Radiator recommendations

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snailpower

snailpower

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I am looking for some radiator selection advice. The car is a 72 Scamp 318 (with working AC) 4bbl, dual exh, 3.55 rear, currently with factory 26" radiator and AC condenser out front. Right now the temp climbs on the freeway after extended driving (30-40 mins sustained speed) indicating a clogged radiator. I have flushed several times and made some difference but IMO it shouldn't warm up how it does. It never goes over 200ish while cruising but I want it to work correctly. Timing is set correctly, fan works (clutch fan) and the temp comes right down after I slow down.

I want a radiator that can:

1. Handle AC use in heat
2. Handle LA traffic
3. Handle some mountain driving
5. Handle 105 temps on occasion (mostly operating in 90s or below though). no cold temps here the last few years. seems to be in the 80s all winter these days.

I am considering the champion 26" 3 core (CC374), I know they have some QC issues. Is this radiator still A body friendly? I read somewhere it might not be anymore.

Hoping with my current 26" in place it means i won't have to modify much to make it fit. Another concern is that I want to keep the clutch fan if possible, will my 26" factory shroud would work with this? If possible i would like to avoid the hassle / cost of electric fans. Would I be ok without a shroud if it came to that?

Any guidance is appreciated.
 
I'm running a 26" aluminum radiator from Champion. I forgot which part number it was. I'm not running a shroud on it yet, but I know I probably should. I'm running a fan and fluid clutch. I'm also in the L.A. area (Downey) so I know we haven't really seen a real winter in a long time. Where in L.A. are you? If your'e local, maybe you'll want to check out my setup to see how it fits.
 
^ yeah, i would love to take a look one of these days / evenings. I drive through downey on my commute too.

How does your setup do in traffic with no shroud? Did you previously have a 26"? Did you have to mangle your lower support on drivers side?
 
snailpower said:
^ yeah, i would love to take a look one of these days / evenings. I drive through downey on my commute too.

How does your setup do in traffic with no shroud? Did you previously have a 26"? Did you have to mangle your lower support on drivers side?
Click to expand...

It does OK. I got up to halfway on the stock gauge one time in traffic on a warm day.

Previously, it was a 19" radiator for a 318, but now I'm running a nicely built 360 so I put in the bigger radiator. On cool days, the 19" did fine, but I worried about hot days and traffic so I put the bigger radiator in.

I didn't have to mangle anything and I used existing holes in the core support. I did drill a hole in the radiator mounting flange though on the Drivers side.

On the passenger side for the bottom, I used an existing hole in the core support with a tab I made in order to extend it to clamp down on the radiator mounting flange. Sort of have to see it to understand or I can try to take pictures.

I was also able to use my stock reservoir too, but I used a longer hole because the nipple in the radiator is on the wrong side.
 
I've got the cc374b champion radiator. The cc374b is what they sell now I stead of the cc374. If you can get a true cc374 you'll be fine height wise. Mine was advertised on eBay as a cc374 but when I got it it was a cc374b, I notified the seller that he should specify that as the cc374b is taller. I put mine in place with about 1/2" rubber bumpers on the lower radiator support, put playdo on the radiator cap and closed the lid. I still had 3/4" clearance from the lid to the hood. Thats in a 72 Duster so should be the same for your Scamp.

If you click the link in my signature, the radiator install pics are on page 5
 
On whatever You decide to go with -- Pay attention to - Tube Size and - Fins per inch.
 
Word to the wise. If you go with the cheapest you can find, you may be sorry.
 
Why not get your current 26" radiator re-cored? Good as new. Even better if you have them add a 3rd row.
 
If I had a grand to play with - Griffin.
I sent the first Champion 374 3 row I bought back due to obvious multiple issues , bought another 3yrs later , and for the money, I am happy with it.
I beat the lower support to get it as low as possible but probably didn't need to.
Engine runs 207°F on the hottest Texas days, but is consistent.Down from 235°F.
Running Ford electric fans...
All in all, good buy.
 
Well, I explored a few options and decided I would give a Champion CC526 22" radiator a try last weekend thinking it might work with my stock clutch fan. I am located close enough to champion / lead food that I could pick it up which was nice. Quality of the radiator was awesome, the holes just barely didnt line up (not too bad though) and looks like they finally put the overflow hose on the correct side.

But unfortunately I was unable to install it and leave it due to closeness to the stock clutch fan. no way will it fit. The option of the lower profile clutch fans also won't work because as you can see the aftermarket AC compressor sticks pretty far forward. Im basically at the minimum distance currently. Wouldn't mind running a fixed fan, but prefer a clutch for hp reasons. Also did not have a fixed fan handy (even tried a junk yard).

I was forced to put the old 22" rad back in due to time / place, but I did give it a good flush out with muriatic acid as recommended on the board. I also flushed the engine with water and filled with a probably 60/40 mix of water/ coolant and finished it off with a tefba filter, new hoses and a lower hose spring. all of this amounted to a very small difference in highway running temp.

Highway running temp after about 20 mins on the road before and after cleaning, 80 degrees ambient temp, AC off:



stock fan / clutch / shroud showing how close to compressor:



stock fan distance to current radiator



CC526 22" in place (too close)



Starting to think my only option going forward is to do the 26" champion and contour fans and also upgrade my alternator. :( more than i wanted to bite off.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Word to the wise. If you go with the cheapest you can find, you may be sorry.
Click to expand...

wise words...a friend bought a very nice inexpensive aluminum rad ,but it never did cool
very well.A year later he went out to the shop and found a large puddle of anti freeze under the car...fins and tubes in the centre of the rad had just disintegrated.
 
snailpower said:
Highway running temp after about 20 mins on the road before and after cleaning, 80 degrees ambient temp, AC off:

Click to expand...

Is that a remote sender, or the thermocouple type (with the sender permanently attached to the gauge)?
I had a thermocouple type, and found that my headers were actually causing a heat soak into it that was giving me inaccurate readings. Kept wondering why it would read 225~230 when my IR gun only ever measured 180 anywhere on the engine (with a 180 tstat).
 


Starting to think my only option going forward is to do the 26" champion and contour fans and also upgrade my alternator. :( more than i wanted to bite off.
Click to expand...

How much room do you have between the new radiator and the fan mounting flange on the water pump?
 
why not just get one of the stock style ones re-cored? put an extra row in and a high efficiency core in it?

it only runs hot on the highway? not around town? sure that bottom isn't collapsing on ya?
 
Its a thermocouple guage with the sending unit in the intake manifold near the thermostat. It also changes proportionately to the stock guage.

Distance between New rad and water pump I did not measure but I am thinking around 3.25" given all the other stuff I have measured. I'm likely going to return this rad and swap for another. I barely took it out of the bubble wrap.

Yes, only runs hot on the highway after 10-20 mins driving at 65mph. The bottom rad hose is now new gates brand and has a brand new spring in it I purchased online.

Stock recored rad is not out of the question I was hoping for an easy aluminum solution though. I work near tons of hot rod shops in Huntington Beach CA so I might try to find someone who's good with radiators to recore for me. Hoping for an easier solution though because as far as I can tell the rad I have is not Mopar oem so not into recoring that. I was mistaken earlier when I posted its a 26" factory, it looks like 22" aftermarket. The fender tag displays it was optioned with a 26" originally though.
 
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No but the car was originally A/C and still used all the brackets and pulleys.
Also, have you thought about using a regular old solid fan with a spacer if needed?
 
^ yeah I'm thinking regular fan as a last ditch (which it appears I am getting close to). Prefer clutch for efficiency reasons.
 
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