Your experience with under $200 ALUMINUM Radiators from Ebay

[Wilbur]

I see plenty of aluminum Ford Falcon radiators on ebay, prices ranging from $117 dollars to about $180.

Has anybody bought any one of these radiators and did they fit?

Any complaints?

Suggestions?

I'm seriously considering buying one for my '64 Falcon V8.

Thank you

[Nathan289]

Champion radiators are good..

[SmithKid]

Not so sure about Champion radiators. I ordered a 3-core (definitely NOT under $200) for my car, but when received it turned out to be a 4-core. I was ecstatic until the rearmost core developed a leak. I returned it to Champion for replacement (At my expense:$60 shipping), and they replaced it. I was a bit disappointed when the replacement was a 3-core, but figured, what the heck, that's what I paid for. A while back, the replacement developed a small crack (1/4" long) at one of the upper tank welds and weeps a bit.

[Luva65wagon]

I weep too when I crack...

...but my aluminium radiator came off ebay, but was not a Cchampion. For the life of me I can't recall the brand. Mine had a formed top and bottom tank (in aluminium) that I preferred the look to, and maybe the leak-less-ness of it, than others I saw with welded top and bottom tanks. I know I didn't pay very much for it, but it was in the $200-300 range.

The only advice I can offer is to be sure to see what the warranty is on the thing and maybe read seller feedback.

[BadBird]

I bought a cheaper aluminum radiator off of ebay for around $200 but it didn't cool the car with my engine. I then fund an advertisement on ebay where the Champion 4 core radiator was guaranteed to cool an engine up to 450 horsepower. I bought it and it has worked beautifully. It wasn't under $200 but I would suggest spending the additional dollars. Here is my cost from my order and the part number. Not sure which one you would need though. Larry


MC251-1964 Ford Falcon 4 Row Champion Aluminum Radiator $280.00 1 $280.00

[Luva65wagon]

Not saying this the one I got, but sure looks like it:

http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav=item.view&id=201371602740&alt=web

[Nathan289]

Rock auto has the brass copper radiator for a 63 v8 car for $128 plus shipping of $16..

You can buy the same radiator at O'Reillys with a lifetime warranty for about $20 more..

Just another idea

[Wilbur]

Thanks for all the advice everybody. I tried O'Reilly's but they want a million dollars for "special shipping" charges for the radiator. For example, today I checked O'Reilly's for a Carter single barrel carb rebuild kit, and if it's not in their standard catalog they charge a small fortune for "special shipping charges". I believe the carb rebuild kit shipping charge was eight or ten bucks.

I like O'Reilly's but somethings are best avoided when buying from them.

I think I'll take the risk and buy an alloy radiator off ebay. If it lasts twenty thousand miles I'll be fine, I put maybe 500 miles on my car per year. I've owned the car over ten years and I have about three thousand more miles on it since I bought it, if that.

I'll let you all know how it goes with my alloy radiator purchase. The next stop will be a slim lightweight electric fan.

O'Reilly's has a Hayden fan but the box says it does not come with an on/off switch of any kind but that should be simple to remedy. I may try a junkyard first but first things first, I will order the alloy radiator.

I will order the CHEAP ONE. I figure it this way, no matter what you pay these days you're getting garbage, so why pay for garbage? Right? Right. :rain:

[Wilbur]

I went ahead and ordered an aluminum radiator for $117 from a seller on ebay. I will keep you all posted on how that works out. It is only a basic two core radiator, I have a stock 4.3 liter V8, this radiator's cooling capacity should be just fine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151702557333?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Wilbur]

I installed that radiator and ran the car for about a half hour around town and on the highway, so far so good. I will be an electric fan for it soon. The motor stayed cool, it was night and sixty seven degrees outside and fairly humid, but the motor, the temp. gauge needle didn't budge past "C" and only moved maybe an eighth inch past "C" when I parked the car with the motor running for a few minutes to see if the gauge was working.

Here are a couple pics of the installation.

[ew1usnr]

I will be an electric fan for it soon. The motor stayed cool, it was night and sixty seven degrees outside and fairly humid, but the motor, the temp. gauge needle didn't budge past "C" and only moved maybe an eighth inch past "C" when I parked the car with the motor running for a few minutes to see if the gauge was working.

Hello, Wilbur.

What temperature thermostat do you have in your car? The 260 is supposed to have a 190 or 195 degree thermostat. The engine needs to heat up to its operating temperature to get the best gas mileage and to evaporate water out of the engine oil.

If the engine is running cool, why do you need an electric fan? It might be an unnecessary can of worms. Keep in mind that you have a generator. Generators spin slow when the car is idling and are not putting out much voltage. When you are sitting in traffic the electric fans will be drawing off the battery without any replacement charge from the generator. People that run electric fans usually have alternators so that they get more electric power at slower engine speeds.

What length fan spacer are you using and how much clearance do you have between the fan and the radiator and the lower hoses? What size fan do you have?

Thanks, Dennis.

[Luva65wagon]

My question was going to be: "Where is the fan?" None is seen in those pictures at all. So, if it ran cool lacking a fan, if that's how you drove it, my guess is that it will do just fine with a stock fan, or at least a good aftermarket fan. Adding electric fans are a bit overkill in some cases.

I agree with Dennis that an electric fan is going to use a lot of juice and the generator is going to loath keeping up with that. In fact you could wire in a relay to cut power to the fans while trying to start the motor. If the fans are running the car is a very hard-start.

[pbrown]

Agree that an electric fan is not going to be a good choice with a generator. I have one on mine with an 100A alternator and it's controlled by the EFI computer so starting is not a big problem. It does draw a lot of amperage.

A mechanical fan with a good shroud would be the best choice here.

[Wilbur]

Interesting point to consider, I never considered that the electric fan draws enough power to make the generator impractical.

I have three Falcons, two are sixes and this one the eight cylinder, I never needed fans, removed them all for a NOTICEABLE kick in the pants, acceleration-wise.

Seattle has always been pretty cool and I never needed them, but lately with this heat I am seeing the need for a fan and I prefer to avoid the mechanical fan but if I have to I will return to one.

I do intend to switch to an alternator but haven't gotten around to it yet.

My attitude on Falcons is a blend of purist who prefers bone stock cars and hot rodder who wants to have all the speed, power, handling, and braking I can squeeze out of these cars, but I definitely lean heavily towards "stock" with some simple modifications.

Thanks for the all the advice and input!

By the way, I weighed both the original radiator and the alloy one, no real savings in weight! The alloy one is 8 pounds and the original is only 11 but it feels a lot heavier.

[ew1usnr]

I never needed fans, removed them all for a NOTICEABLE kick in the pants, acceleration-wise.

The steel fan only weighs 2.25 pounds, so I wondered how it could slow down the acceleration of a 2900 pound car. A little internet reading yielded the following points of view:

The loss of acceleration may be due to the drag of the fan rather than its weight. I read one article where a guy put a 350 HP car on a dyno and tried different mechanical fans. He claimed that at 4500 RPM a fan can take away 35 - 40 HP! ?? :WHATTHE: ?? That seems hard to believe.
See: http://carnut.com/ramblin/dyno.html

Then another guy said that the dyno test was incorrect because a car would be moving forward at 100 mph if the engine was turning at 4500 rpm. With air rushing through the radiator at that speed the fan actually takes very little power to turn. That sounded reasonable.

But then another guy refuted that idea by saying that during hard acceleration a car is initially moving slow while the the fan is spinning at at a high RPM and producing maximum drag. That guy has a point also.

All this makes me wonder how much drag my fan creates in the 3000 rpm (65 mph) range that I typically drive.