A guy I know gave me a mint radiator
which he swears is from a big-block
B-Body, it looks sweet. I want to use it
in my ’74 ’Cuda which will be getting a
stroked 440. I have installed radiator panels
(both sides, from AMD) for a 26˝ radiator.
I trial-fitted the rad he gave me, but it
is, like, a couple of inches too wide. How
can this be? I thought B- and E-bodies
were basically the same.
And I thought: “It would have been nice if
he had given me the 7-digit part number
on the top tank,” but then I realized that it
is probably an aftermarket radiator.
OK, here’s the deal: E-bodies, 1970
thru 1974, were all basically the same
platform, and were, at least from the
firewall forward, quite similar to 1971-
’72 B-bodies. Said B-body, however,
changed quite radically in 1973, again,
mostly from the firewall forward, primarily
to accommodate the rubber-isolated
K-member (which, to me, was an abomination!)
One of the ’73-up changes was
the ability to accept a 28˝ wide radiator
core, which was needed for the evermore
smogged up big-blocks. E-Bodies,
as I said, thankfully did not change for
’73, but, after ’71, had no big-blocks. So,
the 26˝ core width was more than ample.
(Remember, the most important factor
in a radiator’s cooling ability is the front
surface area).
Ok, the bottom line: Without some slicing
and dicing, you cannot use it.