BB73Challenger
Well-Known Member
Ok I figured I would just start a new thread on my Champion radiator.
1967 Barracuda with near stock 273 running gear.
In an attempt to curb hot idle situations I did upgrade to a swap meet find 5 blade thermal clutch fan.
Otherwise stock water pump and store bought 195 thermostat.
The major problem with my original 2 core rad was heavy scale build up, I had a hard time running enough air through it at idle, and even slapped a small pusher fan for when I was stuck in traffic.
So I ordered Champion's 3 core off ebay, and at just over 200 shipped, seemed to be priced right.
As a side note, I paid the same for a Jegs universal rad some years back. And while it has held up good, the tanks are epoxied, and had NO mounting brackets or even a petcock!
So the rad shows up within 4 days, pretty good as it came cross country.
Was packaged well and there seemed to be no deffects.
The finish on it was very nice, and I probably could have done a high polish without much effort, but opted for Eastwoods gloss rad paint.
I picked up 2 cans, but 1 did the job as I went a little heavier on the tanks and sides, but essentially just fogged the fins to keep from clogging them up.
The mounting holes were just ok, as only 3 of the 4 bolts went without help, but since the construction is aluminum, slotting the holes went very easy.
The hose and tranny lines all mated very good, no issues there.
At 1st test, I can watch the engine hit the thermostat, open and close again.
After watching the temp needle drift up and down small amounts a couple of times, i figured to check just by touch different parts of the rad.
The top or inlet area was pretty warm, but boy down the rad wss down right cool to the touch.
So far so good, and thank you all for your input on to paint or not.
I appreciate ALL you opinions and weighed out all your input!
1967 Barracuda with near stock 273 running gear.
In an attempt to curb hot idle situations I did upgrade to a swap meet find 5 blade thermal clutch fan.
Otherwise stock water pump and store bought 195 thermostat.
The major problem with my original 2 core rad was heavy scale build up, I had a hard time running enough air through it at idle, and even slapped a small pusher fan for when I was stuck in traffic.
So I ordered Champion's 3 core off ebay, and at just over 200 shipped, seemed to be priced right.
As a side note, I paid the same for a Jegs universal rad some years back. And while it has held up good, the tanks are epoxied, and had NO mounting brackets or even a petcock!
So the rad shows up within 4 days, pretty good as it came cross country.
Was packaged well and there seemed to be no deffects.
The finish on it was very nice, and I probably could have done a high polish without much effort, but opted for Eastwoods gloss rad paint.
I picked up 2 cans, but 1 did the job as I went a little heavier on the tanks and sides, but essentially just fogged the fins to keep from clogging them up.
The mounting holes were just ok, as only 3 of the 4 bolts went without help, but since the construction is aluminum, slotting the holes went very easy.
The hose and tranny lines all mated very good, no issues there.
At 1st test, I can watch the engine hit the thermostat, open and close again.
After watching the temp needle drift up and down small amounts a couple of times, i figured to check just by touch different parts of the rad.
The top or inlet area was pretty warm, but boy down the rad wss down right cool to the touch.
So far so good, and thank you all for your input on to paint or not.
I appreciate ALL you opinions and weighed out all your input!
