I am redoing my 71 Convertible. I would like to put in a good aluminum radiator, but cannot understand why the 71's sell for so much? I can probably buy a regular big block chevy radiator for a lot less than $700.
Oh, by the way, I read a couple threads and just to let you know, I ran a blown sm/blk vette at Detroit Dragway for 4 years with a two row Griffin and it worked great. Later, I ran the car on the street for 4 years, then sold it and the Griffin is still working. I finally sold her to a fellow in Texas.
Has anyone put in a regular Chevy Radiator in there 70's 454?
Thanks for any help
Ron

I'm not aware of anyone having tried what you're asking about, but consider that every car a manufacturer makes has a cooling system designed specifically for each application with a lot of compromises to make...different design goals to balance out. Corvettes, particularly big blocks have always been cooling sensitive and critical.

I doubt if a standard Chevy radiator would work without a lot of modifications. Vettes have a well designed crossflow radiator, many sedans don't. The Vette radiator is designed to mount at a slant instead of vertical. Locations of hose inlets and outlets, drains, transmission cooling lines, etc., are all specific to Corvettes.

What you might consider doing is have your current radiator rebuilt by a professional shop and have the core replaced by an identically dimensioned core with more cooling fins per inch. That will give increased cooling surfaces and added cooling efficiency. It has the additional benefit of easy re-install without any modifications that many replacement and aftermarket radiators require. Along with this, make sure all the seals around the radiator are in good shape and in place. Without them, a lot of air that would otherwise be directed through the radiator would "leak" around it, and reduce efficiency.

Check out Dewitts Direct fit Aluminum rads at www.dewitts.com..


Roy