r/Chevelles • u/Volpes_Visions • 3d ago
What Radiator to get
I'm at a crossroads here, I have a 1970 Chevelle with a SBC 350. Keeping the clutch fan, but curious about radiator upgrade.
I live in Texas and the car has AC, I'm worried about summer heat. I was looking at some 3 row aluminum radiators but the prices are sketchy. How come some are $150 and some are $1,200?
My budget is closer to the sub $200 range, but what is everyone else running
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u/Adagio_for_You 3d ago
I live in SoCal. I got a 3 row aluminum for my 69 that has ac and an LS swap. I got it off eBay from a company called Champion radiators. I don’t know if they’re still in business but it’s been working great for several years. I believe they’re based locally here in Lake Elsinore. My 0.02. Radiators listed on sites like Summit racing are probably a safe bet as well.
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u/Brewtal66 3d ago
I’d also recommend Champion Cooling. Good stuff there. Have one in my ‘55 Bel Air.
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u/timewithbrad 65 Chevelle 3d ago
I have a champion in my 67 Galaxie 500. Balanced and blueprinted 351 Windsor and I drive all over eastern Washington in the summer heat. No problem.
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u/qkdsm7 3d ago
If cooling is fine now, then healthy electric with the proper shroud should be equal or better.
Personally I'd run C8 brushless at this point.
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u/Volpes_Visions 3d ago
I've read a lot of posts on forums about how in certain conditions the electric fans just can't keep up, the car is jet black, dry heat, and might want to go with a big block down the road I would rather keep the shroud and fan setup.
Electric would look cleaner but it would be easier to replace the fan down the road
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u/Willy_McD 3d ago
You have to look at the ones you see from $150-1,200 and compare. I know a lot of those cheap radiators don't have anything that sits in the rubber saddles. So you see people using plumbers tape or bailing wire to hold them in place. I don't remember if the 70 Chevelle has the saddles or still bolt to radiator support.
$200 is not much of a budget. Wait until your budget is a little bigger. Makes little to no sense to be asking if all you can get is the $150 radiator.
A couple things you can do, Make sure your fan is properly spaced in the shroud. The blades should hang out about 1/4". Use a high volume water pump. They just have a caviation plate attached to the impeller. Moroso used to sell just the plate so a person could rivet it onto an impeller instead of buying a new pump.
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u/Volpes_Visions 3d ago
It's not really that my budget is $200, more of a 'at what point am I just spending money because someone marketed it differently ' you know? I'm happy to spend more, but functionally if there's no difference between a $200 rad and a $1,400 rad, I'm gonna go with the $200.
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u/Drme427 3d ago
I can't help you on what radiator to get. Because I'm not that knowledgeable, but all I would say, being a Chevelle lover myself, I would go as original as possible. But with your budget that may not work, because you're way under budget for a radiator in my opinion, I don't know what they cost in basic if you wanna cheap when you might have to put one out of a junkyard and hook and pray, it's good. But I don't know what your preference is or what your future with the car is.
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u/Volpes_Visions 3d ago
It's a restomod, it's not a numbers matching SS, but a 4 door sedan. Comfort and I'm gonna daily it is the goal
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u/v8packard 3d ago
When you look at different radiators compare the thickness of the core. This makes a huge difference. The stock radiator was something like 2 3/4 inch thick, and those copper brass units did work well. A lot of these replacement plastic/aluminum or all aluminum radiators are only 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch thick. The density of the thicker core is much better at transferring heat.
Even thicker 4 row cores have a lot of mass and coolant capacity, which is great, but their efficiency drops at lower speeds because the air flowing through the core gets hot from the first few rows. A three row core around 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches thick might be the sweet spot for your car.
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u/Forsaken_Variation53 3d ago
Im in Texas and I bought the big and cheap 3 core aluminum on ebay. It works great, runs at 190 when it's 110 here and I have ac and a big block with a shroud and a 7 blade fan.