Anyone know if I can buy just the curved neck part for my radiator. I have a straight neck, and it should be curved for my 396 with A/C.

I do not believe you can buy that separately. What year is your Camaro? I replaced the 21" radiator in my 1969 with a 23" radiator. The car has a 350 small block in it. My car did not come with A/C. I used an upper radiator hose made for a 1968 with A/C. That worked fine in my 1969.

I had a 396 in my first Camaro. That car came with factory A/C but it was originally a small block. I forget what hose I used back then. I still believe that you should not have a problem trying to find a hose that should fit without having to replace your radiator. That is unless you are building a show car.

Mine is a 69.. ya I have seen a picture of a 396 with A/C , without the cuved neck. Maybe it can be done without any trouble. I currently have a hose ON, but the front end is not finished and the rad support is not in the final location. I was thinking it would be nice to simply replace the neck with the proper curved one, if it is available - anyone know??

:beers:

D & R has them in their catalog #t00292. check with them.

TTFN
Mat

What cars came with the curved neck upper neck?

I'm putting together a '67 Camaro. It came without an engine/tranny, but I'm putting a bbc in it. The radiator it came with has a 90* upper neck, would this be correct for this car?

No, not technically correct. Curved necks were installed on all COPO and all 396 with factory A/C

Mat - Thanks for the tip with D&R!!

:beers:

Only 69 Camaros (either a COPO or any big block with A/C) came with curved neck radiators. All other years had straight neck radiators.

I have a junk big car radiator 66-67 vintage (I guess) and it has a curved neck on one of the tanks. If anyone is interested, I can take a pic tonight.

http://www.fototime.com/646CC0549AC7AEC/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/2E452E1D0FB5119/standard.jpg

Kevin, is it the same diameter as the top Camaro neck?

How much?

Utility5 has ordered the D&R one..

(Utility5, dude, I'm racking my brain.. I forgot your name darn it!! :p )

Steve, I will go check for you.

Steve, it is the same as the Small block upper for a camaro 1 5/8".

Steve - D&R had another in stock - brand new - cheap - what's amatter, running out of coins.

Rick - "Utility 5"

Steve, I took a look at D&Rs pic. their's curves 90 degrees. The one on my rad curves around 70 degrees. If 90 degrees is correct, get the D&R one like Rick says :)

Thanks Kevin and Rick! (I knew it started with an "R"..:p )

Yeah, I'll have to order one, but I'll need to accumulate some parts for a larger order. Just that on it's own will kill me!
No, not out of coins.. Plenty of those for once in my life..
It's time and space that I really need!.

Mine has the 90* neck and it a 3 core unit.

Big Blocks came with a 3 core unit? Any idea if this will keep a pump gas 468 cool? With stock fan and shroud.

3 core with a curved neck? I dare say it's not the original. I thought all BBC with A/C were 4 core.
Anyway, providing your cooling system is healthy, a 3 core should do OK.
A 7 blade clutch would be a big help too.

I have a few Buick Radiators that have curved necks.
Maybe they can be re-done to Camaro use?
They are 4 core drop in style, with no brackets.

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/111/111196/folders/255127/2021829IMG0084.jpg

Looking at a lot of resto pics that I have collected, not all are 90 degree bends. I guess 1/2 of them would be about 70 degrees.
Maybe these restos have borrowed from Buicks or other cars because the D&R part hasn't always been available.

It's hard to tell if the one from D&R is exactly 90 degrees (I reckon it's pretty damn close), and one would hope that they offer the correct bend as per the original Harrisons.
http://www.drclassic.com/images/parts/21/20821.jpg

Does anyone know for sure if the orignial bend is 90 degrees?

Remember this old thread?

I just got back from the radiator shop http://www.aussiedesertcooler.com.au/ , where Norm had a curved neck fitted for me. It's one he had laying about for some other non-Camaro application.
Anyway, it fits great and he saved me US$40 for the "correct" part, plus shipping, plus fitting, 'cos he did it for free.:thumbsup:

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/6923/radiator001ze9.th.jpg (http://img102.imageshack.us/my.php?image=radiator001ze9.jpg) http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/9712/radiator002dh0.th.jpg (http://img102.imageshack.us/my.php?image=radiator002dh0.jpg)

Now, where's my paint!

Um.. is it true that the necks were installed with an upward tilt of about 45°? -Unlike the post of mine you see above this..

I looked at several cars on the 'net and all I saw was what looked like necks that are horizontal..

ie: http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/5900/co57di3.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=co57di3.jpg)

Then I see this on Heartbeatcity's website.. http://store.heartbeatcity.net/store/product/13501/Radiator%2C-Original%2C-BB%2C-AT%2C-AC/ (http://store.heartbeatcity.net/store/product/13501/Radiator%2C-Original%2C-BB%2C-AT%2C-AC/)

..and this which appears to be tilting upward, but not as much..
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8822/f93yh1.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=f93yh1.jpg)

So, I assume the tilt is correct (yes?) and does anyone know what angle above horizontal is correct?

Anyone?

My understanding was that 67 and 68 bb cars with auto and ac did not have a curved neck. In fact, the radiator I have came from Heartbeat City. After getting through all of that guys verbal abuse, I concluded that the curved neck in 68 was only for 375 hp cars, period.

Mine is a 69 and I know the curved neck was for BB A/C cars and (apparently most) COPO cars too.
Mine has a BB and A/C. :thumbsup:

Yes, I'm quite sure the neck should be tilted upward by about 30° or so.
The hose doesn't fit so well with the neck at the horizontal position.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1686/engineinstall007oj4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8563/engineinstall006lh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/markx22/SSRS/th_topoutlet.jpg (http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/markx22/SSRS/topoutlet.jpg)

Fixed. :thumbsup:
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7556/curvedneck001xo8.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=curvedneck001xo8.jpg)

The angle is about 35-40° from horizontal.
In this position the hose is "relaxed" when fitted, and the angle also matches pictures of the Harrison replacements.