which would you choose? radiator

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sabre67

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The Champion 26 inch 2 row is priced at $209.98 also the 26 inch 3 row is also priced at $209.98 which would you buy? 2 or 3 row.going in a Duster with 383 BB. 2 row 1.75 thick, 3 row 2.50 thick Thoughts plz:thankyou:
 
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What’s the tube size for each radiator?
 
Gotcha. Have you thought about a radiator with 1 inch tubes?
 
3 row.
Have a question-how tall is the 26" one? (actually to lazy to try to find it, ain't I :realcrazy:) The 1" sounds good tho .
 
Looked..3 row would be the way I would, and more than likely add a shroud to the mechanical fan.
Temp is something I never had a problem with until I went to a shroudless aluminum radiator.
It wasn't much of a deal until I had to drive 5 miles through Portland in stop and go traffic. Ended up using the defroster on high to keep it under that 2?? degree mark and we were really miserable at the 1/4 mile mark..(we added a Flex-a-Lite 7 blade, all it needed so far)..just a thought. Too hot is as bad as to cool, gotta hit at least 180 to be running right for us.
Saw an old school (tanks top and bottom @ JEGS) for $183.99, made me wonder if they were going to cool as good as the cross flow's, until I spotted the recommended fan shroud for electric's below it for $161.99, with 2 electric fans-not priced in-not such a good deal with added fans.

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Don't do a 3 row. Especially with only .750 tubes. 3 times .750 is 2.25. If you have a 2 core with 1.25 tubes you have 2.500 tube area. More tubes isn't better. In fact, it can be worse.

I used an ECP radiator. It want a perfect fit, but it was Ok. It cools like jack the bear.

There is a forum sponsor on here. You can find them at the bottom of the forum page. Had I known about that company, I would have used their radiator.

Again, even though I'm being redundant, it's all about coolant flow. The least amount of restriction is important. Another reason why a 2 cores is better than 3 or 4 cores, is because there is less turbulence above the cores. Less cores with bigger tubes creates less restriction.

Also, you need a quality water pump. I use the Mildon because it's cost effective and it works. I've heard the Flow Cooler brand is good, but I've never used one so I can't say.

Make sure you run the water pump at least at crank speed. 8-10% overdriven is better than 1:1 and make sure you use a quality thermostat. I use the Stewart Components thermostat.

It's all about coolant and air flow. Keep your restrictions as minimal as possible.
 
Looked..3 row would be the way I would, and more than likely add a shroud to the mechanical fan.
Temp is something I never had a problem with until I went to a shroudless aluminum radiator.
It wasn't much of a deal until I had to drive 5 miles through Portland in stop and go traffic. Ended up using the defroster on high to keep it under that 2?? degree mark and we were really miserable at the 1/4 mile mark..(we added a Flex-a-Lite 7 blade, all it needed so far)..just a thought. Too hot is as bad as to cool, gotta hit at least 180 to be running right for us.
Saw an old school (tanks top and bottom @ JEGS) for $183.99, made me wonder if they were going to cool as good as the cross flow's, until I spotted the recommended fan shroud for electric's below it for $161.99, with 2 electric fans-not priced in-not such a good deal with added fans.

View attachment 1715197323


It's about I possible to go to Portland and not sit in traffic. That place is a hot mess. I'd rather drive in LA, although I haven't been there since about 2002.
 
It's about I possible to go to Portland and not sit in traffic. That place is a hot mess. I'd rather drive in LA, although I haven't been there since about 2002.
I hate Portland too...I'd rather drive around anywhere but there. LA was easy in 1976. Lunch box/ice chest, bottle to pee in and a good book. D/FW, whole 'nother story....106 degrees, 100% humidity, a Ford 460, the mixmaster south of there can really eat a vehicle up fast. BUT, I had to wonder about the 1 inch, those are aluminum and don't have the cooling properties as brass and copper do. Hence the need for 1 inch cores=3" total thick. I had heard of adding depth to your radiator, as it could take it in the hole its going in. 383 is not the hottest running, or coolest running either, depends on build. But the radiator needs either the dual fan-1 is used to work with the thermostat, and the one that works with a heat sensor. It generally comes on after X # of minutes of the other one popping on steady, to keep the cool thing happening. I was told it's not rocket science. Bad news, I'm not a rocket scientist so....like to keep track of how it works out-I still feel uneasy about our Dart, put way to much into the rebuild to cook it somewhere when I don't have to-and for MoPar's it's always "For a few dollars more"...yeah.
 
The reason the aluminum tubes can be 1 inch or greater is that aluminum is stronger than copper. Hence more tubes with copper.
 
I hate Portland too...I'd rather drive around anywhere but there. LA was easy in 1976. Lunch box/ice chest, bottle to pee in and a good book. D/FW, whole 'nother story....106 degrees, 100% humidity, a Ford 460, the mixmaster south of there can really eat a vehicle up fast. BUT, I had to wonder about the 1 inch, those are aluminum and don't have the cooling properties as brass and copper do. Hence the need for 1 inch cores=3" total thick. I had heard of adding depth to your radiator, as it could take it in the hole its going in. 383 is not the hottest running, or coolest running either, depends on build. But the radiator needs either the dual fan-1 is used to work with the thermostat, and the one that works with a heat sensor. It generally comes on after X # of minutes of the other one popping on steady, to keep the cool thing happening. I was told it's not rocket science. Bad news, I'm not a rocket scientist so....like to keep track of how it works out-I still feel uneasy about our Dart, put way to much into the rebuild to cook it somewhere when I don't have to-and for MoPar's it's always "For a few dollars more"...yeah.


Gotta have a pee bottle!!!!! Classic.
 
We're still here! :) We could have easily made 3 row aluminum rads for cheaper than our dual 1 1/4" row units but the entire industry (except Champion and no name ebay rads) has confirmed that large 2 row out cools small 3 row by a pretty significant margin. If you are going to go through all the trouble to install a new radiator, why not spend a little more and to be sure you've chosen the best cooling solution for your vehicle.

I can't tell you how many guys have 3 row aluminum rads now and still have problems. It may or may not be the radiator. If you go with the best, then if you have problems, you know you need to look at other things to solve your problem.

As far as who's is the best, All the brand name large two rows are good. ECP is good, Griffin, Be Cool, Champion American Eagle line... all good! However, we'd like to throw our name in there as a better value. Dual 1 1/4" rows, lifetime warranty, fully polished, stamped tanks look original, direct fit on most applications, forums sponsor. PM me for a special forum community price.
 
:poke:Wow, mine made the list!!!!:poke: Be Cool, (no, be you, which is cool) I have a Be Cool-surface area is 22.5x18.5, which is cool in the whole equation, 7 blade fan-18.5 in. and sits square in the middle of it- and I am leaning towards a half shroud now that it is in the 90's+.
So Ccas I may come pick your brain at some point, it's a work in progress that I bought that had been raced to death and I am bringing her back to a daily driver that can get the ice-cream home before it even thinks of getting soft, and looks good doing it.
And this should solve your question sabre67, inch and a quarter is about the top of the cooling chain....still interested in how it works out for you.....

IMG_0155.JPG
 
I run a Champion 26" 3 row radiator, a GMB high volume water pump, standard flow 180* thermostat, and a dual electric fan set up out of a 1995-2000 model year Ford Contour. Works great for cooling my ~400hp, .060" over, iron headed 340. I've sat in traffic when it's over 105* outside, still maintains ~210*. Most of the time it runs between 195* and 200* because thats where I have the fans set to keep it.

The issues I've seen with people running 3 core radiators have almost exclusively been caused by not having enough fan cfm. You need to move about 3,500 cfm to stay reliably cool. Less than that starts to depend on the conditions and your engine build. The Contour fans will pull 3,500 cfm on the low speed, and ~5,000 cfm on the high speed.

More expensive doesn't always mean better, the Dorman reproduction of the Contour fan set up is about $130 from Summit, and it outflows electric fans costing 2-3x as much. I think between the radiator, fans, digital controller, relays and wiring I have still don't have more than about $500 into the whole set up.

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