Which Heatercore, for 2 120mm fans

[BuickBeast]

Hello guys, first post but long time lurker.

I know that there is alot of heatercore discussions but I'm trying to get a straight answer on which one to get. Alot talk about the chevette heatercore. But I'm looking for the bigger one.

I'm looking for the large heatercore to put 2 120mm fans top to bottom. And as far as max preformance, should it be 1 pass or more?

Thanks in advance

[Craig]

First of all welcome to the Xtreme Systems!

The best of rads that I know of for your use and size requirements is #2-342 (old Fedco #).

This rad is from a 69-72 chevy pickup that has air conditioning. Make sure you order for the truck with air, as a differant core was used in trucks of those years that did not have air.

I ordered the one like this I have at a local Napa store, cost was 30$. They had to special order it but it took only 5 days.

This core has it's inlet/outlets at opposed corners diagonally on opposit ends of the core. This feature is important as it insures equal flow through all the tubes of the core.

This core is just the right size for dual fans on each side if desired.

[TheDude]

If that is the core you and I discussed a while back it's from a 69-72 chevy pick up with air. The site I hunt cores at is:

www.leakycar.com

At this site the cores # is 2-342

At Auto zone it's # 399090

[Craig]

Dude! Yes that's the same rad, and thanks for posting that Auto zone number for him.


Buickbeast,

You might want to take a look at the two threads of the Dude's build of his currant water rig and how he's set it up. One of the best set ups I can imagine. One thread was title, Sealth rig, or something close to that.

And they should both be within just a few pages on this forum, I'll find them and bump them up for ya.

[Weapon]

heatercore from a '71 chevy caprice works well for two 120s...



the heatercore was about $28 at autozone - the shroud was made from a piece of repair sheet metal I found in the sale bin at @utozone for $2 while I was waiting for the AZ d00d to dig up the right core -- I just cut it and did a couple of minor spot welds and then brazed the rest of the edges closed.

[BuickBeast]

Weapon, that looks nice. I just ordered one at autozone.

Thanks

[TheDude]

Nice shroud...I need to make one for a push/pull setup.:thumbsup:

[Weapon]

thx.

I am working on another one -- well, I have started the shroud design and I ordered the brass 1/2" barbs.

I think the best material (as in strongest and easiest to work with) is brass sheeting for the shroud. you can hard solder/braze the edges and it is fairly easy to cut and work with other wise.
strong too. the one in the pic above was made out of sheet metal -- I spot welded the corners but it was a pain in the arse to do -- even with a fairly week arc welder it is very hard to avoid punching a hole through the edges. brazing or soldering is probably the best route to go with these considering the thickness of the material.

If you don't like the ridges on the sides of the heatercores and you want a little more finished look, you can silver solder brass plates that are the same width as the heatercore to the sides of it. You have to be really careful with the temps to avoid opening up one of the seams on the heatercore but it can be done. I suppose a good hi-strength epoxy and some clamps could be used to mount the side plates as well but i havent tried that as of yet...

One other thing you can do is solder or braze mounting brackets to the sides of the heatercore to get a very solid mounting point. I did this on one and then notched a brass side plate to hide the contact point between the heatercore and the bracket - I will have to take some pics of that core and post em -- it turned out really well and it left me with a lot of mounting options.

plexi-shroud route:
just to try something a little different, I am going to make one up out of 1/4 plexi or lexan. I have made some out of 1/8" thick plexi but they need to be reinforced under the shroud to support any weight whatsoever. I think that 1/4 plexi can do the job with no problems. Besides, I need to test out the new plexicutting blade on my tablesaw.

[TheDude]

I need to test out the new plexicutting blade on my tablesaw

Weapon,

That is exactly what I am considering, which blade did you get for this? I would love to have one....scoring it and snapping it sux.

[Weapon]

it is a super fine toothed blade that was designed for cutting metal, plastic, etc. - I will take a pic of it an post it when I get home. It was fairly inexpensive.

the ones that are actually plexicutting blades (as in they were specifically designed for that) are hella expensive last time I checked ~~$100 for the blade. the funny part is they look almost identical to the one I got (same tooth spacing, etc. etc.)

I need to wax it but my initial test runs with just the dry blade turned out pretty good.

[TheDude]

Excellent! Thanks very much! Hopefully after seeing the pic this will be something I can find at my local Sears store. I have a table saw.

[Freezeman]

Weapon how di you get the shroud to stay on the core, it looks like the screws go through the core????
i ask this because i'm doing mine at the moment and yours looks awesome.

[Weapon]

Originally posted by TheDude
Excellent! Thanks very much! Hopefully after seeing the pic this will be something I can find at my local Sears store. I have a table saw.

the pic of the blade is temporarily delayed -- the wife decided to rearrange the garage/weapon development lab while I was at work and I cannot find a d@mn thing out there.

I will find the blade and get a pic of it up soon though.

Originally posted by Freezeman
Weapon how di you get the shroud to stay on the core, it looks like the screws go through the core????
i ask this because i'm doing mine at the moment and yours looks awesome.

I just use 6" threaded 6x32 rods (straight from Lowe's or home depot) to hold the shroud to the core and for mounting it to the case.

first, measure out the fan spacing that you want to use on the top of the shroud and then drill the holes using the standard spacing for the 4 mounting holes on the 120mm fans.

then carefully thread the rods through the shroud and through the fins in the heatercore -- be very careful, you want the rods to go thru the core without tearing the hell out of the fins..

I use small fender washers on the back of the core and a 6 x 32 nut to hold them in place. a little dab of silicone around the threads that run through the core will keep it from getting any vibration or rattling from the metal to metal contact.

[TheDude]

In the past I have used a fine toothed blade mounted in reverse to cut plastics....I may try that again...seemed to work fairly well.

[Weapon]

Originally posted by TheDude
In the past I have used a fine toothed blade mounted in reverse to cut plastics....I may try that again...seemed to work fairly well.

do you know of any effective tactics for keeping significant others out of computer mod areas??


I have tried reverse mounting before and it works pretty good - you need really fine teeth to keep from chipping the edges of the plexi. also, make sure you use some type of support along the cut egde - I usually put a 1 x 4 on top of the protected plexiglass and apply a little pressure to it to keep the cutline as smooth as possible.

these are basically what my blades look like:
http://www.usplastic.com/images/prod...ols/37500p.jpg
^^those are the Forrest No-Melt Carbide-Tipped Saw Blades.
Problem: the prices. OUCH!!!

I do not believe I will be buying that 12" Dia. 1" Arbor; 80 Teeth Saw Blade for $222.36 anytime in the near future.

gee, if you buy 12 you get 15% off...

hmmm...it wont direct link to the page --
go here:
www.usplastics.com
and type:
Forrest No-Melt into the search box -- it should be the top link in the search results.

[TheDude]

Ouch! too rich for me!
I think I will just get a cheap fine tooth and reverse it. I cover the entire area to be cut with 2 inch masking tape....bought in quantity at the wharehouse club. Use it to cover case mods before cutting also. I just hacked up my Lian case and had it wrapped like a mummy...not a scratch on it. Bowman turned me on to that....I used to use cardboard.

[Nookie420]

thats a really nice lookin raddy weapon.