I am looking at buying one of the Champion 4 core aluminum radiators for a mild 440 six pack in a 1971 roadrunner. Currently I'm using an aftermarket 2 core aluminum radiator with stock fan and shroud. Does anyone know if you can still use a stock fan and shroud with a Champion 4 core radiator? Any experience with the 3 core?
Thanks ahead of time

My dad has one of the 4 core radiators on his 70 challenger and it works with stock fan and shroud.

I have a champion 4 core in my 71 runner, just fired today, the first rad was warped, sent it back, second one was manageable, but thats what u get for a $200 aluminum rad

Just my . A few years back I was looking at the Champion 4 rows right after they came out. I did a little bit of quick math and figured out that their 4 row radiators actually had less tube surface area than their 2 row with 1" tubes. The key is to get one that actually has 1" tubes.


I went with the 2 row for my daily driver which is a 507CI Cadillac powered El Camino. It gets driven virtually every day with a mix of highway and around town stop and go driving. I've never had a heating problem with it, even on long trips on 105 degree days with the AC on.

i just pulled my 4 row champion out & replace with a 2 row with 1in tubes, it now runs cool, 512 cid with a/c in south texas
link to radiator

I run a 4 row Champion on my brand F PU and a 2 row Mancini 26" "Muscle Car" radiator on my 496 w/AC Challenger. Both work great in their applications. The Champion was advertised "stock shroud fits" and it does.

From what I have seen, the higher end 1"+ two row radiators like the Mancini have more capacity vs Champion... and require custom shroud and cost more. Also, 4 row has some extra air flow resistance and needs a good fan. As the saying goes you pay your money and take your choice.

My car currently has a cheap 2 row aluminum radiator that I got off eBay years ago, but I don't think it was ever quite adequate enough for my motor. Around town and idling in traffic it never goes over 190, but in the summer time the highway driving causes it to get hot and I can't run my A/C without it overheating or drive over 70 for any extended period of time. Any suggestions?

Hot at speed usually means not enough radiator or radiator plugged. Cool in town (190F) usually means fan/shroud is OK. I think you need a better radiator. Take your pick of the above (4 core Champion or 2 big core Mancini) or something else but get something better to fix it.

over 70 it sure wouldn't be an airflow prob. I'm thinking water flow not fast enough for some reason. But then again maybe the rad ain't big enough but I'm skeptical. How killer (heat pump) of an eng do you have there?

Running an aluminum water pump, but the motor is a 440 six pack with 10.5 to 1 and 727. Just over stock stall converter and 3.23 gear. The fan and shroud seem to work very well because it idles at a steady temp even on hot days in traffic and with the hood open the fan seems to be blowing very strong. It has always been this way and I have driven 50,000 miles on this motor, but I would like to be able to use the A/C and drive at higher speeds occasionally.
Thanks for all the advice so far!

Again for what it's worth.......I normally run the thick HD Hayden fan clutches with a 7 Blade fan (they lock up at 210 degrees by the way). A few years ago I built another (off brand) vehicle. Fresh engine, new aluminum radiator,water pump etc. I had a new standard duty fan clutch on the shelf so I used that. Around town, short highway trips no problems, but when I made a trip to Tucson (about 75 miles away) on a 100 degree day it ran pretty warm at highway speed with the AC on. When I got home I changed out the fan clutch to the thicker HD clutch. About a week later I made the same trip, and if anything the outside temperature was even warmer. The truck never ran above 210 degrees. The thicker clutch locks up tighter than the standard duty ones and causes the fan to pull more air. You can actually hear the fan "roar" just a bit when it locks up which some people find objectionable but to me it's a lot less objectionable than a pegged temp gauge.

Thanks for the tips. I was worried that the 4 core champion would be too thick and would not allow enough space for the fan and factory shroud. The fan that's on it now pulls very good. Enough to blow your hair back if your leaning on the fender with the hood open. I'd just like to be able to run my A/C and go 75 in the summer. I was told by several people that overheating on the highway most likely means not enough radiator?
Thanks again

I have a champion 3 core 22", from my 70 RR, worked fine in my 440 6pak, stroked motor to 544 needed bigger radiator, if this 3 core will work for you $100 plus the ride has maybe 300 miles on itand I ran without shroud (I didn't have correct one), it took the 4th radiator to be shipped to me, all the ones before where so beat up and first leaked, if you go champion new ask for extra packing and ask them to check it before they ship,

my champion 2 core works great on my 520 in. motor,but it was twisted pretty good,about 3/4 of an inch.my car aint for show so I just spaced out the corners.if I was putting it in something a little more Purdy I would probably look at something else.

"....The fan that's on it now pulls very good. Enough to blow your hair back if your leaning on the fender with the hood open....."

I've run into that before too, and frankly those were my thoughts when I put the standard duty clutch on the the truck when I built it, but like I said the HD unit actually pulls more air at highway speed than the standard duty one does which in my case was all that was needed.

"..... I was told by several people that overheating on the highway most likely means not enough radiator? ......"

And it very well could be. There is also a possibility that as your radiator is several years old there could be internal corrosion that has caused it to lose efficiency.

Unfortunately trouble shooting cooling problems can often turn into trial and error after the obvious (plugged radiator, timing, collapsed lower hose etc) have been checked and eliminated. When I moved to AZ many years ago I had a steep learning curve to go thru especially when I started adding AC to my hot rods. I tend now to possibly overbuild the cooling system from the start......biggest radiator, 7 Blade fan, HD Fan clutch, shroud, high flow WP, and even play with pulley size from time to time to change fan and WP speed.

I fought a cooling system problem like yours many years ago, cooled great except on the highway. I changed everything to include radiators at least twice. After all the changes and expense I finally found the problem.....turns out it was just air backing up in the engine compartment at speed. I pulled the upper control arm dust shields off (the rubber flaps the cover the control arms) and never had another problem with it.

Anyway good luck and hopefully the radiator will cure it.

If you have trouble with your car getting hot on the highway you may also check and make sure the air coming through the grill is actually going through the radiator. I have a 67 Firebird that wanted to run hot on the highway even with a new radiator and good fan and the problem ended up being that air was bypassing the raditor. Once I got all of the seals in place that had been lost/removed over the years it ran 160 all day. Air will take the path of least resistance and if it can go around the radiator it will. My 71 Roadrunner dropped 10 degrees on the highway just by adding the hood to core support seal and sealing up the areas on both sides of the core support that go into the innerfender area.

something to keep in mind is that all 4 row radiators i've seen have 1/2" tubes. all of the 2 row alum radiators that i know of have 1" tubes. are you gaining anything between four 1/2" tubes vs two 1" tubes? you might want to check tube spacing too. it's easy to throw money away on this stuff.

Which radiator will cool better? Wouldn't 4 rows of 1/2" tubes mean that the coolant will be staying in the radiator longer and therefore cool better? It still has the original hood to core seal on it. I will check for other areas where the air can bypass the radiator. Lots of great suggestions thanks again

The 4 row Champion radiators I have seen advertised (and one I purchased) only had 3/8" tubes...effectively 1 1/2" surface area vice 2".

no help on the rows issue (& that sounds critical) but on the speed but you want to coolant to flow as fast as possible but not get into pump cavitation. Consider this, if one block of water exits the rad faster (cooled less) that means the next block of water enters quicker & gets cooled faster so it all reaches an equilibrium.

A slipping water pump,fan belt will make it run hot at highway speed.

I bought a Champion 26" 3 core for my super bee. No water in it yet. It wasn't warped but I had to massage the bolt locations to get it to fit. Don't expect a pretty piece. Their welds are good but production methods are worse than a butcher shop. Scratches, burn marks, slag and mashed fins galore.

Same here, I bought a 2 core direct fit for my DD 318 65 dart from Evilbay & not warped but I had to redrill (1) side flange hole (no big deal). $189 to my door which is decent. cooled fine but a DD 318 ain't really going to test anything. Welds appeared OK as far as I a non welder could tell, didn't remember any slag/burn marks/scratches

Hey Mike P do you have any parts numbers/ sources or pics of this fan clutch?
Thanks

My Champion was warped a little. We stood on it pulled it to un-warp it.

Doesn't seal well to the radiator support. Would help to add foam around the opening to the radiator.

Mine works fine. So did my 3 core brass one before that though.