My car should have 3018018, which would be "ALL ST WITH 390HP". I guess that's a three-core.

My magic book lists 3018035 for "1969 196 and 427 Eng with HD RAD", but I don't know what that is. My parts book makes no mention of air conditioning, and in some cases, the same radiator part number is used for both ST and AT, which doesn't make a lot of sense since the auto trans cars need a trans cooler and the ST cars do not.

When I look up 3018035 it comes up as "1969 Impala 396 or 427 with A/C"

Group 1.219

My guess at this point is you got a 3-core unless you had AC, and that four core always had a trans cooler, but the parts book doesn't actually say that.

My car also came with an unbroken shroud, but if it's the original it would also appear to be specific to that rad, as it's "EXC HD RAD OR FACT AC".  Since I have neither, that's my rad and that's my shroud, I think.

 

-- Edited by davepl on Thursday 25th of January 2018 09:49:13 PM

I believe there was a HD 3 core rad used

What did you use on the hardtop to keep it cool?  

My 69 427 a/c Grande Parisienne had a 4 core, it was a 390 horse.

My 69 427 Parsienne convert, no a/c had a 3 core.

I'm not sure about the full size but in the earlier Novas, like 66 you could order a 4 row in a non a/c car.

Have you guys checked the assembly manuals? I haven't looked, but I was wondering if they had pages for the hd cooling option.

Also worth noting in this thread is that although my car didn't come with a fan, I believe it only had the standard four blade fan and NO clutch. You only got the big 7 blade fan with "fan drive equipment" which is the clutch fan, and you only got the clutch fan if you ordered "fan drive equipment" or "car cooling" (ie: AC). With just the 427/390 you appear to be stuck with a fixed 4-blade, which would also be pretty loud in a convertible four speed car!

My 66 396 with AC had and still has the four core.

..anything to do with 4 core being  air/automatic vs  3 core being no air/manual ?

Perfect, thanks. That's how I remember the 4 row rads too but it's been a while.

I could be wrong but I think by 69 the 4 row cap might have been in the middle.

Howmac may chime in here with his 69 L72 experience and help out.

You cant assign a given radiator based just on the inclusion of the V01 heavy duty radiator option. In general the HD radiator option just bumped you up one step on the radiator ladder. For example a 69 LeMans with a 350 2bbl had a two core rad and the HD rad or AC option would bump you to a 3core. But that 3 core was standard if you had a 350 4bbl. With that engine ordering HD rad or AC bumped you to a 4 core.

Certain axle ratio thresholds could also trigger HD rad becoming mandatory. For LeMans for example this happened with 3.90 or numerically higher ratios.

Unlike American pontiacs which had switched to the side tank rad Canadian cars still had the top-bottom tank system, these rads often varied in height or width rather than just changing core thickness.

My 350-300 TH350 with no AC and 2.73 gears has a 23 wide by 15 core (not including tanks)

Carl Stevenson wrote:

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Perfect, thanks. That's how I remember the 4 row rads too but it's been a while.

I could be wrong but I think by 69 the 4 row cap might have been in the middle.

Howmac may chime in here with his 69 L72 experience and help out.

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 I am using a 4 core rad with clutch fan (7 blade) for my 69 Biscayne ( attached picture ) and have another for my SS project.  I have zero issues on the hottest days . I have parted out a few Canadian 427/335 hp  B bodies, and those all had 2 core rads with the 4 blade from factory ( both non A/C )