Replacement radiators?

[olds307 and 403]

In my case , I put a original cooper GM radiator 26" core and fit perfect! , work flawlesly in conjunction with my 260 engine.

With Olds engines, especially the SBO, as size goes up, the bore gets bigger and that means they are harder to cool. I have had 0 issues cooling the 260 and 307. My current 2 core with 1" tubes which was slightly too wide, out cooled the 3 core Champion in my 88 Cutlass. But it started to leak between the cores. So I used a bunch of stop leak. It would hit 220+ with Olds 350 on the highway. Now with the Olds 260, it has never got beyond 190. The 350 was 9.5 to 1 to vs 7.8 to 1 and the 260 has a lot more timing, which helps cooling as well. The Olds 350 isn't terrible to cool but the thick cylinder wall, small bore Olds 260 and 307 cool much easier than their bigger brothers.

 

[565bbchevy]

I used that Champion 3 core rad, it cooled fair at best in my Olds 403, ran between 190 and 205 with 160 high flow thermostat, Flowkooler water pump and Dodge Stratus dual fans.

Did you ever try a 180 or 195 thermostat since a 160 will do nothing for cooling if it is open all the time since the coolant basically spends no time in the radiator the fans can't cool it fast enough.

 

[MrSony]

The Regal has a Champion CC162 for the 3 core.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Champion-Ra...ash=item33cbc8bed2:g:YNgAAOSw9OFZFdb1&vxp=mtr
They also have a 2 row EC162 and 4 row MC162, I had Jegs price match the Ebay price to get it faster.
The radiators do have larger outlets that require a different radiator hoses here are the part numbers I used which are both made by Dayco upper hose 70548 and lower hose 70936 but these are for a Olds engine for another engine just look up older A body cars for hoses.

Did it fit in the rubber mount pads or did it require modification?

 

[xitabl442]

I have a Champion 3 row in my 442. It was tight, but it fit after I clearanced the lower hose. And the drain valve didn't fit so I put a plug in it. I think I got mine from Summit. A brass/ copper was going to be like $400. IIRC

 

[565bbchevy]

Did it fit in the rubber mount pads or did it require modification?

I don't recall having to modify the pads if I did it would have been minor clearancing.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Did you ever try a 180 or 195 thermostat since a 160 will do nothing for cooling if it is open all the time since the coolant basically spends no time in the radiator the fans can't cool it fast enough.

I tried no thermostat which actually helped at low speed. Didn't help that the Mr Gasket high flow thermostat starting going bad almost right away, could feel flow, was closing at speed. I tried regular thermostats of varying temperature, no difference. I also towed my boat with it, got to 230, the 3 core was just too small.

 

[WanaBa442]

So it looks like the Champion has a lot of fans here. When the time comes, that's probably the way we'll go.
Thanks for the replies!

 

[Maverick's_Monte]

Hey now - Interested in the Champion radiator for my Monte SS as well. I have a SBC 350 as opposed to the 305 in the car. Before I order this thing, I want to make sure that the Champion CC162 3 row will cool my motor but also fit the car without any modifications. The gentleman I spoke to at Jeg's said it would, but before I pull the trigger I thought best to check with the experts here.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Champion-Cooling-Systems/166/CC162/10002/-1