who makes custom radiators in Australia?

[Kevin H]

Does anyone know where I can get a high performance aluminium radiator made in Australia, (preferable Victoria) ?

[UK6]

Kevin,
My father recently had an oversize aluminium radiator made for his 405
roadster by Brown's Radiators (Perth as below)- $850 with large electric fan
- superb work - cheaper than a conventional recore.

Brown's Radiator Service Address: 5/35 William St, Beckenham, WA, 6107

Phone number: (08) 94518093

Suggestion - Make sure that your voltage across your radiator is at a
minimum to reduce corrosion - have a chat with the rad gurus.

Regards,

Brett

[Thor]

Without looking at a map I don't know if this is round the corner from you or thousands of miles away, but among the top custom radiator makers in the world is PWR.

See PWR Performance Products - Custom Made Aluminium Radiator, Radiators, Oilcoolers, Intercoolers and Superchargers

The address is a place called Ormeau in Queensland. I think it is near Brisbane, so not Victoria ! - Sorry.

All the best, Happy Christmas etc.

Thor.

[Kevin H]

Brett and Thor, thanks for the info. While both locations are interstate for me in Melbourne, road freight charges are are not too bad. It's only when you start air freighting things like this internationally that it gets prohibitively expensive.

The challenge of course is to supply them with the correct information so they can supply a unit that will drop straight in!

[UK6]

Kevin,
Re pick up points for your rad - if the mounting points are critical,
I suggest that you send a light ply (or steel) drill template to your
radiator maker with the correct bolt centres/mounting detail. If you are
considering a redesign, a lot of modern cars have a rubberised "stirrup"
supporting the bottom tank - vibration wise and in terms of removal, this is
a good way to go. Side plates obviously have brackets for an fan elec fan
shroud.

If cooling is a problem with your mark, it goes without saying that an
increase in radiator aperture and or core thickness should be considered if
space allows. I assume that you already have a sealed water recovery tank -
this factor is important as your rad manufacturer will insert a taller
filler neck to allow space for the very useful recovery valve.
Don't forget to factor in space requirements for your new electric fan.
As an aside, modern fan motors and rotor housings are more than likely
thinner than those of olde!

In addition to a healthy electric fan, my father's oversize alu replacement
rad for his 405 also embodied better inlet and outlet pipe location (cross
flow) to which a modern and a more readily available thermostat housing and
radiator hoses were fitted - "Supercheap Auto's" or "REPCO" are your best
bets here. Kevin, you may want to select a fan switch which kicks in at a
lower temp - useful for our hot modern Aussie city driving (crawling!)

In closing, I am definitely not an expert, but I have gone through all of
the above considerations recently when I made top and bottom tanks (in
brass) for my SS100 and Frazer Nash Replicas. As previously mentioned, as of
earlier in the year, a standard core (inc labour for soldering) was on par
with a complete replacement alu rad!


Regards,

Brett