What radiators are you using?
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my car had an OEM style radiator cooling my 11:1 compression SBC. It was a copper/brass unit and the previous owner had it re-cored with larger 2-row core. It had no issues cooling at the track or even hot days stuck in traffic.
During my engine re-build this summer, I broke the drain-plug bung, and trying to repair it led to more leaks. I now had to scrounge from the rest of my budget for a replacement. After alot of searching, I realized none of the OE replacement units would do the job for a decent price; I was looking at $400+ for a big 2-row unit.
Inevitably, an all aluminum unit I could get for better value. I narrowed my choices to the Jegs, Summit, and Champion units. Each had one feature over the other, and each was advertised as a "direct fit" system. After speaking with technical reps from each company, I was really happy with the Champion. They were a name brand, had more features, and their reps seemed to have a better understanding of their product than the Jegs & Summit reps.
this EC162 unit http://www.championradiators.com/Chevy- ... -1978-1987 was about the same price as the equivalent 2-row Jegs & Summit radiator
when I was placing the order, they were having a sale on their American Eagle line, and I ended up buying the AE162 (which is essentially the EC162 but with larger 2-row core) for $20 more
http://www.championradiators.com/Americ ... -1978-1986
here it is
installed in the car with my Buick 2 electric fans
I really like it, I was very cost conscious and I think it's a quality peace for the price. Besides the crappy cap, I think it's comparable in quality to my brother's $400 Griffin radiator. And with a 700hp rating, it's plenty for cooling my little engine. It fit pretty well, a little tight at the bottom between the core-support walls, and could probably use a wider top support, but otherwise is a pretty "direct-fit" as advertised.
During my engine re-build this summer, I broke the drain-plug bung, and trying to repair it led to more leaks. I now had to scrounge from the rest of my budget for a replacement. After alot of searching, I realized none of the OE replacement units would do the job for a decent price; I was looking at $400+ for a big 2-row unit.
Inevitably, an all aluminum unit I could get for better value. I narrowed my choices to the Jegs, Summit, and Champion units. Each had one feature over the other, and each was advertised as a "direct fit" system. After speaking with technical reps from each company, I was really happy with the Champion. They were a name brand, had more features, and their reps seemed to have a better understanding of their product than the Jegs & Summit reps.
this EC162 unit http://www.championradiators.com/Chevy- ... -1978-1987 was about the same price as the equivalent 2-row Jegs & Summit radiator
when I was placing the order, they were having a sale on their American Eagle line, and I ended up buying the AE162 (which is essentially the EC162 but with larger 2-row core) for $20 more
http://www.championradiators.com/Americ ... -1978-1986
here it is
installed in the car with my Buick 2 electric fans
I really like it, I was very cost conscious and I think it's a quality peace for the price. Besides the crappy cap, I think it's comparable in quality to my brother's $400 Griffin radiator. And with a 700hp rating, it's plenty for cooling my little engine. It fit pretty well, a little tight at the bottom between the core-support walls, and could probably use a wider top support, but otherwise is a pretty "direct-fit" as advertised.
khan0165 said:my car had an OEM style radiator cooling my 11:1 compression SBC. It was a copper/brass unit and the previous owner had it re-cored with larger 2-row core. It had no issues cooling at the track or even hot days stuck in traffic.
During my engine re-build this summer, I broke the drain-plug bung, and trying to repair it led to more leaks. I now had to scrounge from the rest of my budget for a replacement. After alot of searching, I realized none of the OE replacement units would do the job for a decent price; I was looking at $400+ for a big 2-row unit.
Inevitably, an all aluminum unit I could get for better value. I narrowed my choices to the Jegs, Summit, and Champion units. Each had one feature over the other, and each was advertised as a "direct fit" system. After speaking with technical reps from each company, I was really happy with the Champion. They were a name brand, had more features, and their reps seemed to have a better understanding of their product than the Jegs & Summit reps.
this EC162 unit http://www.championradiators.com/Chevy- ... -1978-1987 was about the same price as the equivalent 2-row Jegs & Summit radiator
when I was placing the order, they were having a sale on their American Eagle line, and I ended up buying the AE162 (which is essentially the EC162 but with larger 2-row core) for $20 more
Was this a direct Bolt in for the Factory Radiator or were modifications needed to mount
http://www.championradiators.com/Americ ... -1978-1986
here it is
installed in the car with my Buick 2 electric fans
I really like it, I was very cost conscious and I think it's a quality peace for the price. Besides the crappy cap, I think it's comparable in quality to my brother's $700 Griffin radiator. And with a 700hp rating, it's plenty for cooling my little engine. It fit pretty well, a little tight at the bottom between the core-support walls, and could probably use a wider top support, but otherwise is a pretty "direct-fit" as advertised.
it's hard to tell where your post is when you copy the whole message, but I think this is what you're trying to ask?silverfox said:
yes, both the EC162 and AE162 are direct fit radiators. They measure 31" x 18.25", just like the factory radiator. But, they are wider. So the fit will be tight at the bottom, but it will still work.
I think if I had to do it again, I would buy the 27" x 18.25" unit (EC571 or AE571) just for a little more sideways wiggle room
- it's the same radiator, just not as wide as the 31"
The rubber cups that support and hold the top and bottom of the radiator, I had to buy wider ones because my old radiator tanks weren't as wide as this one, but these still work with my radiator top-support.
The top ridge is made just like the factory radiator, so your factory top-support should contour the top the radiator like the factory unit. It's also very easy to bolt a custom top-support to this ridge, no need to run zip-ties thru the fins.
The radiator has a 3rd oil-cooler core to run your transmission lines, an overflow tube on the filler neck, a drain petcock. Everything is in the factory position.
I tried one of those Champion radiators too along with another brand that was the exact same thing ( just had different cores ) and was not happy with either of them in the least. I'm sure they both cooled well, but other than that everything about them screamed 'cheap, mass produced China crap' to me. My gripes;
1) I think they look like crap. This is just my opinion.
2) The cap was extremely hard to remove and put back on. When I mentioned this to the tech guy, he said 'so what, how often do you need to remove the cap anyway?'.
3) One of the transmission lines leaked bad. Wouldn't seal. Points to overall quality of these things.
4) The nipple for the overflow wasn't even the right size. I think it was too small, don't remember. Yes, minor issue but an issue none the less.
5) You could barely get the stock size hose ( the top one I believe) to fit onto the radiator.
6) One of my favorites; the petcock wasn't even in a location where you could actually turn it ( it would hit the core support )!
7) Overall fitment. It was like trying to fit a small square into a round hole - yeah you can get it in there, but it'll fight you every step of the way. That's not MY definition of 'direct fit'.
I'm glad others have had success with them, but I wouldn't ever recommend them to anybody, but then again I much prefer useing the best parts available on my car and don't cut corners just to save a couple of bucks. That means American Racing Headers over Flowtechs, Bilstein shocks over 'Autozone' shocks, and Alumitech radiator over Champion ( and that that other one that's just like it ).
1) I think they look like crap. This is just my opinion.
2) The cap was extremely hard to remove and put back on. When I mentioned this to the tech guy, he said 'so what, how often do you need to remove the cap anyway?'.
3) One of the transmission lines leaked bad. Wouldn't seal. Points to overall quality of these things.
4) The nipple for the overflow wasn't even the right size. I think it was too small, don't remember. Yes, minor issue but an issue none the less.
5) You could barely get the stock size hose ( the top one I believe) to fit onto the radiator.
6) One of my favorites; the petcock wasn't even in a location where you could actually turn it ( it would hit the core support )!
7) Overall fitment. It was like trying to fit a small square into a round hole - yeah you can get it in there, but it'll fight you every step of the way. That's not MY definition of 'direct fit'.
I'm glad others have had success with them, but I wouldn't ever recommend them to anybody, but then again I much prefer useing the best parts available on my car and don't cut corners just to save a couple of bucks. That means American Racing Headers over Flowtechs, Bilstein shocks over 'Autozone' shocks, and Alumitech radiator over Champion ( and that that other one that's just like it ).
DoubleV brought up some good points
I must been in a mellow mood this morning, cuz I forgot all this dumb stuff I had to deal with
1. I can't compare how it looks, I haven't had an aluminum radiator before this
2. yes, the cap sucks ball. I couldn't open it, it was made with cheap stamped steel, I chucked it, and used my old one.
3. I haven't hooked up the transmission lines yet, but the bungs welded in the radiator suck immensely. I tried several hose-pipe fittings and they all felt loose. I called their tech guys back and asked what thread size to use, the guy had a hard time figuring it out for some reason; told me it was 1/2" thread (why didn't they use a standard NPT size?). It was impossible to find a hose fitting for a non-NPT size, I special ordered some Edelbrock carb fittings for this. They still felt loose, I've got them in there with thread sealer, but I've got my worries for leaks when I go to hook them up.
4. the overflow nozzle is quite small, like 1/4" (why didn't they use 3/8" like everyone else?)
5. I couldn't reuse my top radiator hose. I believe factory radiator has 1.25"inlet/1.5"outlet, while the Champion has 1.5" both inlet & outlet. I had to buy a new hose for the top, I was able to reuse the bottom hose.
6. You're right about the petcock, it is on the lower driver side of the radiator, a few inches up from the bottom of the left tank. With the radiator installed, this lands right next to a flanged section of the core-support, so it's impossible to access. The factory radiator's petcock is in the same location, but slightly lower where the core-support allows access. I have to drain the radiator by undoing the lower hose, which makes it difficult to properly drain the engine.
7. It was pretty tight to get in. As I mentioned, the bottom sides of the core-support are contoured around to fit the narrower factory radiator tanks. The Champion radiator tanks are about 1/4" thicker, and not rounded, which interferes with the round contoured walls of the core-support. You can get it in there, but it's metal on metal, scrapes its way down at the bottom.
- some of my friends who have used other aluminum radiators complained about similar tight-fitment issues. I guess I just assumed it was common.
So,
now that I've remembered all this, I'm not sure how I feel about the brand. For sure, I knew I was buying a cheap radiator, so I didn't set myself any standards to compare against. I guess I'll have a better grading scale if I buy another brands in the future.
I must been in a mellow mood this morning, cuz I forgot all this dumb stuff I had to deal with
1. I can't compare how it looks, I haven't had an aluminum radiator before this
2. yes, the cap sucks ball. I couldn't open it, it was made with cheap stamped steel, I chucked it, and used my old one.
3. I haven't hooked up the transmission lines yet, but the bungs welded in the radiator suck immensely. I tried several hose-pipe fittings and they all felt loose. I called their tech guys back and asked what thread size to use, the guy had a hard time figuring it out for some reason; told me it was 1/2" thread (why didn't they use a standard NPT size?). It was impossible to find a hose fitting for a non-NPT size, I special ordered some Edelbrock carb fittings for this. They still felt loose, I've got them in there with thread sealer, but I've got my worries for leaks when I go to hook them up.
4. the overflow nozzle is quite small, like 1/4" (why didn't they use 3/8" like everyone else?)
5. I couldn't reuse my top radiator hose. I believe factory radiator has 1.25"inlet/1.5"outlet, while the Champion has 1.5" both inlet & outlet. I had to buy a new hose for the top, I was able to reuse the bottom hose.
6. You're right about the petcock, it is on the lower driver side of the radiator, a few inches up from the bottom of the left tank. With the radiator installed, this lands right next to a flanged section of the core-support, so it's impossible to access. The factory radiator's petcock is in the same location, but slightly lower where the core-support allows access. I have to drain the radiator by undoing the lower hose, which makes it difficult to properly drain the engine.
7. It was pretty tight to get in. As I mentioned, the bottom sides of the core-support are contoured around to fit the narrower factory radiator tanks. The Champion radiator tanks are about 1/4" thicker, and not rounded, which interferes with the round contoured walls of the core-support. You can get it in there, but it's metal on metal, scrapes its way down at the bottom.
- some of my friends who have used other aluminum radiators complained about similar tight-fitment issues. I guess I just assumed it was common.
So,
now that I've remembered all this, I'm not sure how I feel about the brand. For sure, I knew I was buying a cheap radiator, so I didn't set myself any standards to compare against. I guess I'll have a better grading scale if I buy another brands in the future.
I'm using a RockAuto aluminum replacement (Specter I think, not sure) that was supposed to be a 4-row equivalent. Summertime, 160º stat, AC on, cool as a cucumber. Blistering hot, stuck in traffic, it creeps up a little, but I blame the crummy factory fan. Fit perfect, all hoses swapped fine, drain is OK.
Thanks for all the great info guys. :-D I have read some mixed reviews about the champion rads. I don't want to have to fuss with fittings or looking for hoses that fit for something that should be a straight forward install. I will be looking to get an electric fan or fans too.
I looked at this setup from summit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-csum3801
I looked at this setup from summit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-csum3801
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