The liland mounting is much wider than my stock, I am kind of wondering if the 66vwas a one off,..like the fuel tank. Only the 66 fits a 66 tank.
To be honest, I'm more peeved by the crappy service from rockauto in this situation than anything else.
Buying a new radiator is almost always a big disappointment for our 50+ year old vehicles since they rarely fit right.
The only real option these days as long as your top tank is OK, is to have a competent radiator shop recore yours (competent radiator shops are going away unfortunately since most radiators on new cars for the last 30 years have been using aluminum radiators that are throw aways and replace varieties). If yo don't have a good top tank, try to find a good used radiator and go with one of those to get recored.
The competent shop will use your mounting panels and the top tank and bottom tank if still OK or replace the bottom tank as needed and put in a new core. If you live in an area where temperatures can get high and/or your vehicle has working a/c, you would be wise to order a high efficiency core as well - those are distinguished by their high fin density that make for much more effective cooling than stock. Just keep them clean by changing the anitfreeze/coolant on a regular basis so rust does not form and accumulate since such cores tend to have smaller tubes with high fin count to achieve the better than stock cooling performance. Then they will perform well for a long time.
Then they also just fit right in place.
The downside, they cost around $500 for a 26" width and 3 rows of tubes. But to me they are worth every penny in the long run.
I share your assessment of Rock Auto as they are OK to use when buying most new replacement parts but when you have problems, everything is computer driven and it is virtually impossible to talk with a customer service representative when you need one.
After some experience wih them, I went back to using the better local parts stores where if you get a wrong part, you will know it when you go to pick it up or if shipped to you and a problem occurs, you can take the part back to one of their stores and get a refund or replacement - no struggling when you can't talk to someone or having to ship a part back to them. What a hassle that is and not worth it to me at least. I will pay a little more for customer service and convenience because it is well worth it.
