Heater core diffs

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Cuda416

Cuda416

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As we progress in the magnum swap into a 65 Valiant, we realized the heater core for a pre 70's car is different (tube sizes) and is going to cause problems with the hose connections on the motor. Other than the tubes, are the A body heater cores all the same? Can we put a post 70 HC into a 65 Valiant and have it fit?
 
May not help much, but I replaced the HC in my 73 Sport project with one from Classic Industries. Did not fit, the tubes were just enough out of position. I returned it and bought one from RockAuto, it also did not fit. Again, the tubes were off. I ended up carrying that one, with my old one, to the radiator shop where they bent and re-brazed the tubes so the new one matched the old one.
Guess what I'm saying is even one that's supposed to be correct may not work.
 
supertruck said:
May not help much, but I replaced the HC in my 73 Sport project with one from Classic Industries. Did not fit, the tubes were just enough out of position. I returned it and bought one from RockAuto, it also did not fit. Again, the tubes were off. I ended up carrying that one, with my old one, to the radiator shop where they bent and re-brazed the tubes so the new one matched the old one.
Guess what I'm saying is even one that's supposed to be correct may not work.
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Sounds like my story. I went through 4 for my 68 Barracuda. I still had the replacement one from the original owner. All the tubes for the ones on the market today I tried to use had tube locations that are slightly off. For all of them, the bottom tube comes out straight one inch before bending upward. My OEM replacement comes out 2" before bending up. I damaged my box trying to get one to fit (now I've learned fiberglass repair). The Classic Industries one came the closest and I got it to fit but I had to work to get it in.
 
We ended up just using a 1/2 to 5/8 brass barbed union between to difference size hoses. If it's ugly, we can shrink wrap it. done.
 
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Cuda416. After all I went through, I give you thumbs up and would never call it ugly. I have books, diagrams you name it but, if not for the folks on this forum, I'd have gotten nowhere. I can't thank you all enough.
 
Yep from what I've read a lot of heater cores dont fit properly. Really shouldn't be too difficult to fix as it's just copper plumbing.
Inspector71, nice work!
 
4spdragtop said:
Yep from what I've read a lot of heater cores dont fit properly. Really shouldn't be too difficult to fix as it's just copper plumbing.
Inspector71, nice work!
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If I didn't have stumble bum hands, ha ha. Thanks for the compliment. I'm a first timer at all of this. I miss the days when Darts, Dusters, Barracudas were commonly seen on the streets, not barn finds
 
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