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What I'd love to know is what people think of the aluminum radiators? There seems to be one out there that's under $200 that looks nice... any comments on these?
Here's my comment. Nothing wrong with them but be aware of a few things:
1. Upper brackets fit but don't fit. OE brass radiators are rounded at the top and bottom, aluminum radiators not so much. Bracket rubbers may be a little sloppy.
2. Thickness. Anything other than the thickest of cores will leave huge gaps between the OE seals. No way a conventional 2 row or even 3 row will be thick enough. But the lines are blurred.... some aluminum 2 rows use wider rows than typical thus they're the same thickness as a brass 4 row. Do your homework.
3. American Eagle, a Champion sub brand, has a rounded lower inlet whereas the Champions have that squared off inlet.
Looking at the chart below you'll see that core thickness varies...alot. as best I can tell core thickness for a '78 is either 2" or 2-5/8" depending on trim/options. As an example, if you need the 2-5/8 core an use the Champion EC718 with the 1.75 core you going to have a massive .438 gap between the core and radiator support. Example 2, if you have the thinner 2" core and use the cold Case it'll be .5" too thick.
Disclaimer: All info was pulled from manufacturer websites. Cold Case core thickness verified via 'online chat'. Champion info is conflicting. Championradiator (distributor) says the 2 row is 2 x.75 while chamioncooling (manufacturer) says its 2 x 1".
I have zero interests but... the Dewitts/ZIP RA-233 @ $399 seems like the best compromise of fitment and cost. (If you need a 2-5/8" core)
CHART IS SPECIFIC TO 1978 ONLY!! DOES NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN M/T and A/T MODELS!!
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I'm afraid that I don't particularly care where the radiator is made (being English and living in Europe, a lot of my stuff comes from the UK or EU.) and, I have no idea who actually manufactures those that Complete Radiators sell.
What I do know is that I went with them after seeing one of their rads that a friend bought to replace a much more expensive ally item that simply did not fit. The Complete Radiator item was perfect. My dealings with them, from the UK of course, were excellent, the delivery was extremely prompt, the price was great and, when I compared the new rad to the original item that came out, it was identical in every respect. The cooling was so good I needed to change to a higher temp thermostat! The radiator I bought would have cost something over twice as much had I gone with an ally unit and, based on experience of colleagues, the one hour it took my wife and I to change the radiator could have turned into days!
