Im in a pinch and sadly my 3 row ebay rad i bought last yr got ruined when my fan mount broke and the fan wore its way into the rad. Im temporarily put a generic stock ingle row replacement in to keep on the road. My car makes 800whp and the turbo crossover pipe was pretty close to the rad with a 3 row.My cooling as much better than this stock replacement. I always see debates on this interms of whats better..larger capacity 3 row vs 2 row better efficiency..
I need to pick 1 but they dont list the tube/fin size of these rads to make a informed decision. Take a look and let me know what you guys think.

Ebay 2 row:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/292295824656...53.m1438.l2649

Ebay 3 row:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/203288858566...53.m1438.l2649

 

What about this one
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/292295824656...MakeTrack=true

or this one

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29342777042...gAAOSw4RNdVtba

 

I would be hesitant to buy a after-market radiator if the tube size is unknown. If your car has 800hp at the wheels and ran cool enough with the 3-row, then might as well stick with that...

 

Less rows is better for pressure drop, plus a stock radiator is good for 99% of cars. No need to go crazy

 

But his car is not 99% of cars. He claims 800 RWHP. That would need more than a stock radiator.
A 2-row with big tubes may work well...

 

He probably still falls into the 99% category. My friend runs into the 8's with a stock 3rd gen radiator and fans, he will probably be fine with a smaller radiator. I did some road racing in my 92 Firebird with a stock 4th gen radiator and fans and my temperature did not get out of control.

 

How is the single brass radiator keeping up with the heat now? Any type of 3 row radiator will cool better than a single, but do you need a 3 row radiator? Your are in Ontario, if you were in Texas I could see needing all the radiator that you could fit. Something else to consider, are you running AC? (the initial post doesn't say). Typical Chinese built E-Bay radiators are 3/4" tubes, and a 2 row aluminum would probably suffice without AC. The fan selection will also be a factor, especially with a Firebird. You might also consider spending the money for a quality package from a name brand source such as Dewitt, Griffin, Wizard, or such.

 

ONLY if airflow is increased substantially. Otherwise, the exact opposite happens...

 

Sorry guys,been a hectic few days. So lets clear a few things up from the few responses above. Yes my car makes 800whp and my crossover pipe is about half inch away from the stock fan fins! You can imagine any lenghty full boost pulls can generate heat and take sometime to cool back down in an engine bay where its less airflow than a Camaro keeping my coolant temps less than ideal on hot days. I wont claim here reaches Texans heat lol but we do have our moments of disgusting humidty and bumper to bumper traffic 80% of the time in summer. I daily this thing in summer most of the time and it does not have ac.

Since putting in this stock rad because of my situation I know its not staying for the long haul. Its sufficient if I never get into boost and keep moving for airflow and my fans stay on longer to get the job done. The ebay 3 row special I had was actually pretty well built,my temps didnt build up as fast as the stock rad does now,and it would drop temps at a faster rate than the stock rad does no also. Im heavily leaning towards the 2 row rad with a shroud and 12" fans. This new vsr turbo is pushing boundries and im sure i will need more than what stock offers. Yes most cars will get away with stock fans and rad but most guys dont daily the car to the extent where the radiant heat is a consistent factor. If i limit myself to 1 full pull every other hr at the track then sure..stock is fine,but its no fun to go the test n tune and make 1..maybe 2 passes due to cool down.

I dont think going crazy on a super high dollar setup is necessary on the rad side of things,I think fan cfm will be more crucial for a firebird to extract air in.Given Im limited to what i can fit infront of the crossover pipe..2 row gives me a slight hair extra which will probably by eaten by a quality high cfm spal or derale fan

 

*Update*

Slight change of plans. I was about to pull the trigger on the ebay 2 row rad until my left stock fan motor popped. Luckily I had kept the 2 very cheap 9" ebay fans from the previous rad and put 1 in front to push and the other to pull air on the inside of the bay on that side. Those cheapie fans combined dont even feel like 600cfm lol, its a very short term fix but you do what you gotta do. My true solution now is replacing the fans and shroud. During my internet window shopping I came across the last Derale #16826 12" dual fan and shroud combo. This is referred to a few members on here as the ultimate flowing setup to fit our cars with 4000cfm capability. Having a stock rad right now give me slight room to fit this right now but I will shave it down so that when I replace to a thicker rad that everything should still fit.This should be the end of my fan issues and im sure it will keep rad temps down even more being a proper shroud. Once i change to a aluminum rad with 2 or 3 row in a month or so Ill should be set for doing more consistent pulls without having the temps get out of hand. Im working on a few added ares to funnel fresh air into the rad and also the turbo. Ill post that up in a few days after I complete the install. Lets just say..the turbo and iats are even happier. testing and datalogging when doing small individual mods has helped me alot this yr.

 

Ill start by saying this. Derale fans or bust! These dual fans with the shroud are no joke and move serious air! I followed LsxMatt and Klowny69s vidoes on youtube in regards to the modifying the shroud to fit around the steering box/lines. I also trimmed the entire shroud down a half inch so that it wasnt as deep and give myself some clearance from the turbo crossover pipe.It would not fit in if I hadnt but for stock cars it would be fine.I cut off the connector for the stock fans and made new connectors to the derale fans,both have their own 40am fused relay. The primary fan i also have a manual override switch. I tested just 1 single fan and with the car running..it wouldnt get past 180* :O Once I started driving and doing some medium pulls I saw 190-195* which would kick on the 2nd fan to cycle. Perfect so far but this was a cool night, so the next day its ripping hot n humid out..good time to test things. Well the car got to 200*, I made a hard hail mary pass and it hit 210..but it didnt stay there long before reaching 200* again. So i know the fans are efficient, the rad is ok for the street but repeated pulls i just dont think ill be 100% happy. I made a few calls and got a northen radiator that is 2 row with 1 inch tube. And from alot of the ebay stuff i was finding..the 3 rows were small tube,great for fluid capacity but not as efficient for dispelling heat compared to a 2 row large tube.Price was also cheaper than champion stuff i was looking at on ebay. Ill switch it on friday and take a extended drive for some data logging but it looks to be very promising combo to keep most high powered street cars happy.

 

where is your temperature sender that you are using for temp readings located? by thermostat or in a cylinder head ?

 

Its the cts in the drivers head.

 

Ok. Gotcha. That’s good. That’s what I had hoped you were going off of. You are in good shape then

 

Problem solved!!!

My temps dont hit 200* unless i really beat on the car at high boost and it comes right back down to 195*. The new rad with derale fans and ducting work has all paid off. And on the highway cruising im getting temps from 185-190* I had to celebrate with a victory burnout and then hit with instant regret with the toyo tires out back while my nittos are on stand by for the track. Check out the video to see what i had to do for fitment,well worth the money.

 

That's awesome. I love success stories when it comes to this stuff...

 

Thanks, and yes I agree its great to have people bring closure to a thread with what parts were used to achieve it.