William Morbid

My old plastic tank radiator cracked and dumped my coolant in the parking lot at work. Naturally I want to replace it with a welded aluminum version, so que the many month long ordeal

I purchased a Dewitt's "Direct Fit" radiator. Unfortunately it turned out that even with the mounting brackets and AC condenser removed the radiator was about 1/4 inch too tall to fit the shroud.

All the others I've bought and returned seemed to have the same issue, too thick, too tall/short, inlet/outlet hoses the wrong size, etc.

Seems like it would have been easy to make something the size and shape of the OE with better materials but no one seems to do so.

Anyone had any luck getting one of these in without having to do mount/shroud mods? Love to know which one before I break down and buy another plastic tank model.

I've already had to ebay OE replacement parts for the ones I've destroyed in modification attempts as any of the "new" replacements seem to have issues

MrBigDee

Hi
Very strange because I just installed a Dewitts radiator in my Early 86.
I just had to modify those rubber brackets.

Sorry I don't have any product code because I bought it used here on the forum.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1607340373

William Morbid

My guess is that there is a difference in the early 85s. I have no end of trouble with the "84-89" parts. I bought an 86 AC condenser as the Dewitts page also said it needed that. It also completely did not fit, which is why I did the fit check without it or the mounts.

'78CorvetteS.A.

I thought on their website, they only say you need the "newer" version of the condenser for the "Big" radiator (the $8-$900 one)....the direct fit is the $599 one and shouldn't need a different condenser!? Which radiator did you actually buy? What does DeWitts say about your issues? I would contact them, if you haven't already and verify dimensions!!! I'm curious to know, because I plan on purchasing the "direct fit" for my '84, the only reason I was going to go with that one, is because my condenser is perfect and I didn't want to spend another $300 on one...on top of the more expensive DeWitts option! Interested to know the rest of the story👍

William Morbid

I bought the one you're looking at, the cheaper one. The website makes it look like you only need a new condenser if you buy the one with more rows but that's not the case. They're both the same thickness which is what interferes with the condenser fit.

Dewitts took the radiator back (still waiting on the refund). The problem here was the height of the radiator, not the condenser fit. Putting the radiator in without anything else (condenser or mounting blocks) and the top still wouldn't go on due to hitting the radiator.

I'm giving one more amazon radiator a try that supposedly has the correct tank height. It will be in late next week and I'll update.

'78CorvetteS.A.

I was wondering about that too!!! It says they use the same tanks on both....so I was thinking, what does the core thickness have to do with condenser fitment...Basically if the tanks are the same how can only one need the newer style condenser!? Total bummer, I may seriously consider trying a Champion or Frostbite....sh¡t, I don't know, my car is 40 years old and nobody makes a real radiator that fits, what a joke! Thanks for the response👍

Mixednuttz

That seems odd. I have the big Dewitt's in my early 85. I don't recall any issues with the fit during install.
Is it possible that they sent you the wrong radiator?

William Morbid

I don't think so. The oil lines were just right, etc. Maybe they just made that one a little too tall. But what with the condenser fit problems as well (the new condenser didn't fit as well) I figured I didn't want to deal with trying to get two things to fit.

It's a shame, they could have made the whole thing a quarter inch less thick and not needed to change the condenser

Phobos84

I have a Griffin Racing 1-25241-X radiator in my 84. I also don't have AC in the car. I had to trim the shroud a little bit but nothing major. Its much thicker than the factory radiator so I made my own rubber feet by cutting up rubber wheel chocks from Harbor freight. It works really well and is fully welded. Also made in the USA. It doesn't have any provisions for transmission fluid however. So I just mounted a nice plate cooler that I pulled from a one ton truck in a salvage yard. Trans temps never go over 190 and the coolant temp stays much lower than before.

Last weekend my electric fan bit the dust. I knew it was on its way out. I had another one sitting in the shop ready for install but just haven't had the time to put it in yet. Even with no working fan it only got to 210. Once I saw a temp over 195 I knew something was wrong. So the Griffin radiator works extremely well and it's only $200.