Cheap eBay "Champion" Radiator review

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8ton
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Cheap eBay "Champion" Radiator review

Post by 8ton »

So a few weeks ago I went to get a small livestock trailer from a friend's farm with my '72 F100. When I got there and got hooked up, I had sprung a leak from the top tank of my radiator. I have been meaning to put a new timing chain on and degree my cam, so I have been nursing it along ever since while I gather parts.

I would normally have a radiator shop repair my original radiator, but my experience has always been that most shops take a week or two to get around to my stuff. I use the truck almost daily, so I cannot have it apart that long. I will have the original tended to later and put it in dry storage, because I am a car part hoarder.

eBay has welded aluminum radiators running from $150-300 for 2, 3 and 4 row. There are more than a few people who speak of using them, but I couldn't find a true review on any of them.

I chose a 2 row, 1" tube "Champion" with a 'lifetime' warrantee for just under $180 shipped. Part number is AE433. I had to message several sellers to get the actual tube sizes, because none of them bother to say what size they are selling. Some of the others available have 7/8ths tubes on two row and 5/8th tubes on 3 row. My understanding is bigger tubes are better than more rows .

Radiator came in 4-5 days, well packed. No where on the packaging or product does it have the country of origin, but we all will assume China or similar. Champion has a website if anyone wants to reach out to them and find out for sure.
Welding looks good, tubes ARE 1" and core is nice and thick , only a little thinner than the tanks, with what looks like ample fins. The tanks are polished, and look OK for a driver, but could be polished a lot better if you really wanted some WOW. I don't like shiny stuff on a truck, so I will be painting my tanks black. There are a few wrinkles in the sheet aluminum, but nothing troubling.
On my bathroom scale it weighs 17.8 LB
If anyone has any questions or wants any measurements before this thing goes in the truck, let me know and I will try to help out.

I will update on fit and function when I install this radiator later this week, and I will post pictures tomorrow, once my computer has updated and 'lets' me access them :cuss:

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Ranchero50
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Re: Cheap eBay "Champion" Radiator review

Post by Ranchero50 »

Sometimes I wonder at these product. Looks pretty good but common sense says the drain should be in the lowest spot. :)

Hopefully the hose fitting diameters match up with what's available and it's not too difficult to find bolt holes that line up. Good luck and post up the results.
'70 F-350 CS Cummins 6BT 10klb truck 64k mile Bahama Blue

Contact me for CNC Dome Lamp Bezels and Ash Tray pulls.
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