Josh at RE Tuning Service https://www.facebook.com/RETuningServiceFactory posted these up, he has a shop and someone brought this in. It is a radiator , i believe he cut the stem off to look at it.




Some guys are trying to say it is not authentic Godspeed, but perhaps a knock off...hmmmm

Thought this would be appropriate to post here .

 

To be fair, that hole with the restriction inside is only the filler neck (unless I'm looking at it wrong) and once the radiator is filled then there is really no flow through that area anyway...so a restriction there really doesn't matter.

The problem I usually have with these chinese radiators is that there are several more major fitment issues with them...interference with the battery tray, mounting holes not lining up, interference with a/c lines, oil cooler lines, the sway bar, the hood, etc. A customer brought me a "blackworks racing" radiator a couple years back that was completely unable to be installed for SEVERAL major reasons.

 

In the video it shows the actual neck getting cut off, poor welds, and obstructions in flow too. The filler neck is one thing but it's still poor quality, and such build quality I don't think should be excused either. It's interesting though.

 

I agree that of course you'd like to see better build quality. But it depends on what you're paying for it. If it's one of those $125 ebay "racing" radiators, then I mean, what did you really expect?

Now if it's a $300 radiator then yeah, that's not acceptable at all.

Still, a radiator isn't really like an intercooler core, or an exhaust system. "Flow rate" through the core is pretty much irrelevant, as the thermostat dictates flow speed. In fact you do not WANT the coolant to flow through too fast, it needs time to transfer heat out into the air before being pumped back into the engine. Pretty much all a radiator has to do is hold pressure and not leak, and obviously fit the application it's built for.

 

That's not true.
At this low level of fluid velocity, flow rate through a closed system is determined by the cumulative sum of all the restrictions.
Also, increasing fluid flow rate through the system increases cooling system efficiency. Time to transfer heat energy doesn't apply in a closed-loop application.
That whole ideology would defeat the modifcation of a high-flow water pump, and means that slowing down water pump speed would increase cooling efficiency.

See below for reference:
Stewart Components - High Performance Automotive Cooling
14 Rules for Improving Engine Cooling System Capability in High-Performance Automobiles

 

Two things:

I think "Godspeed" is a marketing entity that subs out construction of the parts to a lot of little shops.
I've had a Godspeed rad for about 3 years and the construction looks nothing like that one. Mine fits and performs just fine, others have not been so lucky.

As to the radiator "slowing things down to cool better"...
If coolant flow is slowed in the rad, isn't it slowed in the block as well?
It may have more time to shed calories in the rad but it's also picking up more calories from the engine.

 

I have one of the godspeed radiators that didn't fit. At all. The mounting brackets were way wrong, which could have been fixed by drilling new holes. The real issue is that the heater hose connection on the lower hose was welded on in such a way that it would have hit the sway bar.

I installed it as a v-mount with some modification, and it cools absolutely great. I have no reason to believe that it doesn't do its job cooling the engine. Just be aware that they won't fit.

And MIDNFauciUSN might chime in here in a little bit. He has the exact same one you have up there, and has no issues with his at all. You can even see the same cut in the fill neck and everything.

 

They must be hit or miss. I installed one on my last t2 and besides having to source s5 radiator mounts it fit just fine. Worked like a charm with no leaks, either.

 

The boogers on the welds are the best.. lol.. WoW

 

Yep. I bought mine from forum vendor FatboyGarage. I had no fitment issues at all. My fill neck looks more or less the same. I have no REAL complaints about the welds... the only thing I would like is a better bead on the hose connection points. Its there, but I'd have made it a little more pronounced.

I've really had no issues with it so far.