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Hey guys I need help finding out if my 1976 l82 is an early model or late model so I can buy the right rad, and also if you guys had any advice as to what rad would work best?and any links to it would be helpful. Looking to spend 200-300 bucks. I heard that I would have to look at the rad support to see if its an early model or late model but im not sure how to distinguish the both.
Early and late model is in relation to when a particular mod or change occured on the production line.
If VIN 001 had part "A" installed and VIN 002-999 had part "B" installed, only VIN 001 would be considered an early car.
Conversely if VIN 001-998 had part "A" installed and VIN 999 had part "B" installed, only VIN 999 would be considered a late car.
The change from the early-type core support to the late-type happened in Feb. 1976. If your car was built before then you should have an early-type. Check your trim tag for the date code, or post a picture of it and we can tell you. Alternatively, post a picture of your core support and we can tell you which one you actually have: it's always possible that someone in the past may have swapped in the wrong one.
As Revi said, and I have said before in another thread, there is no single date that marks a rollover from "early model" to "late model". Early and Late have to do with when each change was made. If you have a car built during the first few months of production you probably have an entirely Early car. Likewise an entirely Late car if built toward the end of the production year. If you car was built sometime in the middle, you'll have a mix.
My 76, Oct 75, had the earlier design, couple of resources for you:
Wilcox Corvette parts, catalog dwg shows clearly early and later for 76
Crane Corvette website has photos of each too.
I would suggest you go look at yours and you can easily distinguish the different brackets of each at the bottom once you know what you are looking for.
I bought my radiator from one of the Corvette suppliers with a promotional, been happy so far. I hear good things about DeWitts too.
Last edited by 20mercury; Apr 14, 2015 at 02:06 PM.
The change from the early-type core support to the late-type happened in Feb. 1976. If your car was built before then you should have an early-type. Check your trim tag for the date code, or post a picture of it and we can tell you. Alternatively, post a picture of your core support and we can tell you which one you actually have: it's always possible that someone in the past may have swapped in the wrong one.
As Revi said, and I have said before in another thread, there is no single date that marks a rollover from "early model" to "late model". Early and Late have to do with when each change was made. If you have a car built during the first few months of production you probably have an entirely Early car. Likewise an entirely Late car if built toward the end of the production year. If you car was built sometime in the middle, you'll have a mix.
Okay so I checked the trim tagged and it was thickely painted over so its hard to take a picture of it but I got to read this:
Chevrolet 031
Trim 192
10L paint
Here are the pics for the rad core support and the top of the rad (she is really really dirty and I havent had a chance to clean her up)
Definitely looks like the early-type to me. The triangular pieces under the cradles shown in his bottom pic are not present on the late-type support since the late-type has the long baffle for the radiator to sit on. The early-type only had the 2 little cradles.
The trim-tag info decodes as follows:
O31 - doesn't make sense... I don't believe O was ever used. Letters A-L were used. A was August of 75, when the production year started, up through L which would have been July of 76. It's probably C31, which would be October 31st. Can you try to chip the paint off and confirm this part? The tag is aluminum so you don't have to worry about it rusting if you chip off the paint: just use something that wont scratch the metal too badly.
Trim 192 - Deluxe Black leather interior, so you would have had leather seats, cut-pile carpet and carpet panels on the doors, as well as Teak wood inserts in the doors and shifter console panel.
10L - Classic White paint.
So there you have it.
Last edited by Kris Tunetso; Apr 14, 2015 at 11:39 PM.
The way to identify the first design support, from the second design, is to look at how the bottom of the shroud is attached.
On the first design support, the shroud attaches to studs on the two lower radiator saddles. On the second design support, the shroud clips into a tray that runs the length of the bottom of the support.
Take a look at the last 2 photos here. The early 76 has the triangular gussets supporting the bottom of the mounts on each side: the late type does not. His picture above clearly shows the gussets, ergo he has an early-type core support in his car. This would be corroborated by the trim tag if he gets back to us with a good photo of it, or can confirm it's a C, not an O.
I think the 'tray' everyone is seeing is actually just the bottom of the radiator.
I will get back to you guys tomorrow or friday with the vin number and the tag number, I just finished tearing the rear bumper out today, was a pain in the *** cuz the three bolts that are behind the brake lights had too much rust, had to drill them through. You guys know where to get a rear bumper bolt and nut kit? Along with the brackets?
The old bumper was dry and cracked, got a used one that will be going in here soon
Sorry for the late reply, which number in the vin would you need to know?
The numbers after the S in your vin is the 6 digit build sequence.Total of 46,558 1976's were built.Dont count the first 4.Your vin would be 1Z37X6S4- .The next numbers would be the build #sequence in a total of 46,558.Your trim tag as posted earlier is most likely a C /Oct 75. You build # should confirm that.
The numbers after the S in your vin is the 6 digit build sequence.Total of 46,558 1976's were built.Dont count the first 4.Your vin would be 1Z37X6S4- .The next numbers would be the build #sequence in a total of 46,558.Your trim tag as posted earlier is most likely a C /Oct 75. You build # should confirm that.
Your VIN # that gjohnson was asking for will only tell you if your car was early or late in the production calendar year. 1976 production running from Aug 75 - Aug 76.
The VIN has nothing to do with early or late when dealing with production line part changes or mods. If (for example) the radiator support was changed/modified during June 76, 90% of the cars had already been built. So 90% of the cars produced would be considered "early" when referencing the radiator support.
Out of 46,558 total built yours was the 9,861 one built which would make it an early built car.I disagree w/Revi in that when they ask about early or late production for parts that's exactly what they mean. When was the car built.My 76 was built in June 76 which is late in the build. My part looks diff. than yours. Of course there is no exact cutoff for early\late so middle of the yr built cars can have a mix. but yours is for sure early.
Your VIN # that gjohnson was asking for will only tell you if your car was early or late in the production calendar year. 1976 production running from Aug 75 - Aug 76.
The VIN has nothing to do with early or late when dealing with production line part changes or mods. If (for example) the radiator support was changed/modified during June 76, 90% of the cars had already been built. So 90% of the cars produced would be considered "early" when referencing the radiator support.
As I said above, the core support change happened in February. Unless my AIM has a misprint in it.
Originally Posted by gjohnson
I disagree w/Revi in that when they ask about early or late production for parts that's exactly what they mean. When was the car built.
This is incorrect. "Early-type" or "Late-type" only relates to each individual part. Some changes were made very early in production, so even cars with early-production numbers would have "late-type" parts. Some changes were not made till very late in production, so even late-built cars could have early-type parts. It all depends on when the change in parts was ordered by the factory, and the date the change was ordered is usually in the AIM.
In this case, in my AIM from Corvette Central, UPC 13B Sheet 1, which is Page 456, clearly shows that the early-type core support was made inactive on 2-25-76. Thus, all 76 model-year Corvettes produced prior to that day should have early-type core supports, and all those produced after would have the late-type.
corvette114, based on the information and pictures you have provided, your car came from the factory with an early-type core support, and that is also what you currently have in there. It's probably the original part, even. As to your original query about which radiator is best, a lot of people here like Dewitts but it's probably out of your budget. I've read good things about Champion as well.
Last edited by Kris Tunetso; Apr 28, 2015 at 01:03 AM.
need help, early model or late model?
