Re: radiator for a 288 versus a 327

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2011/5/16 7:52:48

Your car may have an overheating issue, and it may not - that remains to be determined. And as we all know there could be many causes which we've discussed a million (OK, not quite that many) times here.

But if there is an overheating problem with a freshly rebuilt engine (edit - which didn't exist prior to the rebuild), it's probably the classic issue. The original engine while it was in use from new, gradually produced less frictional heat as surfaces like rings etc. seated and gradually wore. At the same time the cooling system, most significantly the radiator, likewise gradually lost efficiency but this never revealed itself as the engine was producing less heat at the same time. Now when you rebuild the engine and restore all the additional frictional heat from close-fitting parts, suddenly the cooling system can no longer cope with it. It's a classic; that's why a competent engine rebuilder will also include a radiator recore or cleaning as part of the engine rebuilding process.

As to the original question about radiator interchange, the answer is in the parts book. A quick look shows that a 2401 radiator had use in other models thru 1953.