i just swapped a 2nd gen rad into the 85 gs, would this be considered an upgrade or just swapping same for same. it sure does run cooler but i think my old rad may have been clogged a little. im going to have it rebuilt at petes in corpus then prolly sell it, or trade it. i really need some tail lights for the 85, as it will not pass inspection cause the covers are missing.

 

It would be considered an upgrade if the capacity of the radiator is greater than the one it just replaced.

 

well im not sure the capacity of the rad but i know its keepin cool, even with that little scorocio fan

 

Like you stated in your 1st post if the old radiator had any sort of blockage in it and you put one in that did not the cooling would be better. Our stock radiators are more than sufficent for our engines.

 

FC rads do have a bigger capacity than the 1st gen ones, hell, they can cool a TII. But as doc stated, the stock one is fine when in good condition.

I'd like to see pics of your install since the FC rad is a different size.

 

When I put mine in, I noticed the same thing. Runs much cooler, so I didn't even reinstall both of the cooling fans because there was no need.

Also, some of the 2nd gen rads were aluminum. This is a weight savings, and also cuts down on the number of different metals in the system which can be a good thing. Unfortunately, the one I got was copper.