Looking at the fans on my V8 Bristol I have been struck by how well designed they are. Maybe something to do with a legacy of aerodynamic knowledge in the company, but the twin electric fans are built into a little cowling which I think is a component only found on Bristol cars in that period. I have seen very poorly arranged fans on other classic cars of the period, but the way the Bristol fans are mounted in a cowling seems very well designed, and this carries the pressurised cool air efficiently to the radiator core.
I may have missed something but I not familiar with steel-cored radiators. The 'old' material was brass (or even copper !). It is true that brass is a better heat conductor than aluminium, but cooling has much more to do with surface area and the ability to turn over both the coolant and the air near the cooling surfaces, than the conductivity of the metal. The modern OEM industry uses plastic end tanks and aluminium cores. In this context aluminium is used because it is cheaper than brass. The external surfaces of the core have all sorts of clever little methods to 'turbulate', i.e. mix up, the air on the outside of the core, so as to maximise the heating of the air and cooling of the surface. There are similar structures on the inside of the surfaces to maximise the contact between surface and coolant.
If you can install a complete modern OEM radiator of a suitable size, this will give a very good result, but it is difficult to find the right size. The best alternative is a custom made aluminium radiator, where the maker is using a modern aluminum core material, possibly modifying cores taken from modern OEM radiators.
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