Is this a fair radiator?
The 2 core vs 3 core thing is mostly just a gimmick, especially the way that they’re marketed. You won’t find any useful engineering specifications on any of the vendor websites, just cutesy drawings and ridiculously oversimplified, pseudo scientific explanations. There’s a lot more that goes into building a good radiator than just the number of cores. There are plenty of 3 core radiators that work great and will outperform 2 core radiators. And there are two core radiators that will out perform 3 core radiators. Heck, the factory used 3 core radiators, and I can absolutely guarantee they did far more testing and analysis than the vast majority of aftermarket radiator manufacturers. Just saying a 2 core (or a 3 core) is better is meaningless
by itself.
I run a 26” Champion 3 core on my Duster. It has a .060” 340, 9.8:1 compression, ported iron heads and a decent cam. It’s a lot more to cool than a factory 340. I run a set of Ford Contour electric fans, and frequently drive my car in 100+ degree temperatures, even in traffic. I’ve never had an issue with overheating, and I spent less on my radiator and fan set up than a Cold Case radiator by itself.
I’m not saying Cold Case radiators aren’t good or that they don’t work. It seems like the members here that have used them are happy, which is great. But I’ve yet to see them post anything that can actually be used to prove they’re any better, and I’ve asked. There are certainly less expensive options that do work for people.
And I’m not some Champion radiators die hard either. They have had their issues, and I would definitely suggest buying one from a known vendor in case you do have a quality control issue. I drilled the mounting holes in mine. But I’m ok with that too, for $200+ in savings I can drill a couple holes.
If it sits and idles it gets hot or idling in traffic/barely moving. Once I start moving again at higher speed the needle drops.
That’s probably
NOT a radiator issue. That is more likely a fan issue, as it’s indicated the issue is not moving enough air at slow speeds. If it cools off when you’re moving and doesn’t creep up on the highway under load the radiator is likely ok.
