[sm=WTFsgign.gif][sm=dontgetit.gif] I have been down this road, done it the hard way. Trust me.

If you want to part with your money, who am I to tell you no? My 'Vette has spent the better part of 3 years in the shop. I have hemorraghed money for those three years. This week I gave my mechanic another $600.00 for the 'Vette. So go and spend it. It's a good thing!

Here's the deal about copper/brass vs. aluminum..

Copper and brass units transfer heat better BUT they have smaller coolant passages and do not flow coolant OR airlike the aluminum ones do. The aluminum units have bigger passages that give the coolant more surface area to get cooled on, plus they have better air flow than the copper brass units. The aluminum units do a better job with less material. The new aluminum unit I have is not as big and thick as my old copper brass unit but outperformsthe copper/brass onedramatically.

If you like the simplicity of the Dewitts system then go for it. I tend to be a cheap SOB and look for other options.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

In response to the sensor being mounted in the rad. ... You can use a stock temp. sensor mounting point such as the one on your intake manifold or on the head.

 

For what it's worth, the GM Parts Catalog (circa 1974) listed one radiator for both BB and SBs. It was a four row.

 

73shark,
That's what I was thinkin', from the info I have been commin' across. I wasn't sure though. Thanks for clearin' that up for me. [sm=smiley20.gif]

Great info, DV8!
After reading your last post, I came across that very comparison. Everyone is kickin' down with some great info.
Thanks a bunch. [sm=hail.gif]

 

C3, I understand exactly where you're coming from when you talk about the "Chinese" products. And especially the toys with all the lead problems. Unreal! Growing up, we were never allowed to bring anything in the house unless it was made in the USA. (My father was a Navy WWII vet who enlisted with his brother at the start of the war at 29 years of ageeven though he was exempt asa welder for AMFin Connecticut wherethey manufactured aircraft parts.My parents were married when my father came home in 1945 and my mother still wears his Navy ID bracelet. I can still hear him yell out the door when I was around 13 years old and going to the store for one more set of Christmas lights, "don't bring anything back that's not made here in the US." And he meant it!) Back in the late '70s and early '80s I found myself buying products that said, "made in the US"that turned out to be these "joint ventures" by the US and some other country. Iremember having a discussion with a fellow motor head/old Army Buddyof mine in the mid-'80s aboutdifferent cars that were supposed to be American but had foreign engines. (I think it was the Mitsubishi and Eagle situation.) In early '83 I bought a worked 350 turbo from a local shop to put in my '62 Impala. Turned out the trans case took metric bolts. I thought at first that the threads were worn out as the standard bolts were so sloppy in the holes. I had just built a nice 350 motor forthe carand I thought, man, the only foreign thingin my car are these freakin' bolts. At that time, we associated metric bolts with foreign cars. To me, American was all standard. I've seen boots here in Texas that say, "made in the USA" that are actually manufactured in Mexico but the heels and innersoles are put on here which justifies the "made in the US" tag by federal regs. IT sucks to say the least. I do know that in alot of cases, it's easy to know for sure where these car parts are actually manufactured. Seems the smaller companieswith one central location are much easier to check out. But some of the big companies, who have mfg. plants all over the place, are hard to pin-point. You can even call and ask if the product is made in the US, get a big "yes," and find out later that the part is manufactured in another country but thecompany imports the part, installs the final hardware and puts the good old USA tag on it, and on the box it comes in.(In the last so many years, I've seen Chevy crate engines that have "(sp?) hecho in mexico" stamped on the side of the block and heads.) What the hell...
"Hats off" to you guys who stick to buying the truly US made parts. That's what I believe in also. I do hope that some day the US comes backwith more of amanufacturingbase instead ofhavingsolely a service based economy.
Maybe, even if one doesn't go with American made products all the time in every area, possibly we can go by the "made in the USA" rule when it comes to our Corvettes. And we should research the companies thoroughly.
Please excuse me for being somewhat "off-topic," but I do feel that it needed to be addressed here and now.

 

Very well put, Texas.
You hit the nail on the head, as to why I won't go with a crate engine. A mech friend of mine told me that when he opened up a crate engine, the parts were not "finished". The rods and caps still had casting ridges. I've known this guy most of my life, he's even the one who does my Vette work. We used to scrap cars together, when in our teens.