Im a big fan of Northern brand direct fit...also USA made..mine still seems to be holding water after 10 years daily driven and keeps engine cool even in 110 deg central ca bull****

 

Unfortunately that is a very common misunderstanding. They are made in China, just like I said. It's easy to see if you do some research, besides, if they were made in the US it would be plastered all over the box and in their ads and on their site. Nowhere does it say they are made anywhere in the US including California.

Not only are they Chinese made, the tubes are narrower than US made tubes, therefore they hold less water than a US made radiator with the same number of tubes.

The northern rads mentioned are good rads. They use 1/2" x 1/8" tubes on 3/8" center. 3/8" spacing is considered "high efficiency", however, when a Chinese rad company makes the tubes 3/8" on center, they are not "high efficiency" due to the fact that they use smaller tubes than the US mfg's., therefore, their standard of "high efficiency" is lower than the US standard. Why am I not surprised. Standard non "high efficiency" radiators use 1/2" tube spacing.

If one prefers to use a Chinese "standard" for cooling their US made car then by all means buy a Champion Chinese radiator or other Chinese brand.


EXAMPLE

2 row US made rad with 50 tubes across of 1/2” x 1/8” tubes = 100 tubes

2 row Chinese made rad with 100 tubes that are 1/32” narrower.

1/32” narrower tube x 100 tubes = 100/32” which equals 3 1/8”. Divide 3 1/8” by 1/8" and you get 25.

This means the Chinese rad is only equivalent to a US rad that has 75 rows of 1/2” x 1/8” tubes.

This means that if you put a 2 row Chinese rad in a car that had a 2 row US made rad and they both had the same number of tubes, you just reduced the water capacity of your rad by exactly 25%.

 

Well....I don't know exactly where Champion rads are made...but I put a 4-core Champion rad in my previously overheating '65 about a year ago and it solved my problem. It looks very well-built, and fits perfect.

 

I know their shop is in SoCal, thought they made the radiators there too. Regardless, even if they're made in China, they're extremely well built. It's not a cheap knock off with loose fin packing or tubing. They have a highly efficient core, one of the best radiators I've seen (the only other one I've seen as well built was the old GDI core I had a long time ago).

They have a 4 row rated for 600hp that fits in the Classics, a bit tight on clearance though but works really well.