350patriot

hey guys

i was looking at buying one of the champion aluminum radiators and i was wanting to know if anyone has any experience with them. i did a search where i found that a couple of members had bought them but haven't found a follow up after they were installed and used. i was having an issue with my car getting hot really fast and come to find out that it has an ls1 style radiator that is noticeably thinner than original lt1 radiators, so i'm looking to buy a different one regardless.

thanks

Injuneer

Do they even make one for the LT1? I don't see it listed in their application guide:

Chevy Camaro Champion radiators (67-99)

350patriot

i actually found the ebay vendor that listed for 93-02 f-bodies. i believe it was az2envy that bought one for his 94 lt1. looking at the pics he posted it looks like it has the extra fittings for the oil cooler and the hose that runs to the cylinder heads. i haven't been able to message him about it though.

Aluminum Radiator - Page 2 - LS1TECH

DocJhn

I actually used ebay pricing to get a radiator at a local dealer for even a lower price. They were local and the guy dropped it off on his way home from work, No shipping lol! So check options.

350patriot

Well guys, I went ahead and tried the champion radiator. The website says that it on fits a 98-99 but it actually fits the 93-97 lt1 cars quite well. it has all the heater hose fittings that our cars require and a built in transmission cooler as well. The only mods that I had to do to make it work was file out the edges of the port where the low coolant sensor went because it was a tight fight and the sharp edges kept destroying the rings when I tried to install it. I also had to slightly modify the radiator support and bend the upper a/c line that attaches to the condenser since this radiator is much larger than the stock ones. other than that the fitment was good and my car cools a lot better now that I got rid of my ls1 style radiator. I will try to post a pic of it installed.

Injuneer

Does it have the connection for the coolant return line from the back of the heads, and the built-in liquid/vapor separator for that line?

350patriot

yeah, it has both of the lines that are below the radiator cap on the passenger side tank as well as the line that connects to the oil cooler on the driver side tank. I forgot to mention that I don't know if my line going to the overflow tank was stretched or not but it seem to fit loosely on the fitting, but it was nothing that a tighter hose clamp couldn't fix. I don't have a photobucket account so i'm not sure how to post a pic of it.