1972 Chevelle radiator in 85 El Camino

[x75]

I'm installing a nice 454 into my 85 elco. I've got plenty of 70s A-body parts lying around from wrecked cars. I read on here that the A-body rad can be used with a little "trimming" to the core support.

Has anyone done this successfully? I wonder about fan clearance, trans cooler, shroud possibilities, etc. I have a couple HD factory radiators from AC cars.

Thanks!

 

[Ugly1]

That would be a 28” radiator. You’re going to want to add support for what you trim off of the radiator support. Check size of fan to fit in the shroud and the widest radiator you can go without modifications is 26” (core size-inside edge to inside edge) and you want as equivalent to a 3 to 4 row radiator. Aluminum cools better than copper and brass. Some of the guys on here will have math to figure the amount of cooling you need. I believe if you go into the Tech forums you should find what your looking for.

 

[-dw-]

I put 28 wide radiator in my olds. I torched out the core support right next to the frame. There was metal left to maintain support. The top plate I widened by sacrificing another top plate for just the ends. Trans lines and hoses mounted right up. I used the stock shroud until i switched to electric fans.

 

[stew86MCSS396]

Circa 1990 I tried putting a ‘72 Skylark rad into a ‘81 Regal. With the lack of fabrication skills, finding out that it was too wide is as far as I got. Oh the Buick 455 went in just fine though. 😎

 

[JD1964]

In the wagon when we did the LT1 swap we also took the the stock aluminum F body radiator and dual fan setup. With minor trimming and drilling of the F body upper plastic support, its in there and working fantastic. I can also say the F body aluminum piece is substantially lighter than the mondo 4 core brass / copper rad we took out. It was plugged anyway and needed rodding.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Yes, as above. I used the aluminum plastic version and it needed minimal trimming on the core support. You will need to reposition the rubber pads as well.

 

[JD1964]

You will need to reposition the rubber pads as well.

Yes, did that too. The F body rad actually had a pin with rubber bushing on the passenger side. We trimmed the pin off and used regular tank pads on each bottom side.

 

[Ugly1]

In the wagon when we did the LT1 swap we also took the the stock aluminum F body radiator and dual fan setup. With minor trimming and drilling of the F body upper plastic support, its in there and working fantastic. I can also say the F body aluminum piece is substantially lighter than the mondo 4 core brass / copper rad we took out. It was plugged anyway and needed rodding.

Been there and done the rodding. Was never my most favorite job to do. It was soldering the pin holes after was a pain. Aluminum radiators where just coming out at that point.