E-Bay Aluminum Radiator in the Restomod Falcon

If you are going to install a modern motor, you will need more cooling. There are a couple of ways to go about this. One way is to modify your car to use a larger radiator. The other is to use an aluminum radiator of the original size. Some people do both the larger size and aluminum. It will depend on how much cooling your new motor will need.

E-Bay aluminum radiator for 1963 Ford Falcon

I wanted to go aluminum and keep the stock size. When I first started looking I was shell shocked by the high prices of aluminum radiators. I am building my car on a budget and I could not see spending $400.00 on an aluminum radiator. So I read up about them and started searching E-Bay. You need to be careful anytime you buy car parts off of E-Bay, but especially when buying an aluminum radiator.

Aluminum cools better than older brass radiators because it is more efficient at dissipating heat. If you look at the stats of all the big money aluminum radiators you will see that a 2 row will be as or more efficient than a 4 row brass. Here is where some E-Bay vendors try to get tricky. The big money radiators are all 2 row with 1" tubes. You will run across lots of 3 row aluminum radiators on E-Bay for really good prices, but they have 3/8" tubes. So your really are only getting 1 1/8" of radiator install of 2", not good.

Here you can see the 1" tubes

If you look enough you will find a 2 row with 1" tubes for a very reasonable price. I have had mine in my 1963 Ford Falcon for a little over a year now with no issues. It is cooling a fuel injected 302 with a Vortech supercharger huffing away. You also have to have a big enough fan. You could have the biggest, baddest radiator money can by, but if you fan is too small and you idle for long enough your junk will overheat. I started with too small of fan, so don't make the same mistake I did.

E-Bay aluminum radiator installed in my Falcon