Hi, all. My first post. Hope that someone can shed some light on a mystery. I have a non numbers-matching 350/4sp w/o AC. The car has had many owners, but appears to have always been a 350. Problem: I ordered a Harrison repro radiator (942B) from DeWitts to solve a cooling problem (not to build a trophy car). The GM parts book shows the correct support to be 3966591, which I've found should have a 19" wide opening. However, mine measures 22". The edges of the welded-in filler panels on both sides are straight and smooth - no appearance of modification. Additionally, an old foam seal remains on the driver's side of the support which shows the impression of a stacked plate Harrison radiator (the existing copper radiator sits about 1-1/2" shy of the driver's side core support filler panel - so, the seal is easy to see). Can't say that the support is the original, but it's been in the car for a long time (old undercoating still covers the attaching hardware). Also, the car has the steel fan shroud and the Harrison coolant surge tank. Absolutely no hint that the car had AC and no hint that it was ever a BB (although I'm not sure what clues to look for if it had been). My solution will be to replace the two filler panels to get the required 19". My question is more informational - is the 22" wide core support a standard GM design? If so, what do I have here? Finally, much of the front end seems to hang from the support. Any do's and don't's when removing it?

 

It sounds like my '69 is the same as yours. Opening in support bigger than radiator. I just made some filler pieces to close it up. Works fine, and I'm cooling a ZZ502 with the smallblock radiator.

 

here's a pic from a 70. Uses the same setup. You can just see the foam seal . I believe the radiator fits the opening pretty well. I assume your support has the 2 holes in the lower edge fot the radiator posts?

 

There were different supports for `69. The non optioned standard transmission cars had the small radiator. A car with AC, Automatic, etc had the larger radiator.

 

bashcraft: Was the original opening 22"? Also, any words of wisdom regarding support removal?

 

i just removed the support for my 69 with the alum radiator. real straight forward.

2 bolts on the bottom, a 3rd bolt in the middle for a brace, and 3 bolts in each wheel well. and i think that was everything.

 

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I'm going to pull the support and widen the filler panels. Still wondering about the 22" wide opening. I guess any 40 year old car is going to have it's secrets.

 

My '69 was also a 350 non-air car that originally came with the alum radiator and steel shroud.

The core support opening measures 22in with the radiator sitting off center in the support and using 2 pins on the bottom for mounting.

I ordered SP016 from Dewitt's and its fits my support correctly with no side gaps.

Hope that helps, Ed

 

Mine is a 69/350/Auto/Fac AC converted to Vintage Air. Dimensions sound like yours, I got my new radiator support from Wilcox. Great price and fit like a glove, the only tricky issue is the top right bolt. I ended up grinding the nut off the new support and putting a bolt and nut on that one.

 

Ed - Your original setup sounds like mine. How was the original radiator situated in the support? Was there a gap on either side? Both sides?While I haven't set the new radiator in the car yet (also located with two pins), I did determine (thru measurement) that it will sit in the middle of the 22" opening. And since the Dewitts radiator is approx. 22-1/2" wide overall (finned portion is 19" wide), my replacement seals will have no effect. Hence the need to reduce the opening. What is the width of the finned portion of your SP016 (the core width)? I'm guessing that it's 22" wide. Maybe I'll call Dewitts to see if they can shed any light on these issues.

 

'69 non-air 4 speed core support



With dewitt's SP016 radiator/fan combo





hope that helps, Ed

 

Thanks, Ed. A picture's worth a 1000 words, as they say.