Champion radiator install

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lou3500

lou3500

Fla. Cuda Guy
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
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Palm Harbor Fla.
The radiator in my 66 Cuda was pretty wasted [not leaking] but on it's last legs I noticed how awful it looked when I removed it for a water pump change [which was a pain finding the right pump for an ac car]. I ordered a Champion 1635 [due to the inlet and outlet on the proper side. I just installed it yesterday [got it in October] could not use my stock fan or shroud so I installed dual 10 inch. electric fans [I recommend 9 inch fans 10 inchers are slightly tight offset]. I had to modify the mounting brackets to fit [the way I was mounting it] and redrill new holes for the radiator and the a/c condenser, everything worked out good and the car is finally running much cooler than it ever has. My 2 complaints with Champion radiators was it was warped about an inch corner to corner and I was worried it would crack when I tightened it down but luckily it did not [as of yet] and there was fin damage [not horrible] but damage just the same which I straightened best I could. I had to notch my radiator support to do my install [see photos] and trim the bottom of the drivers side mount bracket to match the curved area in the radiator support.
 

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I had very same issues with my radiator but has been in car three years now and doing well.
 
I'm happy with it and have read of others having the warpage issue, I had it all installed yesterday morning and fired it up a the damn thermostat [new one] was bad swapped it out and all is well now. The only issue with the fans was 10 inch fans shrouds were a little bigger than I had measured so they were a little bit of a pain to mount. I have some new valve covers coming that are the same style as the radiator tank I'm thinking it'll look pretty cool plus I'm making an air cleaner [round] to match the clunky mechanical welded look of the tank and covers.
 
tekslk said:
If you rub it with alluminum polish it will shine like chrome.
Click to expand...


Did that when I was done originally I wanted a brushed [satin] look but the valve covers I bought [was bidding on some satin ones but lost] were polished so I polished the tank. Gotta do it again since I'm done.
 
I hope you have good luck with that radiator...

I purchased a 2 core? for my ford maverick, works wonderful, no leakes been like 4 or 5 years now. this was before ebay was flooded with these Chinese radiators

I purchased one of their 4 cores for my buick and it leaked within a weak, sent back and exchanged for a new one..same deal...said F it and broke down and purchased an ALumiTech for my 72 skylark

I know allot of people have had issues with their 3 and 4 core AL rads leaking

so dont know if I got lucky with the 2 core, but their 3 and 4 cores are garbage
 
I have seen the high dollar ones and my budget won't support them [even if I had plenty of surplus cash] I wouldn't purchase one. I'm happy with this one and I researched all of them prior. Yes Champions are made in China and are affordable but they have a warranty so what's the problem, besides look around your local stores most everything is made overseas now and the USA made stuff is very expensive and not much better quality I'll try this radiator and if I have a problem I'll deal with it. What's it gonna cost me shipping back to my original seller for a replacement and some labor works for me. So far Challengergary I'm very pleased with this radiator, yes it was warped about an inch corner to corner, but it don't leak and the car runs much cooler.
 
Why are they all warped? They are jig welded so what's the deal? I have a 66 mustang part number (?) and it bolted right in with 2 new holes drilled. Not warped, but its not a Champion either. And my tank is brushed and formed, not fabbed.
 
My guess is they [possibly] are not placing them in a clamped fixture as we are accustomed to or they are removed from the fixture before they are cool.
 
challengergary said:
Not sure what to say about that comment about the 3 and 4 row radiators being garbage - I've sold dozens of them and have not had even one come back due to leakage. The main problems have been warpage like lou3500 encountered...
Click to expand...

Like I said, I ordered my 2row for the maverick in 08 direct from champion fit was perfect, no issues with warp, fitment, leaky core or end tank welds..still working flawless today .big thread from maverick.to cheap and had good results
at that time I believe it was only champion and monster cooling? on ebay


Ordered 4 row for 72 skylark(ad was for cutlass but same application) through Classic Radiators on Ebay..jul-22-10
No fitment issues or anything just core leaked.

Ive dealt with Geoff Blackmore, What also made the return aggravating (partly my fault for not keeping box)
was since I didn't install radiator a few months down the road and threw the rad box away, I was required to buy a new rad so I could have the champion box to return leaky rad then get my refund..think shipping was 30 bucks out my pocket.
replacement was also leaky so I didn't bother going through returning the replacement for another replacement.
A few fellow v8buick members has issues ..don't recall if it was core or endtank, but they had issues I can dig that up and see what their exact issues were but end result was quality sucked .and it seemed isolated to just the 3 and 4 row and not any of the 2 rows
 
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