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I find myself in need of a new radiator for the '48 Burb. This thing has a Mustang 2 front suspension with a rack and pinion type steering. Small block Chevy and a 700R4 tranny. No alterations to the engine bay except for someone cut out the top radiator support to allow use of the current radiator. I would really like to replace the Rad with a 3 or 4 row aluminum for extra help with the cooling instead of repairing the marginally useful one I have now. Anyone care to share their experience including Brands, Part Numbers and approximate prices. Who did you purchase from? Any info is appreciated.

Guess everybody uses the stock radiator or it's a closely guarded secret.

I bought a BE Cool Aluminum radiator on e-bay 5 or 6 years ago. The seller sold all returned be cool radiators from the company. These were considered used but the one I got was never installed in a vehicle. It was specifically designed for 49-53 Chevy trucks. It still carried the full warranty from Be Cool. I called the seller before hand to be certain that I wasn't buying a faulty radiator. The cost was half the retail cost of a be cool rad. I am running the same setup as you, small block chevy, 700r4 rack and pinion steering, no AC. We have never had a overheating problem, radiator was a perfect fit with the original radiator support. I have since given the truck to my son, so all the paperwork is with him, but I will try to find the sellers name so I can pass that info along to you. I am presently restoring a 52 Chevy Styleline coupe which I put an aluminum radiator in, but not a be cool, found a good fit at the Goodguys show in Columbus last summer for a good price. Coach Frank

Thanks Coach.

Martin, I'm running a copper radiator with tranny cooler in the bottom on my 52 panel. Its a 4 row desert cooler I purchased from JimCarter back around 2009....before copper prices went out of sight. I'm running small block with 700R4 and have never had one minute of trouble. I am also running a full cover electric fan which is great.
I ask Jim before I purchased it and at that time the radiator I got was made by U.S. Radiator.
For the price of a copper radiator today I think I'd go with aluminum which should also get the job done. It can be 4 row or 2 row.....it all depends on the size of the "flues" some run 1/2" some are even 1" and how far apart they are also determines how much they cool.
Good luck.

EDIT: Lots of radiator info here.
http://www.usradiator.com/cores

I fought radiator leaks for many years with copper radiators. Back in the early 80's I noticed that Mercedes had aluminum radiators and I never had any problems with them. Probably 25 years ago, International went to aluminum radiators with plastic tanks. The tanks broke after about 5 or 6 years causing the truck to need a tow. About 10 years ago, International started offering Modine all aluminum radiators. I buy after market all aluminum radiators for about 1/3 the cost of a Modine. I have yet to have an all aluminum radiator to fail. I have bought about a dozen radiators from these guys. They claim they make them right there in Alabama.

http://www.cgj.com/

I keep at least 2 spares on hand for when the tanks fail on the OEM radiators and they make me a deal when I buy 3 of them at a time.

Thanks guys, food for thought.

I bought a couple of aluminum radiators from a guy called Dr. Radiator, or Dr. Cool, or something like that. on EBAY. $160
3 core with auto trans. I would buy again.

Hope the link below works- I bought this last month- ($205/shipping included)- perfect fit. I liked the look of the top tank on this one better than some of the squared off ones, even though it was about $30 more. No leaks so far. Would buy again.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-ROWS-KKS-ALUMINUM-RADIATOR-FOR-1947-54-CHEVY-PICKUP-TRUCK-CK-3800-3-5L-3-8L-L6/191365162948?_trksid=p3693.c100102.m2452&_trkparms=ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140212121249%26meid%3D22c77b40f0804f828ffc632850d355b1%26pid%3D100102%26

I use a Northern Radiator. Cheaper, but still good quality and cools well. Mine was actually a cross-flow meant for a Hemi 'Cuda. The size was right and fill neck was in the right spot so we turned it sideways and it works great. I just went through the Northern Rad book and figured out what would work based on the measurements.

I'm going to tell you right now you shouldn't be looking for a 3 or 4 row aluminum. That's just knowledge of copper/brass rads you're using but aluminum rads are different. Because aluminum is stronger than copper/brass, the tubes can be made much thicker, so they flow and cool better partly because of this. Most aluminum street radiators will have two rows of tubes somewhere in the 1.25"-1.5" range. So don't be hung up on two-row aluminum radiators, they're great.

Been checking evil bay and found a few good prospects. I may go with a rad/shroud/electric fan combo. More expensive but may be the best option for proper air flow. Is anyone familiar with Champion brand equipment?

yes, I know they make great spark plugs sorry, I couldn't resist

Materman, you been sniffin some of that SE Okla shine again? Bet I.ve sold over 100,000 Champion Spark Plugs back in my Auto Parts days. Back to Radiators please.

I know they're made in China. Bought one for my 55 210 and it didn't fit. Sent it back and got another one, and it didn't fit right either. So I gave up on using that brand in my 210. That's the only experience I've had with them.

Brian

Purchased one off evil bay for $200 to my door. Specifically made for '48 thru '54 with sbc/bbc chevy conversions. Has the built in tranny cooler. 3 row rated for up to 650hp. I'll post about fit and finish later. Thanks for all the input.

Victory Brand 3 row Aluminum for $200 delivered to my door in 3 days. Hard to beat the price and service. Quality looks good. Welds are plenty beefy and it appears to be well made. I will keep you all informed as I install it. Brackets look right but we'll see.

Went in exactly in place of the previous radiator. All holes lined up and no fiddling was required. Only draw back was the need for new radiator hoses of a different size as the new radiator had a larger inlet and outlet. No problem just a bit of a wait for one of the two new ones to come in.

I've got a 3 row Champion with trans cooler in a 50 chevy pu. Bolted right in, build quality looks very good, put about a thousand trouble free miles on it last year, just waiting for northern Illinois to thaw so I can start enjoying it again. Interesting enough, it replaced a U.S. radiator desert cooler which kept cracking the lower tank around one of the cooler fittings. (repaired 4 times) The Champion was the same money as replacing the lower tank, so I took a chance and so far so good. Luck of the draw? Someone has bad luck with a Champion and good luck with a U.S. radiator, and I have just the opposite.

John