Nice! Even if it seemed a bit high at the time, you're going to appreciate the all metal construction. The ones with plastic caps *always* fail eventually... Your overall savings in your time not spent broken down by the side of road is incalculable!
In actually, not that much of a price difference. There definitely are product on the market that could cost hundreds of $ more but in my research, this product seemed to be a good alternative at a much cheaper/reasonable cost. I know folks locally that have Champion radiators and they have experienced no problems. Only time will tell. A few folks have PM'd me for the supplier and part number which is CC504 through Leadfoot Racing.
Are you having to use the kind of coolant formulated for Aluminum now?
In order to maintain my lifetime warranty I was told to use distilled water in the 50/50 mix, so not too big of a deal. Regarding the coolant itself, no instructions regarding anything out of the ordinary. Will just need to do a better job of flushing system every couple of years, a habit that I have always had full intentions with all my vehicles but never follow through.
I just noticed, your air conditioner hoses and fittings look really new; did you have them made up somewhere? I'm looking to refit my A/C with barrier hoses so I can run modern refrigerants.
Fortunately they are the way as I got the van. I do know a local machine shop who has equipment to make these hoses from scratch, so if I ever need replacements he is a good resource. Maybe a local shop near you might have this capability and offer this service too.
Thanks Ram for the feedback.