BlackC3vette

A very diplomatic analysis!

akdale

hmm, I agree on saving the $$$$. The fact that many of you have used the champions and others with good results shows that they work. For me I would want to hear from someone who modded their motor and was having cooling issues as a result. Mainly your pushing the 500hp mark and decided to go with a eBay radiator of sorts. Just not a DeWitts. I will admit I paid the money and got the Dewitts. If I had issues I knew they would be taken care of by a business that stands behind their product. Is it worth it? Well, thats up to the buyer I guess. For the level of fit an finish, yeah the C3 is not a Bently. But, I did not buy the cheapest pistons, crank, shocks or front end components either. I did not buy a radiator to look pretty (it does btw) I bought it to cool a high HP motor that runs hot. Would a champion do that just as well? Maybe, but then a stock crank off eBay might have worked for me too. Glad I bought the SCAT instead. For me peace of mind and reliability are worth some money as is the ability to reach out to the vendor that sold me a product in case it fails. So the Dewitts keeps my car cool and thats all need. If the ebay lines work for others, thats great, neither side should pick apart a solution if it's functional. If it aint pretty oh well, if it's not a show car......BTW, the pan fan shroud....ingenious!

augiedoggy

Yes you make good points. I also went with a scat crank over a stock cast model because for one thing it was in my budget and resonably comparible to other cranks with similiar performance specs and was advertised to be stronger than stock by a % which means it can very likely pay for itself in that way when stressed.

I went with a 3 row champion I bought on ebay for like $175 and use it to cool the 375-400hp ballpark 9.5:1 iron headed 355 I built, it looks very good in my opinion and I had people asking about it at the carshow thinking it was some sort of high end racing rad due to the welds and polished aluminum. The most important thing though is that it does do an excellent rock solid job of cooling the engine. I believe my radiator said it was made in Mexico and I realize origin is a big thing for some but considering that GM manufactures more in Canada and Mexico now it isnt worth me paying hundreds more just for principal for people in the US to make more money than me to build them.. Just my outlook from where im at with my budget.. If I was fortunate enough to be looking at it differently I likely would I guess.

For a while GM spun off delphi thermal here where I live so they could buy thier rads from overseas.. meanwhile delphi sold thier rad to other domestic but mainly foreign car companies ... The whole thing just isnt as simple as it used to be with there being foriegn branded cars with more american made parts and assembly in the us than many "American" branded ones. The world is changing regardless.

vettebuyer6369

This thread will be closed for the time being and sanctions can be considered later.

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OK, even though I probably should have deleted this entire thread and sanctioned a list of people, I poured a cup of coffee this morning and decided to edit the thread, because I believe there's still some valuable information mixed in with all the garbage.

However, it came to my attention that some participants were under the impression that they were less guilty of the exchange of personal attacks and conflict in this thread than others. Thats not the case. I removed and edited several posts and comments by several members.

Please understand that if you click the Report Post button when something starts, moderators can attempt to address it promptly. If you choose to engage in namecalling and hostile conflict, and then report a post by another combatant after a page and a half of bickering, its not productive.

The argument of Dewitts vs Champion vs everyone vs dollars spent is a disagreement that has been repeated in this section and will again. There's plenty of ideas to argue about without the personal attacks. Posts from this point further that contain personal attacks, participating in conflict, namecalling, general negative observations about unnamed groups of members, etc will result in sanctions without warning.

vettebuyer6369

Reopen thread, TTT

bluedawg

I've got a 1-800-radiator stock replacement, I'm in the 500 horse range and don't have any cooling issues, i would have went with a dewitts or be cool, but it would have took a week to get it here and 1-800-radiator had it in Stock, which ment I got to drive it that day. I think that if I did have cooling issues I'd spend x amount on an aluminum radiator, i think that if it's built right it dont matter who built it, preferably not a communist radiator and preferably on shore, but in this day and age it's hard to find solely American made anything and DeWitt might be one and as so you pay for it. If I come to the point that my cheap stock replacement don't work then I'd research quality and origin, which would probably lead me to a DeWitts. Funny thread, very entertaining.

cv67

Never said that just said the welds look like poop in comparison
but what can one expect for cheap not much.
Usually one gets what they pay for, sometimes not.

Looking for an alum rad. for a truck I have can say I wont spend more than 400 or so on one. If approaching 500 it better wash dishes.
if only I hadnt stuck metal gasket scraper through it

MotorHead

Have you looked at BeCool rads, that's what I have with 2 13 in. Spal fans.

BlackC3vette

Two questions please. First, how many HP and second how many rows (tubes)?

The13Bats

I honestly do not see these welds as looking bad or low end in any way,

cv67

Saw that username just now on ebay some interesting options
Needing one for another app no specific brand/replacement found so far.

bats you kiddin no? I guess long as they dont leak they are good-

tektrans

Fwiw alot of racers I talk to on another forum swear by these guys:
http://www.wwwsuperiorradiator.com/home

It's not listed on their site but they made one for my '78. Supposedly their fans are the best out there (according to them). I called them up and said I need a radiator to cool 1000hp (my motor makes 950hp) and they said "no problem".
Sent me a unit with their dual fans for $500.
I haven't installed it, or the motor for that matter so I don't have any real world results yet but I think for a moderate price they may be worth at least a search for some members that don't trust or like ebay or Champion but don't want to spring for a Dewitts or similar priced units.
I have zero issue with Dewitts, Be Cool etc just to be clear-you buy what you want, that's my feeling.

MotorHead

I am at 600hp and I only have to use one fan. The guys that fabbed it up told me they used the same rad in big block with a blower with no issues

I bit pricey, the rad cap is $50-60. I wanted to make sure my new ( at the time ) 427ci engine didn't overheat.

AboveTheLogic

Me neither. Sub-$200 shepherd's auto radiator that was almost certainly imported.

augiedoggy

I edited this because its off topic but...

In a nutshell my welds look great on the radiator I bought..

All and all Im willing to bet my car is still more american made than a new corvette even with all the aftermarket and replacement restoration parts I and previous owners added so to me its a penny wise pound foolish notion to spend 3x as much on one part and justify it based on origin.. Most here would have no issue with a shiny edelbrock chrome air cleaner, Accel or MSD ignition system even though it too came from overseas yet...

AboveTheLogic

If it says AMERCIA it is probably overseas

They are using spelling tricks to fool people now: