New radiator - experience with the champion offer

[Thomba48]

Hi - I believe I could be in the need for a new radiator for a P18 model. Searching around I always bump into the champion offering. Has anyone ever made any experience with this product?

 

thanks

[Dartgame]

I bought one for my 52. Two row AL radiator. Works very well, no hesitation on my part to buy another if I need one.

[48Windsor]

I've had one in my 63 cadillac for going on 4 years. No problems what so ever. The mechanic did have to do something on one of the lower mounts if I remember correctly, but nothing major. 

Tom B

[Thomba48]

thanks - any relevant alternatives. Besides an NOS one which? (have to find it first and you have to be willing to pay the price).

[captden29]

NOS rad's can be nice to look at, but can have problems due to age. the soldering can deterorate and clog passages, and the "crosshatch" design makes them impossible to rod out. nobody will guarantee one, but you will pay a lot for it. if you re-core yours, you may be able to use your original tanks, and that is the best you can do for originality. two, three or four row is always the toss up. I am not an expert on that, but I have a re-cored 3 row and it works fine. research it a bit and pick what you feel is best for your car.    capt den

[Thomba48]

Thanks captden :-)

[Plymouthy Adams]

two three and four row usually play part more in what available space you have to position the radiator.....and smaller size with more rows still yields same skin effect displacement for heat transfer...if you buy the car...maybe you can arrange a drop ship of the radiator of choice to the seller to stow in the car prior to shipping....and any other big ticket item for the car that you are interested in...

[Thomba48]

That is actually the plan - the collect everything that I need or might need and ship together with the car to Germany. :-)

[knuckleharley]

5 hours ago, Thomba48 said:

Hi - I believe I could be in the need for a new radiator for a P18 model. Searching around I always bump into the champion offering. Has anyone ever made any experience with this product?

 

thanks

They must be ok because I see them in all sorts of cars,including big buck customs and rods.

If you are doing a "points restoration" or the whole idea of looking at an aluminum radiator under your hood offends you,there are at least two companies that reproduce old car radiators in brass and copper. Be prepared to spend north of 800 bucks instead of less than 200,though.

I was determined to put a brass and copper radiator in my 51 Ford so I ordered the "Desert Cooler" model from US radiator. Guaranteed to be a reproduction of the original,plus a added core for more cooling. Paid a little over 800 bucks for it including shipping and couldn't drive my car for over 3 weeks because they had to make it. They no longer keep them in stock,they make them as they get the orders in.

Waiited 3 weeks,got it in,went to install it,and it was the wrong damn radiator. Top hose was wrong and the mounts were wrong. I THINK it was for a PU,but I'm not certain. So I called them to tell them they had sent me the wrong radiator,and the guy on the phone just didn't seem to care. He did tell me, "No problem,pack it up and send it back to me,and I'll send you another one when it gets here. So this time I had to wait longer than the first time to get the replacement radiator because the one I had to ship back had to get there first.

It came in and looked good at first glance,so I bolted it in the car. That was when I discovered that the top hose was perfectly positioned,but the bottom outlet wanted the hose to run right through the fuel pump. I also discovered my 1951 Ford 4psi pressure cap was too big to fit the filler spout. So I called them again and told them about the bottom hose,and the guy just laughed. When I told him about the stock radiator cap not fitting,he said "Oh,yeah. We went to the modern filler necks a couple of years ago. No sweat,it's good up to 13 psi pressure." It probably is,but what it's not good for is using an original radiator cap. I have to use a modern one that looks different. If I would have been happy with it looking different,I would have bought a 200 dollar Champion aluminum radiator and been done with it.

Now,don't misunderstand me. The guy on the phone at US Radiator MIGHT have offered another attempt to get it right if I would send it back,but what I wanted to do was drive my damn car,not make a career out of waiting for radiators to come in,AND I was disturbed and wanting to say bad things about his mama and possibly visiting him if I ever went out to CA again,so I just hung up before it got worse than it was.

So I cut my reproduction 51 bottom radiator hose and used some exhaust pipe to detour around the fuel pump. It works,the radiator cools the car,and I drive it on a regular basis,but I would be lying if I said I was happy with it. What I am going to do is run it until I take the car apart for the body-off restoration,and then buy another new brass and copper radiator. This time  from The Brassworks

https://www.thebrassworks.net/.

and sit the one I have aside for emergency use. The Brassworks radiators are even more expensive,but people say they are quality reproductions.

I damn sure won't be buying any more radiators from US Radiator.

Edited June 28, 2017 by knuckleharley

[JOHN EDGE]

Put a champion radiator in my wagon  fit nice looks good cools better than the redo original I had and the price was great. Have a griffin and walker in some of my other rides and the champion performs with them. They might have better finish work but there also 2 or 3 times the price

[Hubler13f]

I have one in three core for my 47 IHC KB1, the quality looks good and it fit and bolted right in. Couldn't beat the price.

[chopt50wgn]

I won't knock radiators that some people have in their cars. I work in the cooling industry and have seen radiators that are inexpensive and work fine. But the thing needed to know is the reason they are inexpensive............they are made off shore.........(China). I have talked with customers over the years that have had big problems with off shore rads. One problem is...........if you have a problem, it usually can't be fixed due to crap materials it is made from.

When it comes to a cooling system, think about the rest of the car or truck...............do you buy the cheapest parts? Do you use off shore parts for the motor or trans? The answer should be .no, you don't. So why cheap out on a very important part of the vehicle?

If a radiator is cheap, then that's what you will usually get.......a cheap radiator. There are lots of radiator companies out there here in the states that could help. Will you pay more money? ....yes, you will but you will also get a product that should keep you running down the road.

This is just my 2 cents and passing it on with my experiences from 17 years in the cooling industry.................and no, we don't make radiators so this is not an ad for us.

[Thomba48]

Thanks - I completely understand your message. Do you know of a medium route with Champion being on the low end and e.g. the brassworks? Thanks

[Plymouthy Adams]

Radiators since the early 1990's are plastic reservoirs and press/clamped aluminum bodies with seals on each end cap.  Sound cheap but they truly do the job.  Unless involved in a collision or if the owner tries to run an engine repeatedly with cooling issues that would stress the tabs due to high pressure build up...these units perform great...added benefit...new in box delivered to your door for many later models 55.00 to 85.00...(LKQ) as many body shops refit with..only if some company would repop a few tanks for the older in this manner...I'd mount one in my car a heartbeat...one thing for certain...there is no need to paint the black molded tanks, they always look freshly done..

[JOHN EDGE]

I've got a really nice redone original radiator out of my 52 wagon if someone is initerested

[knuckleharley]

1 hour ago, chopt50wgn said:

If a radiator is cheap, then that's what you will usually get.......a cheap radiator. There are lots of radiator companies out there here in the states that could help. Will you pay more money? ....yes, you will but you will also get a product that should keep you running down the road.

 

I will happily pay more for a radiator made by a local radiator shop. The problem is they have all closed as the new cars have gone to plastic radiators that can't be fixed. Supposedly there is a one-man shop that doesn't advertise outside of a town about 40 miles away up a road vaguely described that does good work and has reasonable prices,and I plan on taking the radiator out of my 39 IHC to him to get re-cored as soon as I get the money. My plan to find him is to go to the local cop shop and/or fire department and ask them for his name,phone number,and location. Cops and firemen know where everybody lives.

[knuckleharley]

1 hour ago, Thomba48 said:

Thanks - I completely understand your message. Do you know of a medium route with Champion being on the low end and e.g. the brassworks? Thanks

Not trying to be a wise-ass,but if you live in or close to a big city,have you checked the yellow pages or done a web search for "radiator repair" using your zip code. Yeah,most of the big radiator shops have closed now,but there will always be enough work in a medium to big city to keep a couple small shop open doing repairs.

[Thomba48]

Hi knuckleharley. I would never ever feel offended by any of you guys. :-) By the way - not that easy in Germany. Hence I was thinking about planning slightly ahead.

[knuckleharley]

Just now, Thomba48 said:

Hi knuckleharley. I would never ever feel offended by any of you guys. :-) By the way - not that easy in Germany. Hence I was thinking about planning slightly ahead.

OOOPS!

I will be trying to track down the radiator guy I mentioned in a earlier post next week,and if you will let me know what you are looking for/what you need,I will try to get a quote from him. I MIGHT even be able to hook you up with a guy I know in Germany that I sold a bunch of parts for his 39 Ford coupe. Haven't emailed with him in a while,but he did have a friend that lived in Raleigh that sometimes sent shipping containers from Wilmington,NC to  Germany,and I just delivered the engine to Raleigh,NC and his friend took care of it from there. PM me your email address and I  will see if I can hook you up with him.

[Thomba48]

OOOPS back :-) :-)

 

[Don Coatney]

I have installed a Champion radiator in my P-15 and I an very happy with it. I also found there customer service to be top notch. The radiator looks good and the performance is a lot better than the original. Yes it was made in China but it works well.

[Thomba48]

thanks Don. Will you keep it chromish or paint in it black?

[Don Coatney]

I have no plans to paint it. My car is far from original.

[chopt50wgn]

Some of the radiator companies..............Griffin, Fluidyne, Northern, Afco, Ron Davis, . plus Thomba lives in Germany..............He may be able to figure out what size core he needs and then have tanks built to fit the car. I did that with my wagon but I also have the wherewithal to do that.

[Mike36]

Radiator in my Dodge (not Ram!) pickup needed replaced about 4 years ago. I didn't want a Chinese radiator from O'reilley, so went to NAPA and had to order it. When it arrived, the box said Made in China! Needed the truck so I took it. Mounting holes on one side were fine. Other side had to be redrilled. Bottom hose went on fine, top inlet was off about 2 inches. I now have a piece of wood zip tied beside the hose so it doesn't rub a hole in it. Wonderful Chinese quality. I expected better from NAPA.