Is it ok to have some radiator fins damaged?

[YohL]

is it ok to have some of those fins damaged? they got banged onto my frame while trying to install it...will it effect my car's cooling system at all? thanks

[J Mo]

the fins are there to maximize surface area, therefore maximizing heat dissipation by allowing more area to be exposed to the air where the heat could transfer from coolant to radiator metal to open air

with a few fins bent and whatnot, it should be ok, as long as its not like a huge dent that like restricts coolant flow, punctured the radiator, or something along those lines

theyre pretty easy to bend tho -- in fact from what ive read you should not use pressure washes on your radiator as it may bend the fins

[YohL]

I see, thanks for the info. No dents, just some fins are bent...do u think if i "unbend" it, it'll help? or it's fuckd already?

[talonXracer]

They make tools that are used to straighten the fins out, they look like a comb, most of these have 3 or 4 "sections" with differing offsets for the differing spaces between fins of different makes of rad's.

I have found that they do not work well on fully crimped over fins, these require you to use a knife or fine tipped straight slot screwdriver to lift the edge of the fin first efore these tools can be used to straighten the fins fully.