Radiator recommendation
 

I have a 69 Firebird with a stock 350ci 2bbl motor.

I know these things tend to run hot.

What is a modern replacement that will do the job

Thanks

I run a Rodney Red and it's been great so far. Friends tell me Cold Case radiators are really good.

(Just scroll down to near bottom of this page)

Champion truie 4-core alum Radiator:
Here's the one for your car:

https://www.championradiators.com/product/MC370

The cold case are good and they look stock. They are polished, but you can paint them if you want

hi, I just put a cold case direct fit in my 74 TA. works great so far. fits good looks stock. BLUE TA

Another vote for Cold Case, been in my car a couple years. Did fine on a couple road trips in 90+ degree heat.

Is your bird running hot now or you're just expecting it to? Many other parts to the cooling system that can cause issues:

Make sure radiator flows well and isn't clogged; water pump divider spacing; spring in lower hose; AC car upper baffles between radiator support and nose; lower air baffle (also AC cars)

More reading here: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=395910

If you still want an aluminum radiator the suggestions above are all great. The Summit Racing aluminum 2-row radiator is in my 69 - has worked great for me:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...rd?prefilter=1

Rodney Red, 14 yrs no problems on my 75 TA

Any radiator replacing a 50+ year old clogged unit will work.
I would look for a radiator shop replacing the cell package keeping the original tanks.

Make sure you have upper & lower baffles & Champion makes a very good low cost lifetime warranty. https://www.championradiators.com/Po...1967-1968-1969

Many good ones out there. I personally have a Champion in both my Pontiacs. One for over 15 years, Other for > 5 years. No issues with either

I just did the Cold Case to my 67. It dropped about 10 degrees off an already decent aluminum radiator.

I did a bunch of testing with the Cold Case in front of a 571ci Pontiac that I documented on this site somewhere. Basically fan setups that made drastic differences. In the end I found the Cold Case to be an excellent radiator for the money. For $350 I don't think the performance can be beat, and that's coming from someone that has used $600 radiators in a couple other cars here. Plus the stock appearing tanks are a bonus for me. Once painted it fools most people.

I just bought another one recently and installed in my sons car this past weekend. Not for cooling issues, but because I've been impressed with the quality and appearance of the tanks so when it was time for a new radiator in his car, I simply went right for the Cold Case. Will be doing a 3rd one in another car here in the near future.

An original style cooling system will work just fine if all minor issues are right...my 70 GP is 400 0.060 over with stock cooling system...will go all day in stop and go traffic with AC on and not overheat...but obviously any performance enhancements will require something else.

Subscribing

My choice, is Cold Case, stock shroud and clutch fan, keeps the 571 ci Pontiac cool.

I had a radiator shop in Michigan (Superior Radiator in Mt Clements Mi), a few miles away, that does a lot of Circle Track stuff, build me a 4 core high fin count Brass Radiator. Looks stock and cools very well. They used my upper and lower tank.

Tom V.

That's getting so much harder to do now. Thanks to the EPA and the chemicals those places use, most of the rad shops have closed up now. The last one we had in town closed about 10 years ago.
I might, and that's a big might, be able to find one in Phoenix but the effort and the 200 mile drive back and forth almost isn't worth the trouble. I know of a few around the country but they are mainly in the restoration business end of it for those that need to save their expensive original tanks.

If you're lucky enough to have a shop in town that still does it, that's great. But those places have been drying up the last 20+ years and continue to disappear and it doesn't make economical sense for me to ship one across country for a driver type of car when a nice aluminum piece is only $350.

hi, just before I bought my cold case I went by a radiator shop in town. I know the owner so I got a fair price to recore my oem rad. 475.00 to recore it. that's why I went cold case. BLUE TA