[Mickey_London]

Hi Guys
Just wanted to know if anyone is using one of these radiators

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F273651894592

Thanks
Mick

[694.1]

No mention of Country of origin. First thing I look for.

[Mickey_London]

Cheers
Did a search on here and a few are running with them, in different models.
Seem to be good
Thanks
Mick

[64speed]

Yeah I had a champion in my car till I traded it to a friend when motor blew up. It did the job

[Ccass]

3 row champion is the least efficient they make. their 4 row is better but still not as good as a large 2 row. 3 and 4 row aluminum rads are especially bad in stop and go driving. It may get the job done but for a little more you can do much better. If you want to reach out to me via email at chrisc@coldcaseradiators.com , I'll give you a special forum price on a Cold Case big 2 row unit with stamped polished tanks and a lifetime warranty.

[78w72]

yes, lots & lots of people use the champion radiators with great results, myself included. yes they are made in china, just like many products these days, but they are a quality part at a good price & have a lifetime warranty from USA distributors. they are fully TIG welded with polished tanks & have a higher fin count than stock OEM radiators.

there are those who will say they are cheap & of course there are better radiators for more money, but for the majority of street cars they work great & the 3 row will easily cool 400-500hp engines with no problems, providing the rest of the cooling system is up to par.

& they are not "especially bad in stop & go driving." i use the 3 row thats rated for up to 600+hp & it works excellent in my 500+hp alum head stroker engine. no issues at all in any driving conditions & 85-90* temps... stop & go, highway cruise, drag racing, etc. the 3 row works great & holds the temp perfectly at the 180* t-stat rating & the 4 row would work even better.

i'm not knocking other brands, but the champion brand is a great budget radiator & if by chance there is a problem or defect, they cover shipping both ways for free replacements.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by 694.1

No mention of Country of origin. First thing I look for.

Really? Perhaps it's a generational thing, but the first thing you should look for is the reviews and standards of craftsmanship, not the country of origin.

It isn't 1965 anymore, and some of the very best products available come from overseas, including China, Japan, etc. And unfortunately, many products which are made in the U.S. are not of particularly high quality. This is what a 21st century global economy looks like.

I use a Cold Case radiator in my GTO, but I've been building and modifying cars for long enough to know that the country of origin has virtually no influence on the quality of a product these days. Sometimes the only way a part can be manufactured to a high standard and sold at a reasonable price is if it's made overseas where labor costs are low. That's a whole other discussion, but I digress.

[Ccass]

Originally Posted by 78w72

yes, lots & lots of people use the champion radiators with great results, myself included. yes they are made in china, just like many products these days, but they are a quality part at a good price & have a lifetime warranty from USA distributors. they are fully TIG welded with polished tanks & have a higher fin count than stock OEM radiators.

there are those who will say they are cheap & of course there are better radiators for more money, but for the majority of street cars they work great & the 3 row will easily cool 400-500hp engines with no problems, providing the rest of the cooling system is up to par.

& they are not "especially bad in stop & go driving." i use the 3 row thats rated for up to 600+hp & it works excellent in my 500+hp alum head stroker engine. no issues at all in any driving conditions & 85-90* temps... stop & go, highway cruise, drag racing, etc. the 3 row works great & holds the temp perfectly at the 180* t-stat rating & the 4 row would work even better.

i'm not knocking other brands, but the champion brand is a great budget radiator & if by chance there is a problem or defect, they cover shipping both ways for free replacements.

I have no issue with pretty much everything you said except there's a number of Pontiac owners that simply will not be happy with anyone's 3 row radiator in a 500hp Pontiac motor. I being one of them. My stroker motor wouldn't even cool the car around town with a big 2 row which is an acknowledged more efficient unit than the 3 row.

I'm not trying to start a big debate over this. I just want owners to know that there are other better options for around the same price.

[brooknice]

I have a 4 row Frostbite and I over heated last summer 94 degrees new York city stop and go traffic. So in another month or 2 I will buy a cold case rad the biggest one I can find and I will get a separate transmission cooler with a fan. I will be posting the Frost bite for sale at that time.

[Ccass]

Originally Posted by brooknice

I have a 4 row Frostbite and I over heated last summer 94 degrees new York city stop and go traffic. So in another month or 2 I will buy a cold case rad the biggest one I can find and I will get a separate transmission cooler with a fan. I will be posting the Frost bite for sale at that time.

If you could, it would be great if you tested the CC unit installed just like the 4 row frostbite so you are comparing apples to apples. Reporting the results to the community would be a big help. Then after the test you could add the trans cooler.

[brooknice]

I would love to do that but that means I would have to buy 2 cold case rads. I am not rich lol. Let me explain I think just my feelings is I drive my car a lot some days over 80 miles in a day. I feel that the rad just for the engine and the transmission cooler separate just for the transmission. I think that will solve my overheating problem.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by Ccass

I have no issue with pretty much everything you said except there's a number of Pontiac owners that simply will not be happy with anyone's 3 row radiator in a 500hp Pontiac motor. I being one of them. My stroker motor wouldn't even cool the car around town with a big 2 row which is an acknowledged more efficient unit than the 3 row.

I'm not trying to start a big debate over this. I just want owners to know that there are other better options for around the same price.

i fully agree, there are better options for more $$. champion is definitely a budget type product, but its a very good one for the price IMO. im sure the cold case are great radiators, i have never used one.

without knowing specifics of your car & why a big 2 row wouldn't cool the car, there are way too many variables on why that is. ive read countles times how one guys car overheats no matter what yet another guy with a similar combo of parts runs cool no matter what.

from my experience the 3 row champion cools my ~525hp 10.75:1 compression alum e-head engine almost too well, in all condions i mentioned, but if its below about 60-65* it takes a long time to reach temp & when moving it stays a little below temp. this engine/car would be fine on a factory brass radiator i bet. also have a friend with a 450hp iron head 462 & his 3 row champion acts the same, no signs of any overheating. each car is different.

no big debate, just giving my experience on what he was asking about.

[Ccass]

Originally Posted by brooknice

I would love to do that but that means I would have to buy 2 cold case rads. I am not rich lol. Let me explain I think just my feelings is I drive my car a lot some days over 80 miles in a day. I feel that the rad just for the engine and the transmission cooler separate just for the transmission. I think that will solve my overheating problem.

Why do you need to buy 2? Buy the auto version and then when you switch to a trans cooler, you can put plugs in the rad. I'd chip in for the labor involved if you posted the results here.

btw, what year and model do you have?

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by Ccass

Why do you need to buy 2? Buy the auto version and then when you switch to a trans cooler, you can put plugs in the rad. I'd chip in for the labor involved if you posted the results here.

btw, what year and model do you have?

I'm curious, If I were to plug the trans cooler in my Cold Case and install a standalone trans cooler, would my radiator have the same cooling capacity as a one that was for a M/T car?

[Ccass]

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

I'm curious, If I were to plug the trans cooler in my Cold Case and install a standalone trans cooler, would my radiator have the same cooling capacity as a one that was for a M/T car?

basically yes. The trans cooler is a very thin hollow tube that occupies an extremely minor amount of space and therefore doesn't take up more than a couple oz of fluid.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by Ccass

basically yes. The trans cooler is a very thin hollow tube that occupies an extremely minor amount of space and therefore doesn't take up more than a couple oz of fluid.

Great, thank you for the reply! I love my Cold Case A/T radiator so far, but I'm going to be building a more powerful engine in a few years, so it's nice to know I can plug the trans cooler in my existing radiator and run a standalone trans cooler if I find that additional cooling is needed.

[chrisp]

Originally Posted by Ccass

If you could, it would be great if you tested the CC unit installed just like the 4 row frostbite so you are comparing apples to apples. Reporting the results to the community would be a big help. Then after the test you could add the trans cooler.

I would be willing to try one / currently have a Champion / 461 Tripower over 500hp. in a 64 GTO manaul trans & has been cooling excellent in Pa. since 2012 .

[Formulajones]

I use primarily Be Cool and Griffin in my cars without any complaints. I will not use a Champion anymore here. I had a weak moment when I built my 72 blazer and tried a Champion. I had an LQ4 6.0 LS engine swap in it, fuel injected etc....and these full size blazers have truck sized core supports with huge radiators. So I bought the appropriate Champion and ran dual LS electric fans. Also had the fans programmed to run full speed anytime I turned on the air conditioning. Daily drove this truck for a few years. It worked fine as long as it was moving. Idling on hot AZ summer days with the AC on and I would get temp creep to the point I got uncomfortable with it. Sitting long enough it would overheat. Wasn't all that impressed considering my 79 454 pickup with it's original 40 year old copper radiator and clutch fan would idle all day with the AC on.
What really killed it for me is that 3 months later the driver side tank turned green from some form of very slow seepage. It would never leak on the ground, but the tank sure turned green. I was never interested in another Champion. I've posted about this numerous times with pictures showing the poor quality.

Anyway, fast forward today. Dad decided he wanted an aluminum radiator. $800 for a Griffin with dual electric fans is a little hard for a retired guy to swallow. So he settled on a Cold Case to try. His GTO runs a 571 ci Pontiac that makes 724hp. It's a street car and he drives it everywhere. Originally he was running a 25 year old 4 core copper in the car with the stock shroud and 7 blade clutch fan. The engine actually ran within reasonable temps here in the AZ desert heat with no need for concern. But he wanted aluminum and a dual electric fan setup.
Cold Case is a 2 core with I believe 1" tubes. Came complete with dual electric fans and a controller. Only thing I changed on the setup was a manual fan controller so I could set the temps where he's comfortable. So far I'm impressed. I set the fans to come on at 185 and off at 170, and it can sit there and idle all day long. Once the fans kick on, they pull the engine down and shut back off in a matter of about 90 seconds with 60 degree ambient temps outside right now. So far so good. The real test will be this summer with 105+ ambient temps. I'm interested to see how the setup works in the next few months.

[brooknice]

Originally Posted by Ccass

I have no issue with pretty much everything you said except there's a number of Pontiac owners that simply will not be happy with anyone's 3 row radiator in a 500hp Pontiac motor. I being one of them. My stroker motor wouldn't even cool the car around town with a big 2 row which is an acknowledged more efficient unit than the 3 row.

I'm not trying to start a big debate over this. I just want owners to know that there are other better options for around the same price.

What I will do is I will buy the automatic one and if it keep cool it cooler I will keep it. Just know I plan on using Evans water less coolant. That what I used before. I will post result once we get everything installed. Engine out right now with trying to deal with rocker arm issue. I will up date once I get every thing up and running.

[78w72]

thanks for posting about your specific experience with a champion. i remeber that thread you posted on & i posted on it too with pics of mine that didnt have the issues you mentioned. my conclusion was that maybe your champion was defective & that champion would have galdly replaced it 100% free. nothing wrong with not wanting to use them again, thats the opinion you formed based on your single experience.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...mpion+radiator

the vast majority of people using champions have nothing but positive things to say about them & they get excellent reviews for the most part. as with most products, each car is different, one guys car overheats & the next guys car with a similar or even more agressive combo runs perfectly fine. some have ticking roller lifters others say they have zero noise. all we can do is form our own conclusions based on the experiences posted... doesn't mean any given product is "bad."