BB Aluminum Radiators

Well they are only breaking it down to BB, SB, 22",26" I know E bodies take a radiator that will not fit a B Body or vice versa even though they share a lot of parts. I have put C body radiators in A bodies but don't remember there being a big fitment problem. Looks like from the drawings they got the lower hose connection over far enough to miss the oil filter. Don't know any of that helps.
 
You need a rad Bill?

Ross, I think so, my factory 22" needed repairs back in '97 and I sent it out. They replaced to whole core as it was rotten. Problem is the new core isn't as good and the car overheats in traffic. It's fine on the highway but city not so fine. LOL

I'm looking at options right now. Re-core the rad again only use a better core, replace the whole rad with aluminum, add a factory 22" shroud, switch to an electric pusher or puller fan with built in shroud or some combination of these options. The idea of a raw aluminum rad doesn't really turn my crank, but they talk about powder coating them black without changing the thermal characteristics. That gets my attention.

What are your thoughts?
 
Bill, Get a 4 core narrow fin core for your radiator, install a high flow water pump, a 7 blade fan and clutch along with the shroud and you should be all set. This is the set up I have in the '68 Sport Fury I have with a 520" stroker.

Bill
 
Bill, Get a 4 core narrow fin core for your radiator, install a high flow water pump, a 7 blade fan and clutch along with the shroud and you should be all set. This is the set up I have in the '68 Sport Fury I have with a 520" stroker.
Well I guess now that the weather is turning to crap I'll get myself back into "shopping mode". Dobalovr (Graham) had his 22" do by a shop up in Red Deer, maybe that's where I can find a "4 core narrow fin core". I need to research exactly what that is. The water pump and fan will be easy, the shroud maybe tougher. I'll check with Dante to see if they have a shroud. Failing that I guess it's back to eBay. Considering the factory setup was just a rad and 7 blade fan which never overheated, maybe I'll start with the rad core and test before throwing more hardware at it. Bill, thanks for your input, it's very appreciated.
:thankyou::thumbsup:
 
Well I guess now that the weather is turning to crap I'll get myself back into "shopping mode". Dobalovr (Graham) had his 22" do by a shop up in Red Deer, maybe that's where I can find a "4 core narrow fin core". I need to research exactly what that is. The water pump and fan will be easy, the shroud maybe tougher. I'll check with Dante to see if they have a shroud. Failing that I guess it's back to eBay. Considering the factory setup was just a rad and 7 blade fan which never overheated, maybe I'll start with the rad core and test before throwing more hardware at it. Bill, thanks for your input, it's very appreciated.
:thankyou::thumbsup:


I have a 22" recored rad for my 66 sitting in my basement Bill what sides are your hoses on?

I can get your old rad redone with a 4 row high efficiency core for around $400.
 
I have a 22" recored rad for my 66 sitting in my basement Bill what sides are your hoses on?

I can get your old rad redone with a 4 row high efficiency core for around $400.

My upper is on the passenger side, the lower is on the driver's side.

The 4 row high efficiency at $400 sounds like a great deal. The rebuilt 22" you have, is it a high efficiency core?

I'm thinking the best solution is to pull this rad and get it built properly. Then we can test and if it still runs hot chase down a shroud or install a puller fan liked welderguy did.
 
Fin count is most important, if the air blows through without getting hot radiator is not working.
Core thickness over 2 1/2" is not greater, air movement slows and rear of core is in really hot air. This is why rad is bigger square inches on A/C cars not just more cores/thicker. You know if car companies could get away with same size tanks and just thicker cores for A/C cars the bean counters would be on that
 
My upper is on the passenger side, the lower is on the driver's side.

The 4 row high efficiency at $400 sounds like a great deal. The rebuilt 22" you have, is it a high efficiency core?

I'm thinking the best solution is to pull this rad and get it built properly. Then we can test and if it still runs hot chase down a shroud or install a puller fan liked welderguy did.

I screwed up, both upper and lower hoses are on the driver side.
 
I know the 318 rad auction says AC but I would contact the seller just to be sure it's not a 22".

Is the top tank of your rad square or rounded?
 
Fin count is most important, if the air blows through without getting hot radiator is not working.
Core thickness over 2 1/2" is not greater, air movement slows and rear of core is in really hot air. This is why rad is bigger square inches on A/C cars not just more cores/thicker. You know if car companies could get away with same size tanks and just thicker cores for A/C cars the bean counters would be on that

Makes sense. So the guy's advertising rads with 1" core tubes will flow better (faster) but may move the coolant through the rad faster than the fins can transfer the heat out. The net result being overheating.
I notice my rad, core and all, has been painted black. I wonder what that does to it's ability to shed heat?
 
A single coat of paint won't do much... all rads were painted black to slow down the corrosion of the brass and copper.

My understanding (with regards to the old Victorian era home heating iron rads which were never supposed to be painted originally) is that every layer of paint affected the rad's heat output by 5°F.

We stripped them at one of my old apartments - there must have been 20 layers of paint on them) and were quite surprized by the increase in output.
 
I decided to really look at what I have for a rad. According to the parts list I should have a 2998 969 which was the only 22" rad used for a 70 Ply/Dodge/Chry 440 without AC.

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Next, my in/out plumbing is all on the driver side.

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For those giving me a hard time for not driving enough, I have a bug collection that proves otherwise. I measured the thickness to 1.25" and the vertical flat tubes are spaced about 1/2" apart. However I'm not liking the workmanship. I would think the fins would be soldered at both sides to adjacent tubes. It looks like this not always the case. If half weren't soldered then that would reduce the rad efficiency by 50%.

P1050733.JPG
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I think that pretty well tells the story, crappy rebuild. Hopefully Graham's Red Deer guy does better work.

So I think I can pull the rad by myself, but I'm going to need someone with a skinny butt to get the damn heater core out from under the dash. Derek - you listening! Might as well get it rebuilt at the same time.

We can pick a nice cold day and I'll crank up the garage heat! :D
 
Makes sense. So the guy's advertising rads with 1" core tubes will flow better (faster) but may move the coolant through the rad faster than the fins can transfer the heat out. The net result being overheating.
I notice my rad, core and all, has been painted black. I wonder what that does to it's ability to shed heat?
Aluminum actually rejects heat better than brass. The fin count is usually high on most aluminum rads 1. because aluminum is cheap and 2. because it helps with strength. The cores to stay away from are the ones you can see through fins are like an s bouncing back and forth to the tubes.
I think the 1" thick or deep tubes work better in aluminum all modern radiators are constructed this way, most of thier failures are in the plastic tanks or the deicing crap they put on the roads in winter.

Edit: IMHO a decent 3 core should be 2-2 1/4" thick or deep anything else is not something I would pay for, especially to cool a BB
Your tanks are nice, I would have them recored with a quality 3 core.
 
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