Series 1 Rover V8 radiator

[acryer]

Recently acquired a Series 1 with a Rover V8 dropped in. Does anybody have thoughts on if the original radiator will suffice or if I need to get a custom one made?

[TeriAnn]

Recently acquired a Series 1 with a Rover V8 dropped in. Does anybody have thoughts on if the original radiator will suffice or if I need to get a custom one made?

I have always been a fan of the empirical method. Summer is coming so why not drive the vehicle and find out. Nothing like stop and go city traffic on a hot day. Sitting in traffic waiting and creeping on a hot summer day to test a coolant system. Just bring extra coolant and a book in case you need to pull over and cool down.

Find a hot country area and spend about 3 or 4 hours off road in low first. Allow the truck to tell you if it needs better cooling. And if you do there are a number of companies that sell aluminum cross flow radiators. You may find an off the shelf radiator with the right dimensions. But there is no need to spend hundreds of dollars if the stock one works for you.

If you have a fuel injected V8 the system will probably work at around 190 degrees and the stock radiator likely will not have a cooling reserve at that temperature. But give it a try and see what your truck tells you. If it does overheat, shut the engine down, pop the bonnet and let it sit for an hour or two before adding more coolant.

[acryer]

Thanks for the advice. We will see how it goes.

[meatblanket]

Congrats on your purchase. I went and looked at that truck and passed on it because it was too much of a project for me to take on right now.

In answer to your question, yes, the original radiator should be sufficient. I have a '64 109 with a '62 Oldsmobile 215 V8 in it, with the original radiator from the 109, and cooling doesn't seem to be a problem.

The bigger problem for you is that because that truck is an 86, you don't have room for the original radiator to fit behind the front crossmember in it's normal location unless you resort to using an electric pusher fan, which isn't ideal.

I have a 1955 86 with a 2.5na diesel in it, and was faced with essentially the same situation. I used a 200tdi aluminum radiator with integral oil cooler that I put on top of the front crossmember, to make room for a puller fan rather than a pusher. If you're interested in taking a look, let me know.

That truck had a lot of mods done to it to accommodate the V8, unfortunately it was never completed and some engineering issues (like the cooling system) were never resolved.