F-body Radiator Swap in an 84/85 Hot Air Riv?

[swestoyz]

Hello everyone! I’ve been tinkering with my Hot Air ’84 T-Type Riviera for the last few months or so, and the car is finally starting to run quite nicely (lots of vacuum leaks). The weather was beautiful this past weekend, so I decided to take the car out for a nice extended drive, allowing her to stretch her legs.

Once I reached my destination, I noticed a trail of fluid following the car shortly before I parked. I lifted the hood to find that the stock radiator was leaking coolant from the upper radiator hose fitting. Someone had ‘fixed’ it years before with a nice coat of JB Weld. How I missed this on my original inspection is beyond me.

After seeing several other Turbo Regal owners swapping radiators from an 87-92 F-Body into their car, I was wondering if anyone has successfully done this swap with an 84/85 E-Body Riv? The old gnttype explanation calls for an Auto Zone radiator PN of 433918. That number no longer comes up, but if you search for a radiator on a 1990 V8 Camaro through Auto Zone it comes up with the Spectra CU750 (RA $78.99). This number crosses over in Rock Auto for an 82-85 V8 F-body, not the later cars. Rock Auto calls for a Spectra CU951 (RA $102.79) for the 87-92 cars. There is also an aluminum radiator option specifically for the Rivs, a Spectra CU161 (RA $101.79).

Once the radiator is swapped I’ll probably run the stock clutched fan until I swap in an 86/87 ECU and an electric fan set-up.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Ben

 

[swestoyz]

UPDATE:

I bit the bullet last week and ordered up the Spectra CU161 radiator for the Hot Air Riv. Here’s some detailed info from the Spectra site on each of the radiators listed in the OP:

• CU161 (79-85 E-body, 28.25” x 17.25”, 1 row aluminum, driver’s side drain, facing the engine)
• CU683 (86-87 G-body,26.3125” x 16.75”, LC2 OEM replacement, 2 row brass, standard drain location facing the ground)
• CU951 (87-92 F-body, 26.25” x 17.25”, 1 row aluminum, passenger side drain facing the engine)
• CU750 (82-85 F-body, 26.25” x 17.00”, 1 row aluminum, passenger side drain facing the engine)

I referenced the original replacement info for the 86/87 ‘Cooled cars as I was curious to see if the footprint was similar to the F-body radiators, and it was. It also was interesting to note that the E-body radiator was a full two inches longer than the F-body radiator. It was a no-brainer decision at that point as I would have needed to modify the core-support hold down bracket and fan shroud.

I also ordered a replacement lower radiator hose, the AC Delco 26069X. This hose is also listed for the G-body cars. The fit was a bit snug as it could have been trimmed, but it did work as is. I didn’t order a replacement upper hose as I wasn’t sure if the listed AC Delco PN, 26081X, would fit properly. After doing the job and looking at some other Buick V6 installations in 3rd Gen E-bodies, I’m pretty sure it would fit. I’ll change it out later this summer.

The only interference issue I ran into was related to the driver’s side drain on the Spectra CU161. For some odd reason they put the drain on the driver’s side, which interferes with the core support. The original drain was a petcock on the bottom of the radiator on the passenger’s side. The die grinder made quick work of cutting out a notch in the core support. Moving forward, the only (easy) way to access the drain it would be to drop the bottom air dam, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue moving forward. Otherwise, it fit like a glove. All transmission lines and hoses were lined up perfectly.

While I was at it, I swapped in a new water pump, threw in a new 160 degree thermostat (replacing what looked like a factory 195), and removed the cooler lines to the throttle body. The weather wasn’t cooperating at all once I buttoned up everything Sunday afternoon, but I'm planning on taking the car for a spin on Saturday. I hope to have a Scanmaster in hand by that point and I’ll report back what the car is running at.

Thanks again for all the help to those who have previously chatted and reported back their findings with the F-body swap in old threads.