Radiator Size

[70redbee]

Does anyone have a BB440 and running a 22" radiator? My 70 Bee only has a 22" rad and the opening is also 22" so I know it is the right one for this car. I have 2 of these cars and the other has a 26" radiator. My 22" is leaking, so I am looking to buy an aluminum to replace it. I know I will have to get a fan shroud to go with it as it doesn't have one now but wondering if the 22 is going to keep it cool. I just bought this car and the other one is torn apart getting redone. Why the same car and 2 different size radiators? The one leaking is a 4 speed no air, the other is an auto with air. Are they maybe different because of the cooling lines for the auto and factory air? I know a bunch of questions, just want to do this right the first time. I wait for recommendations from the gurus here. TIA

 

[terzmo]

because your car was originally a 383 car...first 5 of vin tells the story..never seen a 440 and 22 inch rad from the factory

 

[70redbee]

Yes it was factory 383, but so is the other car I have. Both came factory 383 but with different radiator. So what does everyone suggest? Seems to me, but I may be wrong, they were both big block and should cool about equal. Can the radiator support be cut to fit a 26 or can I install a 26 in the 22 opening. If I do this then part of the radiator would be covered.

 

[mach123]

Maybe can go with 22 but with more rows, hmmmm

 

[6speedGTX]

My 71 GTX was a 440 4 bbl auto from factory with a 22" rad. I never got to drive it though so I'm not sure how well it cooled!

 

[Redhorse719]

Yes it was factory 383, but so is the other car I have. Both came factory 383 but with different radiator. So what does everyone suggest? Seems to me, but I may be wrong, they were both big block and should cool about equal. Can the radiator support be cut to fit a 26 or can I install a 26 in the 22 opening. If I do this then part of the radiator would be covered.

Probably have a HD cooling option on the car with the 26 in rad or is the 26 in rad a HD option in itself? I have two 66 Belvederes one with a 273 and 22 in rad and one with slant 6 with 26 in rad, neither car has air.

 

[WileE]

Yes it was factory 383, but so is the other car I have. Both came factory 383 but with different radiator. So what does everyone suggest? Seems to me, but I may be wrong, they were both big block and should cool about equal. Can the radiator support be cut to fit a 26 or can I install a 26 in the 22 opening. If I do this then part of the radiator would be covered.

I don't recall ever seeing a 22" radiator in a 440 car, either. HD cooling or in your case, the A/C option designates the 26" radiator. The support side baffle is different depending on the radiator size. Putting in a 26" rad in the 22" opening is useless. If it were me, I'd get a 4-row or aluminum 22" radiator with a shroud & clutch fan.

 

[69Coronetrt]

..never seen a 440 and 22 inch rad from the factory

That was pretty much the standard set up for R/T and GTX 440 automatic cars without air.
Here's an 053 radiator with 130 shroud from a '69

 

[Meep-Meep]

Another thing that dictates radiator size is the axle ratio. My 68 383 RR is a perf axle car and it came with a 26" rad, viscous fan and shroud. My 69 383 RR has the 22" but the 383 is long gone so a 426W with a 6 BBL will fill that hole. I suppose I'll see how that works.

 

[clemul]

70redbee, you might find this interesting, especially writeup on enlarging opening and/or link (in the link below)for right conversion radiator support.

http://www.1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?topic=1289.0

I would swap it out completely with a 26" complete radiator core support assembly

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

x2 to what meep said, to figure out why there is the difference the broadcast sheets/fender tags should tell ya. My Charger was also a performance axle option car with 26" radiator.

Can't say for sure if a 22" core support can be modified for a 26".. :thinker: I would think you could make it work, but the last thing I remember reading about that was people leaning more towards swapping the whole core support out.

 

[70redbee]

Thanks guys for all the info. and ideas so far. I'm thinking of modifying the core support for a 26" radiator but haven't decided yet. I talked to a guy last night...Mopar Charlie...in Fla. that makes new aluminum radiators to fit our cars. He told me that he modifies the core supports all the time to get them to fit. Has anyone here used any of his radiators? He seems to be very knowledgeable and said he has one of his radiators in his Hemi Dart that stays around a 160. Keep the ideas and info. coming, I haven't decided what to do yet. Like most things, Ma Mopar was all over the place with what she did.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Hm, I peronally haven't heard of the guy, but did he give you any more info on the radiators themselves as far as number of rows, cross or downflow, etc.? And how did he say he modifies the core support, would you have to cut the opening bigger or?

 

[70redbee]

Yes I would have to cut the core support. It is a 2 row aluminum, downflow with everything to mount the factory fan shroud. He told me he does this a lot to get the 26 in a 22 hole. I read the writeup posted by clemul about cutting the core support. I don't want to replace the original core support as it has the matching numbers on it. I am not concerned with keeping it all original or matching numbers but do want to keep the core support numbers intact. As posted earlier, I do have another Bee under construction with 26" core support that I could measure to get correct fitment

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Did he happen to say what size the rows were?

Oh yeah then I would just go that route making the 22" core work especially if you have the other 26" support to take measurements from. That'd definitely come in handy :icon_thumleft:

 

[lewtot184]

my '69 r/t, 440-auto, came with 22" radiator. never cooled worth a crap. installed a new 4 row, 3/8" spacing on the tubes, with the inlet on the passenger side like some a/c cars had. now it cools a little less dismal. ironically the original 2 row core only had 78 tubes. new radiator has 204 usable tubes with only a marginal difference in cooling. to get the 26" radiator in a 383 car the performance axle package needed to be ordered. 440 auto cars probably had the same scenario.