Aluminum Champion radiators

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I had an old-time radiator shop do 2 mods to my radiator. He used the original top and bottom tanks & replaced the original 2-row core with a 3-row core. This increased coolant in radiator 50% over the original & there are no interference issues. Also while he had the the top tank off, he welded a baffle on the inside at the inlet. The baffle basically deflects the flow of incoming coolant across the top tank toward the driver side. This, we figured, will alleviate the issue of the inlet & outlet being in line with each other. It didn't cost that much, about $200 I think. The car has not been driven much yet, but I do not anticipate any cooling issues. If your car is basically stock I think this is a better, and probably much cheaper, solution than a Champion.

lol

Have radiator modified with outlet on side you need or rotate thermo housing and find hose that will work.......

Keith-

Hold off on making any decisions for another month or so -- I've been working with a rad fab shop out of Georgia to replicate the Harrison unit in an aluminum, drop in -- two 1" cores -- inlet and outlets in factory locations, etc...  Will have pictures soon.

Josh-any update on this?

Yeah hopin' to have something by the end of next week. Core was supposed to be in today. After having nothing but problems with RND Fabrication for 5 months Ive switched to another source -- Superior Radiator ( Tim turned me onto them ). His rad looked alot different then my OEM one though so the pix he posted won't represent what I'm getting. Im not sure why they are different but maybe the model years are slightly different. Ill keep everyone posted.

Josh,

Did you ever hear anything back about this? As you know, I need the smaller radiator (yours is still comfy in my garage. :-))

Bobby Jacobs (not sure if he is on the forum) stated that he used the Champion rad and it was hitting the hood.

He is going to have a local shop move the neck to a vertical type position that will allow the hood to close.

Just wish someone would have the stock 23 1/2" radiator that they could sell me. :-(

I do think that a crossflow design would be better in my application; being as I am putting a turbo on my 62. Turbo is going to sit where the battery tray is and having that top hose on the other side would really give me some room over there.

Chris-

I've actually kinda given up on the aluminum radiator thing, I tried to work with a 2nd company and had several promising phone convos only to have nothing but birds chirping since making a commitment to purchase ( hence the reason why I want the one you have lol ) but if you're good with a crossflow you probably shouldn't have much of an issue having one made. I think the problem lies in the core size for our downflows, they just are not available but Id be willing to bet it can be done in a crossflow pretty easy. If, by chance, something changes Ill be sure to keep everyone posted though!

I am now going to have to do something with my radiator. I have a leak and pulled it.

Esasky - Do you know if Bobby Jacobs solved the hood clearance issue?
Woody - did you get yours to fit? Or have you not gotten that far yet?
Dowxxpa - How long ago did you get your original modified? That would be my preferred option, but a quick internet search says that will run about 400-700 dollars. Do you still have the shop's name?
I think the champion is in my future if it isn't too hard to get it to fit - $200 is a good price if it works.
Any direction on this would be great, as I would like to have the new radiator in before the weather gets nice. Thanks guys!!

Bill--

Chris ( Esasky ) still has a radiator for sale Im pretty sure.

Other than that I can be of no help as Ive abandoned this upgrade for now since mine isn't leaking. Good luck and if you go some other route other than stock please keep us all posted.

Josh

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Bill,

I still do have a radiator for sale if you are interested as it does not fit my car and my plan is to purchase the aluminum rad offered and make the mods to the rad to clearance the hood.

Let me know if you are interested in the radiator. It came from a board member here and was in a running car.

Thanks,

Chris

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Thanks for the offer Chris, but I don't think I want to put a stock (non-modified) radiator back in until I have exhausted all other options. Since I have it out I would like to upgrade. As I have posted before, my car always has ran hotter than I felt comfortable with. Do you have details on how to make the Champion fit?

Bill wrote: Do you have details on how to make the Champion fit?

Here you go Bill....

LOL. I am guessing it is because the filler neck is not recessed like it is on the stock unit. How much higher is it?

StageCat wrote:

Bill wrote: Do you have details on how to make the Champion fit?

Here you go Bill....

That's the classic approach, this is the modern way....

I am guessing most people modify the bottom radiator mount? Is that the likely scenario?

Bill wrote:I am guessing most people modify the bottom radiator mount? Is that the likely scenario?

How would you modify the lower mount Bill? My mounts are just saddles w/ a thin rubber isolator sitting right on the core support? I mean I guess you could remove them and put some rubber on the core support itself and then find some other way to fix the rad in position but even then you're only gonna pick up maybe 1/4" IIRC. Is the 63's mounts different from the 61?

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woody1640 wrote:

regal81455 wrote:

Bill wrote:I am guessing most people modify the bottom radiator mount? Is that the likely scenario?

How would you modify the lower mount Bill?  My mounts are just saddles w/ a thin rubber isolator sitting right on the core support?  I mean I guess you could remove them and put some rubber on the core support itself and then find some other way to fix the rad in position but even then you're only gonna pick up maybe 1/4" IIRC.  Is the 63's mounts different from the 61?

Yeah Josh is correct, the radiator basically sits directly on the core support. I would NOT alter the core support at all.
I am going to pull both my radiators out (the original & my new champion) of storage today and do some comparisons. I will see just what the differences are and report back.


Keith

Keith,

Definitely looking forward to the comparisons. I havent bought the Champion radiator but I am planning on having my buddy mod the neck in which ever way works. I would assume that the neck only needs to be at the same height or lower than the top mounting bracket to clear the hood.

If it's this one...

http://www.championradiators.com/Buick/Radiator-2-Row-1960-1964

I think you're gonna find the width works but the overall height of the rad will be almost 4" too tall ( and that doesn't include the cap which adds about another 1" to it ). From my measurements from top of top tank to bottom of bottom tank needs to be 17.25" and then the filler neck can be .625" taller as long as its positioned in the stock location or if it's crossflow it can be at the top of the dr side at an angle. Lower hose position could be a problem for you to as the factory one is offset from the bottom approx. 1.125" and then goosenecks upwards. Just my findings. Here's my drawings I had sent to a couple of rad guys...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/193agrr9fzeqio3/61%20SKY%20RAD.pdf?dl=0

The guys I talked with said they just don't make aluminum cores in the size we need and until there is an order of significant qty for them it's too costly to make them.

Additionally, the top tank will be too wide for the hold-down and then inlet/outlets will be too big but both of those can probably be overcome. It's truly the height which is the BIG ISSUE. Solve that the retrofit gets easy.