on my application (78 Fury 2 door HT, 318 with AC, 55k original miles--- B body, same chassis as Cordoba, Monaco, Magnum etc) I had had problem keeping it cool for a couple of years. This is a car I only drive when its nice out. It's parked at least 6 months every year. sitting has not been kind to this cooling system.
I had taken the original radiator out and sent it into the radiator shop 2-3 times over the years and no difference. IDK what all they did to it while it was out of the car but each time they said "it's good now". When I got the car in 2007 with 38k miles on it (I am the 2nd owner) it never had problem staying cool. It has the original solid 4 blade fan that it came from the factory with. Back then the AC used to work too, adding more heat to the front of the car.... the AC had slowly dwindled in effectiveness over the years, I haven't tried the AC now in about 3 years. so that takes a burden off the cooling system yet that was about when the temps started having problem staying cool. I put one of those "flowkooler" water pumps in it along with a 180* stat which helped a little.
I had heard of Champion radiators among the forums I frequent and thought Id give them a try. griffin was the "big name" in aluminum radiators but as I remember they were $450+ at the time for one to fit my car. In a "stock replacement" anywhere I checked wanted to send me a Toyota-ish aluminum radiator with plastic tanks. No way!!!!! I wasn't putting a Japanese car-looking radiator in my car when it came originally with copper and brass.
I was browsing Ebay one day and found a few Champion units, the closest they had listed to my car was a 73-74 Charger, Satellite etc. back then sellers could openly put their phone number on EPay, but no more. I called them and told them what I was looking at and what kind of car I had and the person said "oh no, that isn't the one you want for that car.... we have THIS one, that lists as a direct fit for your car. Same money. and I thought TIG welded 100% aluminum would at least look better than alum/ plastic ever would so I went for it. and 3 row instead of the original single row. Something like $213 delivered to my door. I had it in 2 days. Lifetime warranty. and does it work? He11 yeah, almost too well. I am certainly going back to a 195 stat in it when I do my next upgrade to that car which is going to be an aluminum intake and (yet to be determined) carb. possibly a small cam at the same time.
Works great. Id do it again.
Yet when my son needed a radiator for his 89 Ramcharger, we had the opposite thing happen with Champion. He called Champion with his vehicle info, and they said the closest they had listed was for a 78-79 D/W truck/ Ramcharger. we wound up drilling different holes in the mounting wings, and have yet to find a shroud that fits the dam thing correctly, he was looking into having a custom shroud made/ but hasn't done anything with that idea yet.
he saw what a difference that Champion radiator made with my Fury so he took a chance on it fitting and doing the same thing for him that their radiator did for me. Even without a shroud, it has been decent, at least if he is moving. It gets a bit warm (not bad) if he has to sit at a traffic light for long. but comes down as soon as he gets going. I would think there are more 80s D/W trucks on the roads these days than 75-78 B body cars. yet as of a few years ago they had a direct fit for the late B but not for the truck chassis. Weird.
speaking of Japanese car-looking radiators, he put one in his then daily driver 90 W250 with a (gas) 360, and it barely cooled that on a lukewarm day. He wound up returning that for a refund, due to the lifetime warranty it came with. found one in the junkyard that did him better, for that truck.
He also has a 72 Fury (C body) 9 seat wagon with a 440. Along with the pile of spare parts he got with the car was an unknown brand, brand new looking, Champion-lookalike-design radiator, that was definitely too narrow for the C body. the PO was going to put it in that car. Nick (my kid) found a suitable one for the C body (used) out of a early 70s C body and took it in for a going thru at (a different) local radiator shop, and so far so good there. I think that alum one might find its way in either his 80, or my 85 slant powered D150.... depends on who's craps out 1st, I think.
If you cant find an original style copper/brass radiator for your car any more (it don't hurt to look, you might get lucky and find some old overstock somewhere) the 100% aluminum all welded construction radiators like Champion or Griffin style seems like the way to go. often able to buy for very little cost over a new plastic/aluminum and definitely do a better job.
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20200708_071141 by Hyperpack, on Flickr
20200708_071153 by Hyperpack, on Flickr
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