Choosing a replacement radiator
 

I am in the process of researching radiators. It's mind blowing. Right now I am focused on:

Griffin combo direct fit
Be Cool combo direct fit
Entropy combo direct fit (the american made radiator not the china brand)
Dewitts combo direct fit

I was looking at Desert Cooler but heard negative reviews.

Of these 4 -Be Cool is the most costly coming in at around $1400. Lowest of the group seems to be the DeWitts at just under $1K.

Can anyone share your experiences with either of these companies or other brands you have had success with? I'd like to stay with the dual core aluminum 1" or 1-1/4" cores AND I prefer it bolts in without modifications. I did notice Direct Fit is not Exact fit and that concerns me. Be Cool makes a exact fit but cost goes up.

I have a Dewitt in my 72', the fit and finish is great. I'll be buying another one for my 69' when the time comes.

Had a BeCool in one my old Camaros. Nice piece, but they're damn proud of their products - as seen by the prices. And if I remember correctly, it took a little finesse to make it fit properly.

Was it their dual fan/radiator combo? No issue's with modifications and it set nicely on the factory saddles?

Just the radiator, I am running a factory clutch fan.

Dewitt's is local for me and I know quite of few people that use them and never heard anything negative. Hope this helps

I appreciate your feedback. How many of you are running electric fans instead of stock fan?

Stock fan for me, I don't want to put anymore drain on my wiring system than I have to.

Stock 7 blade fan with clutch, stock rad too.

Pulled the trigger on the larger tubes. I got the dual core 1-1/4" tubes, Direct fit Dewitts. Saddles will probably need to be trimmed some due to the added thickness. I purchased just the radiator and if I get good results with the stock fan set up, I'll leave it alone. Otherwise I'll get the dual fan kit. I'll let you know how things work out once I have it installed. Not in stock at the moment.

Im runing a be cool 62008 .
I did have to mod the upper and lower sadle and used urethane mounts.
Also running a jegs dual electric fan system.
Rad was 557.00 and fans were 200.00
Fans turn on with a fan switch in the head and run thru a 30amp relay.
also have a sacraficial anode in place of the rad drain cock
im very happy with this setup.

I want to verify how my external trans cooler is hooked up. Can someone tell me which trans cooler line is the returning cool side and which is the outgoing hot side? Looking at the transmission (TH350) where the two coolant lines connect there is an upper line and a lower line. Is the lower side the hot side going to radiator?

top line on the case is return, if I remember correctly.

hot oil should go in the top of the radiator and cool oil returning from the bottom of the radiator

Absolutely, that part I would agree with, the hot oil going into top or rad and cool coming out at bottom. It's the trans side I am unsure of. It would seem to make sense the oil pumped out of the trans would be the lower but if anyone else could confirm?

Correct.
Lower line exiting from transmission is hot fluid pumped to upper fitting on radiator to be cooled.
Cooled fluid then exits from radiator using lower line and returns to trans thru upper fitting.

excellent thank you

I finally received the new radiator. I noticed the filler neck is installed on the top and concerned me that it might interfere with the hood. My current rad. is at a 45 degree angle. Dewitt's tells me the top mount was standard and they have had no complaints with other Chevelle owners and that the filler neck at a 45 degree angle started with 73 Chevelle's. That I know is not true. Whether or not I have a problem with it fitting I won't know until I check.

I have no interference issues with my car.

My 70 is on a angle.

Carpool- that's a stock radiator with that top mount neck? I placed the radiator temporarily in place last night and it surprisingly clears. But only by a hair. DeWitt's says they can swap out the radiator if I wish which is pretty decent of them. Not sure what I want to do now.

Mine is also angled

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/y...rontBumper.jpg

It's a DeWitt's, aluminum with the black coating. Stock-type appearance.1239003M is their part #.

Carpool I can't clearly see is your filler neck mounted straight up on top?

Got the Dewitt's installed this weekend. I kept the one they sent- filler neck on top. It cleared the hood although very close. It's a big core, two rows of 1-1/4" tubes. So far I am happy with results but I don't know for sure if I'll get the electric fan assembly or stay with stock fan. It still wanted to creep when idling. I sat for a bit maybe 5-6 minutes and it got to 180. Temps that day were in the mid 80's. The big difference I noticed is it runs right at 160 when driving. I have a 160 degree thermo but rarely did it sit at 160 while driving unless very cool outside. I have no doubt if I did get the electric fans, I'll have no more temp issue's. After sitting and letting the temp get to 180, within a minute of moving again, temps came right down telling me with the right CFM of air being moved through the radiator it can easily handle the heat.

John, it's after the fact... but I did find a couple of better pictures.