Going from 22" to 26" radiator

[KenZ]

We're going to put a 26" wide radiator into my daughter's 73 Duster that had a 22" one. I know we need to open up the core support, but do we open it 2" on each side? Or 4" on the driver side?
Thanks,
Ken

 

[Slappy]

Ken,

Have you considered an aluminum one. I bought one from wizzard cooling. It was a 22 inch but the cores are over an inch long. I also install a high flow 160 t-stat. They are great people to work with. Ask for scott 716-655-6750 or www.wizzardcooling.com they are not as expensive as BeCool. I paid 530.00. I cant get my car over 152 degrees. Tod

 

[375inStroke]

Can you open it up 4" on one side? I think the only way to fit it would be to open both sides.

 

[dusterdon]

Fit the radiator where the fan is centered in the shroud. Drill holes for mounting hardware. THEN measure how much is needed to be removed, and then cut it out. Its not a standard one size fits all. Actually my radiator (the mounting flange) is pretty much up against the pass. side frame rail.

 

[fstfish66]

i found widzard to be grossly over priced compared to other vendors with the same size radiator,,

 

[KenZ]

Fit the radiator where the fan is centered in the shroud. Drill holes for mounting hardware. THEN measure how much is needed to be removed, and then cut it out. Its not a standard one size fits all. Actually my radiator (the mounting flange) is pretty much up against the pass. side frame rail.

Are you running a standard downflow radiator? Any chance you could post a pic? The car is almost ready for paint. We don't have a radiator yet and the engine compartment is completely empty for painting. I was hoping I could measure and cut the core support before painting,b ut maybe I'll have to wait until later.

Thanks to everyone who posted
Ken

 

[pushrod]

You can get a Griffin for about 500 bucks made to exact factory specs form the original jig. Looks original and cols like an Eskimo.

 

[edbux]

We're going to put a 26" wide radiator into my daughter's 73 Duster that had a 22" one. I know we need to open up the core support, but do we open it 2" on each side? Or 4" on the driver side?
Thanks,
Ken

I have a 26" radiator out of a truck. All I did was drill holes for the mounting bolts. I didn't enlarge the opening at all. It will idle in 105 degree heat and never go past the normal range....at least until I put my flex fan into it.

 

[dusterbd451]

i put a 26" in my 73 duster. Nice aluminum one, and i fit it in, marked how much to cut out to get air accross all the fins, then went from there. I used the core support where one pce. overlaps the other as a reference, and it works good. I just centered it on the fan

 

[KenZ]

i put a 26" in my 73 duster. Nice aluminum one, and i fit it in, marked how much to cut out to get air accross all the fins, then went from there. I used the core support where one pce. overlaps the other as a reference, and it works good. I just centered it on the fan

I did what you did, checked where the core support sides overlap the bottom. Looks like 1" can be taken off the pass. side and 2.5" on the driver's side.
What radiatir did you use?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[dusterbd451]

Yup, thats what i did. It was not a symetrical amount that you cut off. I have to find the name of the shop I got it from. I bought it off an e-store on ebay for $249 USD + shipping...It was for a B-Body, but i have no issues with hood clearance to the rad cap, or anything. It is fully TIG welded, and has 2-1"tubes. I have a big block so i went with that rad...it has upper hose on left and lower on right...opposite to a small block. So they might have one for you. I will find the name and re-post.

SG

 

[fstfish66]

a pic of that 26 inch rad in the car would be great,,,

 

[KenZ]

a pic of that 26 inch rad in the car would be great,,,

I agree. Any pics would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[dusterbd451]

Here Is A Pic Of The Rad Installed....it Is Meant For A Big Block B-body....it Cools My 451 With No Issues.

Sg

 

[dusterbd451]

you can see in the bottom of the picture how i used an overlapping pce of the rad support as a template to trim it out to get max flow accross the fins

 

[KenZ]

Thanls dusterbd451. That rad looks great. I'll have to serch E-bay for it. If you find the name of the store, please post it.

Thanks again,
Ken

 

[fstfish66]

how about a pic from the other side of that rad please,,,and how many row is it 2 ?? 3 ?? 4 ?? thanks

 

[dusterbd451]

I will search back and try to find the store. It is a 2-core, 1"tubes radiator....these are meant to be better for cooling than the 4 smaller cores.

 

[KenZ]

After looking through different stores on e-bay, and e-mailing the sellers, I found three stores that appear to sell a radiator that looks like dusterbd451's.

Radiator Classic - theirs is 1.75" thick with 3 rows of tubes 5/8" each

Classic Radiators - theirs is 1.75" thick with 2 rows of tubes. One is 1" and one is 5/8"

Radiators US - theirs is 2" thick with 2 rows of tubes 1" each

I think the best option is Radiators US.
What does everyone think?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[dusterbd451]

that sounds familiar. mine is full aluminum and TIG welded tanks. I painted it black myself to "appear" more stock. It also has a pet-**** welded in.....some new aftermarket rads do not have petcocks for draining in them.