AC blow colder than the 58* F it gets down to in the heat of the summer. Oh I know... I did that on my 1995 Ranger; actually, did the E-fan first and the radiator second (when I noticed that the plastic by the trans cooler was cracked and warped), but I used the stock fan shroud with a trimmed down 2011 Dodge Journey fan JB-welded in the hole (single speed fan, driven with a Derale PWM controller). But, in that case, I only did that because I had done an alternator upgrade previously (which in that case, was 100% bolt-on), the stock clutch fan was UV damaged (cracked), and because I wanted to see if I could improve economy (which I did, 1-2MPG). In the case of my F150, I would need an alternator upgrade as well (beyond the 60A 1G I currently have), but such would likely entail a 3G upgrade (and ammeter to voltmeter swap) and possibly a serpentine belt upgrade too (as I already struggle a bit with belt slippage when cold, and I run my belt way tighter than one probably should). Which would be a lot of work and expense that I can't currently justify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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