torynich Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 So I have a street driven mild 2.8L 1972 240Z. I took the stock original radiator to the local radiator shop for repair and they have informed me that the header is cracked and will need a complete re-core. He quoted me appx. $400-450 for the re-core. I figure I can come up with a better replacement for that kind of price, but after searching on here I am left a little confused as to what to do. I am looking for advice here. I was able to come to the conclusion to stay away from Champion brand radiators which are found at the Z Store and on e-bay. I would like to keep it as drop-in as possible. I am not exactly trying to find the cheapest option, I just want to make sure I am getting the best bang for the buck. The JTR and Arizona ZCar offerings are what I am looking at right now. Is there something better? If I just kept it stock, where would y'all purchase one from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 I have run JTR radiators on two V8 240Zs and one stock 240Z. No problems and the JTR radiator bolts right in. The radiator in the picture was in my stock 240Z for five years before I did the V8 conversion and has been cooling the V8 now for two years. JTR also sells the hose kits for stock and V8 engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 For that price you can get the cross flow radiator that MSA supplies. It's made by Afco which is a damn good brand. What exactly is so bad about the champion radiators? I keep hearing all this bashing with no evidence as to why(other than MSA's massive price hike)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 For that price you can get the cross flow radiator that MSA supplies. It's made by Afco which is a damn good brand. What exactly is so bad about the champion radiators? I keep hearing all this bashing with no evidence as to why(other than MSA's massive price hike)? Seconded. I bought a cheap ebay Champion radiator and it's been cooling great. It's been on the Z for about a year and a half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six_Shooter Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I just posted a similar topic on another site tonight, listening in to this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4nsm0l3m4n Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) I've been interested in radiator options as of late. I ran the JTR radiator for a while until the plastic end tanks started to leak. Instead of ordering a new one I decided to try to find an OEM radiator that would work. What I found was a 1990ish GMC G10 sport van (4.3L V6) radiator has the exact same dimensions as the JTR radiator but a slightly thinner core (1.25 vs 1.375 in.). So far I've been using it with little issues but I always have a weird feeling in the back of my mind that its very close to being too small. I've found this handy but rather crude table to help with radiator sizing and it looks like my feelings are somewhat accurate. I've been thinking of upgrading and have been eyeing the various radiators available online. Many of them say "cools up to 600hp" but how do they arrive at this number? Anyone have any other tables or equations that deal with radiator sizing? I suppose it is an easy heat transfer problem to set up but a table or a formula would save me a bit of work. Edited March 17, 2012 by h4nsm0l3m4n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTHALOSISM Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I've seen 240sx from CXracing that work really well, also if you have the JTR mounts you can use a late 80's camaro that drops right in for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Why stay away from Champion? I'm running their 4-row with great results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 (edited) I just put a Champion 3-row aluminum in my LS swap with their dual fan kit (the ebay seller I used was back-ordered on 4-row kits). I've run it up to operating temp several times: so far so good. Both fans are coming on with input from the ECU/PCM and LS thermostat. So far, I'm using the cap that came with it, but I'd like to get one of those caps with a little gauge in it (I'm developing a gauge fettish). I'm using the stock L24 water temp gauge and sender and it warms up to the same place as my L24 and hasn't climbed higher on the gauge yet, although I know that these LS motors run best hot (like 239F -ish). Real test will be drag racing in July. The fan shroud took a fair amount of "tweaking" to bolt up and there were no holes drilled in the aluminum shroud for the fans, so I had to drill those and make my own wiring harness for the thing. It bolted to the 240z radiator support properly with no mods to mount it. I added a Summitt overflow bottle with a sight-gauge on it to keep the track dry. This is all covered with photos in my "Project Mentor Wanted" thread in the GenIII V8 forums. Edited March 21, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOZ UP Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I've got a 3 row eBay. Has a small leak on the lower passenger side end tank. Good thing I have a welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 90% of the problems I see with aluminum radiator installs in an S30 are caused by solidly bolting the radiator to the core support. The core supports on these cars flex and will slowly tear any aluminum and plastic tank radiator a part. Rubber mount all aluminum radiators and plastic tanked radiators! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torynich Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 So, I've got a champion on the way. Makes sense about not hard mounting it. Other than the JTR set-up which uses a different radiator anyway, does anyone have a pic of how they rubber mounted their radiator? From the pics of the radiator (I dont have it in hand yet), it looks like there are the stock mounting tabs on the front of the radiator and also mounting tabs on the rear (I am assuming for mounting fan/shroud). Maybe installing from the rear flange with rubber cylinders of some sort with longer bolts to the stock location on the core support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 So, I've got a champion on the way. Makes sense about not hard mounting it. Other than the JTR set-up which uses a different radiator anyway, does anyone have a pic of how they rubber mounted their radiator? From the pics of the radiator (I dont have it in hand yet), it looks like there are the stock mounting tabs on the front of the radiator and also mounting tabs on the rear (I am assuming for mounting fan/shroud). Maybe installing from the rear flange with rubber cylinders of some sort with longer bolts to the stock location on the core support? I can tell you that I used extra door weatherstripping that I had laying around and put it around the radiator opening in the core support. Then I used the Champion mounting tabs to bolt the radiator to the core support. The weatherstripping between the radiator and support allows for movement and helps create a seal that forces the air to come from in front of the core support. I'll let others comment on whether they think this is a good idea or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svMike Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 If you can weld, you can make your own saddle mount or cut GM saddle mount to fit your radiator. Pictures from http://www.rondavisradiators.com/tech.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torynich Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 nice...and then some weatherstrip to seal it up to the core support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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