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I am starting to put things back together on my 69. I bought a new DeWitts 1139069M Aluminum radiator, and it does not seem to be fitting, and the shroud I bought does not fit either. It seems that maybe the radiator in the car and even the core support may not be original, so I was hoping some of you guys may have pics in or out of the car to show me what original looks like. I know this is a pain, but I sure would appreciate it if you can help. Do your radiators have a cap, or do the go to the little keg looking overflow tank? The one I took out has a cap which I do not think is correct. My car is an early car, is it possible I need to be using a set up for a 68 car?
Last edited by Bart K; Apr 14, 2017 at 10:23 AM.
Reason: correction
There was a thread where a champion didnt fit because parts were mismatched,
Since i know dewitts has zero issues fitting what they are built for im guessing someone might have stuck a sb radiator support in your car since you have the bb radaitor and its not fitting right,
My 69 also has the cap on the radaitor, its sb,
do not believe even early 69s got 68 style supports, mine didnt,
My 69 bb has a sb support and dewitts sold me sb radiator....wish he has suggested bb when i told him i had a 454.
Last edited by The13Bats; Apr 13, 2017 at 05:00 PM.
Hi Bart,
I believe that for 69 production the 427/390 and 427/400 hp, 4-speed, without a/c, equipped cars originally used the aluminum expansion tank that was mounted on the right side apron.
Cars with the aluminum expansion tanks used a R-26 15# cap.
Regards,
Alan
Hey Bart,
My 1969 big block has the original fan shroud and I have the heads off at the moment to access is pretty good. What exactly to you need a picture of?
Pete
Hey Bart,
My 1969 big block has the original fan shroud and I have the heads off at the moment to access is pretty good. What exactly to you need a picture of?
Pete
Is your car an early or late 69? Does your car have the expansion tank on the inner fender? Does your car have a cap on the radiator? If possible, I would love some pics of your radiator, shroud and core support if you can get them. My buddy who is doing most of the work on the car says my car has dimples on the fender where an expansion tank might go, but no holes. He is thinking this is an early car (production sequence# is 703743) and has a 68 core support, radiator and shroud, is this possible?????
There was a thread where a champion didnt fit because parts were mismatched,
Since i know dewitts has zero issues fitting what they are built for im guessing someone might have stuck a sb radiator support in your car since you have the bb radaitor and its not fitting right,
My 69 also has the cap on the radaitor, its sb,
do not believe even early 69s got 68 style supports, mine didnt,
My 69 bb has a sb support and dewitts sold me sb radiator....wish he has suggested bb when i told him i had a 454.
Any idea how big block cars ended up with small block supports and radiators?
Is your car an early or late 69? Does your car have the expansion tank on the inner fender? Does your car have a cap on the radiator? If possible, I would love some pics of your radiator, shroud and core support if you can get them. My buddy who is doing most of the work on the car says my car has dimples on the fender where an expansion tank might go, but no holes. He is thinking this is an early car (production sequence# is 703743) and has a 68 core support, radiator and shroud, is this possible?????
My November 69 car with 350/350 also had dimples, they all do. What is the distance on the radiator support mounts, 27.5" ?
Bart K, I have a 71 LS-5 in my 69, that was originally a small block. I feel the pain you're having. I had 7 different radiators due to vendors not listening to what I wanted, and instead sending me what they thought I needed. I finally called DeWitt's, talked to a live person and told them what I have and what I wanted. It dropped right in, and I have a cap on the radiator, and don't have an expansion tank.
I guess my point is the DeWitt's radiator will fit if it's the one made for your car. Small block core support with a big block radiator? There's only a half inch difference, but that's a mile when you're trying to get it to fit.
BTW, mine is keeping this big block cool in 115* weather, stop and go traffic!! Good luck with yours, and hope it gets worked out easy and quickly
Last edited by USAFVeteran; Apr 14, 2017 at 12:05 PM.
Bart K, I have a 71 LS-5 in my 69, that was originally a small block. I feel the pain you're having. I had 7 different radiators due to vendors not listening to what I wanted, and instead sending me what they thought I needed. I finally called DeWitt's, talked to a live person and told them what I have and what I wanted. It dropped right in, and I have a cap on the radiator, and don't have an expansion tank.
I guess my point is the DeWitt's radiator will fit if it's the one made for your car. Small block core support with a big block radiator? There's only a half inch difference, but that's a mile when you're trying to get it to fit.
BTW, mine is keeping this big block cool in 115* weather, stop and go traffic!! Good luck with yours, and hope it gets worked out easy and quickly
Thanks for the info! I found another thread about this subject and it seems that there is a lot of confusion around this issue and it looks like there is no clear cut right and wrong. Since I am wanting to use an aluminum radiator, it looks like I will need to use a DeWitts Model 1139066M and a 1968 shroud. This radiator has the cap on the radiator and does not use the expansion tank. It also fit in the core that is on my car. I am guessing that since I have an early car (Oct of 68) that I probably had a 68 core support and radiator installed. There does not appear to be any body damage that would lead me to suspect an accident which could be a reason for changing all those parts. It will take some time to get the new parts in, but I will be sure to update when I find out if they work or not. It really pisses me off that I cannot order parts by year/make/model/engine and expect that I would get correct parts. I guess that is part of working on a 48 year old car! I will also let you know where I get the shroud if it fits in case anyone else is going with this combination.
Hey Bart,
My car is pretty close to yours with a Dec 1968 build. Its an original 427 Big Block L71. I don't have the correct fan or fan clutch on but the fan shroud, radiator support and expansion tank are correct as far as I know. My radiator is the exact style as the original but not from 1969, (no cap on the rad)
Hope these pics help a bit.
Pete
Hey Bart,
My car is pretty close to yours with a Dec 1968 build. Its an original 427 Big Block L71. I don't have the correct fan or fan clutch on but the fan shroud, radiator support and expansion tank are correct as far as I know. My radiator is the exact style as the original but not from 1969, (no cap on the rad)
Hope these pics help a bit.
Pete
Yep, what you have is what I was thinking mine should be like, but it is not. There are no actual holes for the expansion tank on my car, just dimples. I wonder if the difference may be that mine is slightly earlier and yours is a 400hp and mine is the 390. To this point, there is no rhyme or reason that I can understand as to how things were done. Thanks for the pics!!!
Last edited by Bart K; Apr 14, 2017 at 05:31 PM.
Reason: correction
In 69 the only cars that did not have an expansion tank and had rads with caps was the small block base engine with AC.
All big blocks had expansion tanks. Even the early cars.
In 69 the only cars that did not have an expansion tank and had rads with caps was the small block base engine with AC.
All big blocks had expansion tanks. Even the early cars.
I am not disagreeing with what you say, I am just having a hard time resolving what you say when I have a matching numbers drive train starting with a 390hp 427 and there are no mounting holes for the expansion tank, just dimples. My body build date code is C04 which I believe would mean Qctober 4th of 1968. My VIN is 194379S703743 which I understand to decode as:
Chevrolet
Corvette
V-8 engine
Coupe
1969
Saint Louis Assembly plant
Car #3743 off the line for this year
Are there any marks on the core support that would indicate date? If so, where would they be? Is there any code that would identify the CI and HP of the engine in the car? Is it possible someone installed all the big block drive train in to a car that was a small block with AC? There is nothing on the dash or firewall to suggest this car ever had AC that I can see. I really appreciate all the replies, I would really like to get to the bottom of this issue and understand exactly what I am working with.
Thanks for the info! I found another thread about this subject and it seems that there is a lot of confusion around this issue and it looks like there is no clear cut right and wrong. Since I am wanting to use an aluminum radiator, it looks like I will need to use a DeWitts Model 1139066M and a 1968 shroud. This radiator has the cap on the radiator and does not use the expansion tank. It also fit in the core that is on my car. I am guessing that since I have an early car (Oct of 68) that I probably had a 68 core support and radiator installed. There does not appear to be any body damage that would lead me to suspect an accident which could be a reason for changing all those parts. It will take some time to get the new parts in, but I will be sure to update when I find out if they work or not. It really pisses me off that I cannot order parts by year/make/model/engine and expect that I would get correct parts. I guess that is part of working on a 48 year old car! I will also let you know where I get the shroud if it fits in case anyone else is going with this combination.
One other thing that I did, that I consider a fairly easy conversion, is I'm using a Lincoln Mark VIII 2 speed fan. You can find a very similar one from a Taurus, but it's not as powerful, I don't think any way.
I found mine on eBay for about $65 I think, with the pigtail connector. It fits almost perfect, and I didn't make a small shroud for the 3/4" on each side that the radiator is uncovered. I live in the desert, in Tucson, and it's kept mine cool so far in almost 100* weather so far. I just built the motor, and being new, I'm watching this like a hawk now, until it's broke in.....good luck!!
Another question/request for 69 Big Block owners.
