I've got a 52 Chevy coupe that I've finally got back to working on. I had a radiator for it in my '51 but the fan decided it was hungry...long story short the radiator is shot. So, unless there's a cheap way to get that fixed, I need another radiator. I can by a used core that needs to be rebuild on ebay for around $80, plus the bill to have it rebuilt or recored or whatever. So I thought maybe I could find a new one for not too much money. All of the ones specifically made for the 49-52 Chevy's seem to be around $400-$500. I found a universal Chevy radiator on Speedway that will cost about $135 shipped for the right width. The upper radiator hose outlet on the radiator from my car is toward the center, whereas this one is off toward the drivers side like for a V8. Obviously It seems I'll need to change my water neck and upper (maybe lower also) radiator hoses to install it. This is the radiator on Speedway: http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Chevy-Universal-Radiators,3557.html My question is, other than the obvious issue of whether or not it will mount nicely, can anyone tell me any reason that this radiator would not work in my car? Or is there a better option out there for about $150 or less? (It will probably help to know that the car will have a 1963 230ci inline 6) Thanks in advance for the help!
how did fan get close enough to radiator to damage it? have you checked with local radiator shops as to what a replacement cor e would cost?
check a little harder on ebay... I found a nice, exact copy, $300. and an aluminum one from champion, for $209. not worth going to the rad shop...imo
I'm running a champion aluminum radiator and I an 110% satisfied. Awesome quality and for the price(238 shipped) it was a steal. Fits perfect 3 r btw
That's definitely good to know. I saw the champions on there for just over $200, but I wasn't sure if they were any good. It's good to hear that they aren't junk. That's probably the route I'll go then. thanks!
Put a champion rad. in my 51, came with elec. fan was under $300. Fit great and it has a huge core supposed to cool up to 750 hp.
Don't trust this guy, he will buy this from you and then say you didn't ship it in order to try and get it off of you for free. A total liar. He will pretend that everything is fine to your face and then turn around and stab you in the back when you arent looking. __________________
That's what tracking numbers and insurance are for. Since someone's bound to look at this, not see how old it is or catch those last two posts, I'll add that they said over on Chevytalk that those Champion radiators are in fact made in the USA, in California if I remember right, they're not Chinese junk.
I ended up picking up an American Eagle rad off of ebay. appears to be the same as champion, and payment went to Champion Radiators paypal account. Happy with it so far, but haven't run it yet!
The Jalopy Journal
