I have the Dodge Stratus dual fans. The Griffin core size, price and being made over here is why I considered them seriously.
Best aluminum G body rad
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There are only a couple things to know and compare when buying a radiator. Fins per square inch, the more the better, if they don't tell you then probably not good. Number of cores, most times with aluminum 2. Length of cores, here is the sneaky part, some off brands tell you it is a 2 row radiator but the first row is 1 inch but the second row is only 5/8 inch. Also the total number of tubes can vary.
After rechecking my part numbers mine is also the 1.5" dia. tubes. Glad to hear it works for you!jociha said:
I am leaning towards the Champion 4 core. Guy on ROP has it in his Cutlass with a mid 9 to 1 455 with no OD cruising at 4000 rpm and running 200 max in 105 heat. My 3 Champion core fit like a glove but cooling was just passable. I swapped it into the Olds powered 4x4 since it's no name Ebay rad cooled better and Cutlass will need more cooling. I learned a loose clamp wasn't it's only reason for losing coolant after the swap. The drain c*ck location is hard to get at on the Champion in a G body, otherwise was a quality rad. Plus it is $50 less than the Summit rad and $50 less in shipping.
If you think that will work go for it. Are you running A/C and if so was he, makes a big difference. And just as important is the cooling fan, if you are using electric use one with little static pressure drop across your coil. Also remember when buying a radiator some have the tanks epoxy glued on instead of welded on. Both work fine but if you get a leak near the tank most times it can not be fixed because the heat to weld the hole will melt the glue.
I didn't know Champion made a 4 core. Here are my thoughts;
1) Does the 4 core really cool better than a 3 core? The 4 core would have smaller tubes which would flow less than 3 larger cores. For this reason, it's the 2 core version ( not a Champion but it looks identical to it ) cools better than the Champion 3 core. Maybe that doesn't apply to the 3 to 4 core in comparrison though.
2) If you are having as many cooling problems as you say ( and it ain't like you live near the equator! ), you probably have other things wrong, possibly with the engine or engine tuning itself and not the cooling system. Heck your gauge could just be wrong or your thermostat isn't opening all the way or something like that.
If others with bigger engines are keeping their engine's cool with less, then you should be able to too. There needs to be a logical explanation for your cooling issues. When I had cooling issues years ago, it was the clutch. That was it. Could've saves some serious coin on the nice aluminum radiator I bought. In short, you shouldn't need a 'super' radiator to cool a hopped up engine. YMMV.
1) Does the 4 core really cool better than a 3 core? The 4 core would have smaller tubes which would flow less than 3 larger cores. For this reason, it's the 2 core version ( not a Champion but it looks identical to it ) cools better than the Champion 3 core. Maybe that doesn't apply to the 3 to 4 core in comparrison though.
2) If you are having as many cooling problems as you say ( and it ain't like you live near the equator! ), you probably have other things wrong, possibly with the engine or engine tuning itself and not the cooling system. Heck your gauge could just be wrong or your thermostat isn't opening all the way or something like that.
If others with bigger engines are keeping their engine's cool with less, then you should be able to too. There needs to be a logical explanation for your cooling issues. When I had cooling issues years ago, it was the clutch. That was it. Could've saves some serious coin on the nice aluminum radiator I bought. In short, you shouldn't need a 'super' radiator to cool a hopped up engine. YMMV.
Are you talking to me? I got rid of all my cooling issues a while back. What the big issues were a garbage Mr Gasket high flow thermostat, was closing nearly completely at highway flow. I think the pressure from it was why this rad is leaking. Second was under drive pulleys, junk. Then there was damaged fan shroud, replaced with very good Dodge Stratus dual fans. Yes, my gauge reads 10 degrees high. My current 350 never got above 190 on the gauge, so really 180 with the champion 3 core. I am pushing street compression limits running 9.6 to 1, running at 200+ temps is not ideal. I am hoping cool temps, very cold NGK 5670-8 and dialing back the vacuum advance won't make it a pinging nightmare.
Well if you have spark knock with that compression then it is not really a cooling problem. Sounds like you said, to much timing. As for the radiator, a 3 row or 4 row is not going to provide any more cooling than a 2 row with 1" tubes, maybe less. A 2 row with 2- 1" tubes equals 2". A 3 row with 1/2" or 5/8" tubes equals less than 2". A 4 row with 1/2" tubes [that's as big as they come on a 4 row] equals 2", the same as a 2 row with 1" tubes. So don't pay extra for a 4 row thinking it will be better than a 2 row. Check tube sizes and add them up that will tell you most of the story.
No spark knock yet, haven't swapped heads yet, still in the basement. I agree, the 2 core with 1" tubes will cool just as well as a 4 core. The leaking 2 core in the car did out cool the Champion 3 core. But it leaked around the crimped filler neck(jb weld fix), was too big to fit properly and has a minor leak somewhere between the cores. The 4 core champion rad is $100 cheaper, $50 price and $50 cheaper shipping.
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