Technical Cheap-Ass Radiators - yes or no

Champion radiators are manufactured in China and distributed by Ledfoot Racing.
From the Champion FAQ:

 

I run a Champion in my car. I got it in the mail and pulled it out of the box, excellent welding and workmanship throughout.

Vendor on eBay was radiators4less. Free shipping (Champion wanted $30) and came polished which was a $30 Champion add-on at the time.

 

I will admit, those aluminum ones with the stamped top tank are pretty nice looking radiators (when painted Black), and for the price of admission, it's probably a good way to go for most people.

 

That cookie sheet idea is great!

 

...True that, but mileage isn't the only factor in radiator failure. Sitting idle for long periods of time like many of our cars do, allows contaminates to sit in the same places and do damage. It's likely as troublesome as the "ballooning" of parts as they go through heat and cool cycles.

 

..............Agree.

 

................Right on!.....

 

.....For sure, but then what will I use for my Chocolate Chip Cookies!!?

 

You really cant beat that price either. I needed a radiator for sure .... original had too many holes in it to count. When I revved up the motor, the fan ****ed all the water out and gave me a shower if I was standing next to the truck.

So when a used one came up for sale locally for $50, I just went ahead and grabbed it.
It is a custom made job, has a br*** tag on it from some radiator shop in Louisiana.
Everything was in the right place, had to make mounts for it .... easy installation.



It flows good, no leaks .... I can let the truck idle for hours. Slowly creeps up to 185 degrees, the 180 T-stat kicks in and it drops down to about 175 .... then slowly creeps up to 185 ... takes about 20 minute to get there again. So the coolant in the radiator has plenty of time to cool down before being needed.
Just saying the cooling system is not working hard at all.
I will gladly replace it with a new aluminum radiator when needed .... For now will just use what I have.

 

One thing I do is put an anode in the cooling system when I use an aluminum radiator. I don't know if it really helps, but it can't hurt, and may save me some trouble in the long run.

 

The last one I bought was pre-Plandemic, An i spoke with a Champion rep, It was $30.00 to have the water neck moved..
Perhaps they have a warehouse full from China.. Mine came from ca. An took a week, To NY..

 

This is a very good idea. I have a couple of threads on "The Ford Barn" about sacrificial anodes.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301796&highlight=anode

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=330092&highlight=anode

I think they show the benefits and effects. The alternative, used in current vehicles, is a proprietary specially formulated antifreeze mixture. This stuff is effective, and if not used, will void the vehicles warranty. It is however expensive. Pre-mix for the little lady's Kia was $51 a gallon; when I complained about the cost, another forum member said that it was $250 a gallon for his Aston-Martin. Since I do not have the chemistry skills to determine the exact formulation I need, I went to magnesium sacrificial anodes. A lot of sacrificial anodes are made of zinc or even aluminum. A quick glance at the galvanic table will show that these are not a good choice to protect aluminum.

I think that the premature failure of aluminum radiators is due to easily preventable galvanic corrosion.

 

After reading more on Ledfoot Racing, Champion and American Eagle radiators, it appears that they do have a warehouse full of them from China. They also have a manufacturing facility in Lake Elsinore, CA where they make radiators for practically every vehicle made. I would imagine that it wouldn't be a big problem to grab a Champion off the shelf and modify it at their plant.

 

New cars do use aluminum but only for the core, the tanks are plastic. The problem I have with aluminum radiators are the tanks. Thin, poorly welded ones are everywhere, under lots of names.....plus aluminum is more prone to cracking with vibration and stress.

I just had one of my copper/br*** radiators re cored, not real cheap but I have more confidence in it for the long haul.

 

Could you imagine chasing overheating issues with a cheap radiator?

 

Would it make a difference ? If so ,why?

 

Ruling out possibilities…..if I have invested in a good unit I would look elsewhere for problems

 

I can think of other things I would rather put up with than a cheap radiator… I guess we choose what problems to buy.

 

What brand is this one? It looks like a factory br*** like you said. I'd be interested in something like this for my 40 Plymouth sedan with stock flat 6.

 

Going by the ad I'd give it a try. Hopefully any and all brackets fit but it looks quality from the pic. I had my 70 GTO stock 4 core redone at my local radiator shop: $750.00. Not cheap but it's all original so I spent the money. I might try this one in my 53 Chieftain with flat 8.

 

Simply, cheap aluminum radiators are made using cheaper manufacturing practices and materials. They often use epoxy to connect the tanks, and it's not unusual to see it "slopped in" on cheap rads and therefore blocking tubes. They sometimes use thinner cores than a better quality aluminum radiator as well. One benefit of aluminum lies in the strength over br***. You can get aluminum radiators with cores 1" thick and some meant for high-heat applications even do 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" cores. That means you get 2 cores in the thickness of 4 copper-br*** cores, so in theory you may have less air restriction through the radiator but you also have more coolant capacity and flow in the radiator tubes. However the cheaper radiators don't use the best of cores, tanks, and joining methods. Welding allows heat transfer through those areas, epoxy stops it. There are a huge number of reasons why cheaping out on a radiator isn't a good plan.

On Model A radiators, my pet peeve on 28-29's is that the cheap aluminum ones don't fill the radiator shell opening so you get ugly gaps, can see the tanks, etc. The more expensive ones fill the opening. You can tell by a photo as you'll see on the more expensive ones core is wider than the top tank.

 

I have a Griffen in my avatar car. i bought it when they had lifetime warranties. Its 20 years old and no problems.

 

I hope my original radiator in my 41 Cadillac doesn't **** out.

 

Picture this, you've loaded the family up and you're driving through Death Valley.........and find yourself standing on the side of the hiway with a split radiator and severely overheated car.............with no water in sight.
What will you do?

 

Wouldn't really matter whether you had an aluminum or br***-copper radiator, would it? Scenario is the same either way.

 

I believe there is a difference between "cheap" and inexpensive. I'm not advocating Champion or American Eagle for any personal gain. My experience with them has been good from the time they sent me the wrong unit and had the correct one on the way before I had sent the wrong one back, to the ease of installation on my Mercury. I researched them before I spent my money. They build their products to an ISO standard, they've been in business for the last 40 years, and they build a better product than most others out there. I don't see any references to plastic or epoxy anywhere in their information.

 

You'd be skipping a step in your diagnosis if you accept the premise that because its new & / expensive it has to be good . THAT ,is true of most anything .

 

About the same as any on the road failure ....

 

After having my Rocket built a 1200$ radiator sounds cheap to me

 

Sorry
But I have always erred on the side of SPEND A LITTLE EXTRA $$$$$.
And no, I wasn't born with a silver s**** in my mouth either!
I do get a bit tired of hearing people cry'n about the choices they made because they always want to use the lowest price as their north star.