[S.A.F]

So, my car tends to run a bit too hot for my liking. Checked everything (see my other thread) and looks like I need a better radiator. I have a 3 row copper/brass one now.

I have been reading for months about radiators now I was leaning towards a 3-row Champion aluminum one. But lately I noticed many guys prefer a 2-row 1" tube radiator. The Champion one with 2 rows has only 3/4" tubes. And the 3-row has 5/8" tubes.

So, Champion tech support said I should go for the 3-row or their AMERICAN EAGLE radiator (which has 2 rows of 1").

Anyone who knows American Eagle? Any good? I'm sick of reading about radiators and I have no idea which one I should pick.

 

[Beechkid]

I know many seem to be under the impression (marketing) that aluminum construction by itself will enhance cooling, there is a little more to it than that...and in many instances buyers are actually comparing apples to oranges when comparing a copper core spec to an aluminum spec radiator. US Radiator has a nice vid on their site that yeah, it does talk about the company a bit, but also talks about Copper vs aluminum & gives a good presentation of design limitations. US Radiator has been around for 40+ years. The guy who presently owns it started working there 30 years ago and with the exception of 1 or 2 items, everything is built at their facility. They are also great to talk with on the phone and if you tell them exactly what you have, what are your concerns or wants, they will tell you exactly what to order. I don’t know of anyone (including the racing community) who has not been pleased with them!


Link: U.S. Radiator | The Difference Is In The Tooling

US Radiator Corporation
4423 District Boulevard
Vernon, California
323-826-0965

Properly maintained, the oem systems are more than adequate, what has changed is the high flow water pumps etc which reduce the time the cooling system has to absorb heat and dissipate heat.........if the flow is slowed back to OEM spec's, you will see (typically) temp reduction- and the ability to maintain operational temp range greatly increased. Also if you are running an aftermarket e-fan...that would be the #1 item to address/cause overheating.
Champion, AE IIRR correctly are all Chinese made.......now I’m not going to say just because it's Chinese made its junk...it’s not, but there are a lot of issues with them........example...
Assuming all of the seam are properly welded (they have their moments when pre-mature failure- pinholes- occur), cooling is more than the number of tubes or material, its number of fins versus number & size of tubes....i.e. rate of flow and the amount of heat that can be exchanged in a specific amount of time.......many times these units are cheaper because they do not have an adequate number of fins......
Quality of welds........typically poor and pinholes start showing at the 5-8 year mark
Corrosion (internal).....almost all American radiators (aluminum) have or have as an option (and usually recommend if not already permanently installed) an anode- basically acts as a sacrificial lamb for electrolysis based corrosion (very, very predominant with aluminum radiators, water pumps) and helps keep the ph level neutral. Without this, I have seen a host of promulgated failures including radiator, hoses, water pumps, head gaskets, thermostat covers- where the material is literally eaten away because of electrolysis.

 

[imlowr2]

I know they sell a lot of those radiators on ebay. Haven't heard anyone posting negative comments...

 

[AKBray907]

I have a champion dual row with the 3/4" tubes. No issues at all, I live in Texas. Outside temp is regularly 100 and car never gets over 180. I have an electric fan as well

I know josh had a fitment issue with a champion but i think they resolved the problem, but I've had zero issues and so have lots of people

 

[Lizer]

I know they sell a lot of those radiators on ebay. Haven't heard anyone posting negative comments...

oh believe me i have. They are redesigning their 2 row because of me.

 

[S.A.F]

oh believe me i have. They are redesigning their 2 row because of me.

Well, as it was stated in my original post, tell us about your (bad) experience with American Eagle radiators. Would love to hear what happened.

 

[alpha male 67]

man that's alot of copy and paste going on! anyway
Their 67 2-row radiator was under-sized and not the advertised dimensions. i think they have fixed it by now
Lizer made them do it! These are good radiators for the money, yes they are better ones out there like Griffin for $700
but for 90% of us these will do just fine
i have had one in my 67 for over 4 years and no issues at all
would buy another one in a heart beat :bigthumbsup

 

[Lizer]

Well, as it was stated in my original post, tell us about your (bad) experience with American Eagle radiators. Would love to hear what happened.

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/classic-tech/366313-those-you-champion-radiators-2.html

It's a long story but the Cliff's notes version is it didn't fit as I describe in the linked thread.

Radiator wouldn't mount up to the support, shroud wouldn't fit, upper water neck wasn't in correct location and would put slight kink in hose, and the actual dimensions of the radiator were not the advertised dimensions. Champion said I could send it back and they would modify it so it would work, or refund me. So I went ahead and sent it back. They had it for 3 or 4 weeks and then it got thrown away by the night cleaning crew, they claimed. So for my troubles they upgraded me for free to a three row, but they still moved the water neck to the correct location, shaved my shroud so it would fit, and moved the mounting brackets so they were flush with the front of the radiator. I ordered the radiator in the end of December and it took until Feb until I actually had a fitting radiator in hand that I could install.

They looked at the CAD drawings of their 2 row and finally admitted it was undersized and that they need to redesign it. They were going to order a stock brass radiator to model and they were also going to order a radiator support so they could make sure it mounted properly.

This wasn't after they tried thinking of everything in the book though. They first tried to tell me maybe I had a '6 cylinder radiator support' instead of one for a V8 car, since my car was originally a 6. I told them there is no such thing; there's only one style of radiator support. And then I sent pictures, and then I sent the actual radiator (they sent me a shipping bill for prepaid shipping) and I drew out a diagram of exactly how things needed to be modified so it would fit.

It was a huge pain in the ass but they did follow through exactly on what their guarantee was and they never hesitated about it. Their production manager (or whatever his position was) was very nice to me the entire time even though I had sent him a few sharply worded emails.

 

[S.A.F]

Thank you for sharing Lizer. Sorry to hear that, but glad there are still (big) companies that actually care about their customers. I'm sure they knew that a single letter from you in Mustang Monthly or this forum could ruin their business, LOL.

 

[imlowr2]

I know they sell a lot of those radiators on ebay. Haven't heard anyone posting negative comments...

I take back my comment..... I know one person.... Lizer! LOL...

 

[DanielP]

I put a Champion in my 66 with a 289 and it has worked like a dream. It keeps it beautifully cool in the hot humid Memphis summer time.

 

[oklier]

I had cooling issues until I bought an American eagle. It's not just the brand but how many btu's it can dissipate. I had to get one that was over $350 to cool mine down. But now I don't have to watch the temp gauge while driving.

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