1976 Early or Late
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1976 Early or Late
Going to replace upper and lower(w/spring) radiator hoses but most listings show two possible applications depending on if the car was manufactured early or late. My car is a late March build but don’t know how Chevy determined early or late. Any help appreciated.
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That comes down to which radiator is in it now. A lot can happen in 50 years.
Post up a picture of your radiator. The upper hose inlet in particular.
Post up a picture of your radiator. The upper hose inlet in particular.
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The proper early-late lower hose is determined by the radiator upper inlet shape. According to Doc Rebuild:
(late design) only used with original design radiators on all 77-82 350 & Late 76 350 models where the upper radiator hose inlet pipe points directly to the rear. Not used on Early 76 models where the upper radiator hose inlet pipe points to the right side of the car.
Last edited by barkingrats; Jul 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM.
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Pretty simple, no difference in the lower hose at all.
upper hose. The early set-up is way better.
Early the inlet to the rad is angled towards the thermostat housing. Late, like a 77 and up, points straight back towards the master cylinder.
A replacement rad? Who knows.
On my 77, I run the early 76 and earlier. Because it's just better. But , hey, my car didn't come that way.
Big difference is, I can't blame anything on a PO.
If it's mucked up on my car, I'm to blame.
upper hose. The early set-up is way better.
Early the inlet to the rad is angled towards the thermostat housing. Late, like a 77 and up, points straight back towards the master cylinder.
A replacement rad? Who knows.
On my 77, I run the early 76 and earlier. Because it's just better. But , hey, my car didn't come that way.
Big difference is, I can't blame anything on a PO.
If it's mucked up on my car, I'm to blame.
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You're early. The rad change in '76 happened in late May/early June with the switch to the R4 compressor...
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