Champion Cooling Systems Radiators any good?
 

Hi Guys,
I am in the market for a new radiator and have been looking at this brand I see on Ebay/Jegs. The company is called Champion Cooling Systems. Has anyone used their radiators before? Any experience or reviews would be appreciated. Unfortuanley my budget doesnt allow for one of the big name brands like Ron Davis or Be Cool so I need to find a good "budget brand"

here is a link to the one I am looking at;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CC571-dpi571...1f2e03&vxp=mtr

Champion Radiator
 

Hi, I have a 3 row with their dual elec fan and shroud in a 70 Chevelle 383- 470hp. Been running for 3 months no problems. So CA heat can be tough and she runs at 190 all day long. For the $ so far I can't complain:D

Nice...
 

I have something similar as well:

http://www.speedcooling.com/images/uploads/571S-PS.jpg

$199 with a Lifetime warranty

specs?

I had 2 champions that sucked. My griffin has been awesome. A friend of mine had a champion, it corroded through, probably more his fault.

What went wrong with yours?

Neither would cool my engine when on the road course. 10 minutes in and I would be at 230+ deg. They did well on the street.
The first started to leak after a year, they warrantied it, but said I have a blown head gasket and they will not warranty it again. The replacement did no better cooling the engine.
I replace the t stat with a stewart, replaced water pump with a high flow, added coolant tubes front to rear on the engine,also tapped into the outlets of the water pump and ran hoses to the center siamese cylinders just under the block deck, added a big setrab oil cooler. All this based on their solid claim the rad. was good to 700 HP, and my car had 275 wheel HP. So, it couldn't be the radiator.
Prior to installing the new replacement champion radiator I block tested the engine, it tested good. And this car did not have coolant loss issues. I said screw it, pulled the heads, sent them out to machine shop and reinstalled. I also changed the car over to Evans coolant. I installed an AF meter, fuel pressure gauge and autometer temp gauge to compliment my factory gauge.
The temp issue remained. :bang:
Cut apart the 3 month old champion and found at the very least 1/3 of the tubes were restricted (pinched) and the un pinched tubes are less than .030.

Champion radiator is a 3 row 5/8 tube.
I still have the cut up radiator if you want to take a look.

I bought a griffin and all the cooling issues disappeared. It is a 2 row 1.5" tube, and the tubes look to be about .080. It also has 9 or so more usable rows than the champion. Even in 100 deg temps on the road course and the current engine making 435 RWHP I do not see temps over 220 deg. We ran Vegas just before optima this spring. I was on track for over 40 minutes straight. Never saw 215 deg. But my brakes were not happy :)
So all this proves that I am an idiot for believing in Champion's B.S., I called them multiple times, they were adamant it was not the radiator.
After I cut apart the radiator I sent them pictures of what I found. They never responded.

Wow that is terrible. I might look elsewhere for a radiator

I've been running a Champion 2-row in my 92 Firebird track day car for 3 years -- no issues ever. Slightly taller than stock so cover plate tilted a bit.

Thank you for your input, it seems there have been a lot of good experiences with them as well. I think with any part there are going to be those who have a bad experience and they are the ones that are most vocal. I think I am leaning toward Champion now. So hard to chose!