68 Coronet RT Rad....22 or 26 inch original? Help please....

[johnnyguitar]

Hi everyone, good to be here! My son and I recently bought a 68 Coronet RT. The fender tag and VIN tag look to be original, and everything on it adds up for an RT..... except the 22 inch rad it has. Its got a 22 inch rad and rad support. My research says these cars left the factory with a 440 and a 26 inch rad, so I'm wondering what's up with mine. I have found pictures of 440 RT cars for sale with the same smaller rad. Should I be concerned about owning a possible 383 car and fake fender tag, or did some RTs leave the factory with 22 inch rads? Comments please? Thanks!

 

[PP1RT]

Whats the first few numbers on the vin? Can you post a pic of the fender tag?

Welcome aboard!

 

[65-440]

My understanding is that 68 big block cars except hemi were equipped with 22" radiator. I know for sure 383 cars were.

 

[lewtot184]

standard was 22". there was an option package on '68 cars that had the 26" radiator and viscous fan. i believe the same goes for '69 cars. my '69 r/t came with a 22" radiator and 7 blade fixed fan.

 

[JimKueneman]

standard was 22". there was an option package on '68 cars that had the 26" radiator and viscous fan. i believe the same goes for '69 cars. my '69 r/t came with a 22" radiator and 7 blade fixed fan.

Yes it was the HD cooling option. My 318 has this option with the 26" radiator and fan clutch.
Jim

 

[91r/t]

I do know all air conditioning cars left the factory with the 26" radiator max cooling option. Look at your fender tag second line from the top. under the capital letter A, there will be a 1 under it if the car was optioned with the 26" radiator. Not all 440's or big blocks in general had the 26" option. I've seen plenty of Charger R/T's with the 440 and no 26" radiator and a few Coronets myself. Here's a coronet from 68 without it. Second pic is a Charger R/T without it as well.

Here is an example of a Charger with the 26" coded on the tag. Under the Capital A there is a 1.

 

[Wietse]

My car originally also came with a 22" radiator but someone installed a 26" in the past and modified the radiator support to suit the radiator.
Mine is a '69 Coronet R/T with a 440 HP engine without A/C.
(Now i have a 26" core and a 4.10 rear axle, which is not original)

Normally a 26" radiator was installed from factory when adding the A/C package and/or a other then standard axle package.
When the car came with the standard 3.23 rear axle only the 22" radiator was used.
This is not depending on the engine size, only A/C and axle package adds a 26" radiator core.

 

[johnnyguitar]

Whats the first few numbers on the vin? Can you post a pic of the fender tag?

Welcome aboard!

Whats the first few numbers on the vin? Can you post a pic of the fender tag?

Welcome aboard!

 

[johnnyguitar]

My understanding is that 68 big block cars except hemi were equipped with 22" radiator. I know for sure 383 cars were.

Thanks alot! Some other guys are saying the same thing now.

 

[johnnyguitar]

standard was 22". there was an option package on '68 cars that had the 26" radiator and viscous fan. i believe the same goes for '69 cars. my '69 r/t came with a 22" radiator and 7 blade fixed fan.

Thanks so much! I'm confident now that my 22" and rad support are original.

 

[johnnyguitar]

Yes it was the HD cooling option. My 318 has this option with the 26" radiator and fan clutch.
Jim

Thanks so much!

 

[johnnyguitar]

My car originally also came with a 22" radiator but someone installed a 26" in the past and modified the radiator support to suit the radiator.
Mine is a '69 Coronet R/T with a 440 HP engine without A/C.
(Now i have a 26" core and a 4.10 rear axle, which is not original)

Normally a 26" radiator was installed from factory when adding the A/C package and/or a other then standard axle package.
When the car came with the standard 3.23 rear axle only the 22" radiator was used.
This is not depending on the engine size, only A/C and axle package adds a 26" radiator core.

Awesome! It was a 3:23 car, and another poster mentioned the 1 under the A on the Fender tag specing that HD cooling option.

 

[johnnyguitar]

I do know all air conditioning cars left the factory with the 26" radiator max cooling option. Look at your fender tag second line from the top. under the capital letter A, there will be a 1 under it if the car was optioned with the 26" radiator. Not all 440's or big blocks in general had the 26" option. I've seen plenty of Charger R/T's with the 440 and no 26" radiator and a few Coronets myself. Here's a coronet from 68 without it. Second pic is a Charger R/T without it as well.

View attachment 501508

View attachment 501509

Here is an example of a Charger with the 26" coded on the tag. Under the Capital A there is a 1.

View attachment 501510

REALLY helpful!! Thanks, you've cleared it up for us. It doesn't have the special metal 2 piece fan shroud that I've seen in some C body 22 inch cars, so guess I'm going to have to fork out the money for a replica one.... am I right about that? It runs a bit warm on 75 degree days.

 

[69Coronetrt]

For 1968....(other years may vary)

A 22" was standard with automatic and 3.23 gears.

A 26" was standard when the car was equipped with:

A/C
Trailer towing package
An optional axle package e.g 3.55 behind an automatic or a four speed with 3.54 Dana

There was no stand alone cooling package as an option. The cooling upgrade came within another option.

 

[Dennis H]

Learning here. My 69 has the 26" due to the 3:54 Dana and 833!

 

[69Coronetrt]

Learning here. My 69 has the 26" due to the 3:54 Dana and 833!

Yep.

 

[91r/t]

REALLY helpful!! Thanks, you've cleared it up for us. It doesn't have the special metal 2 piece fan shroud that I've seen in some C body 22 inch cars, so guess I'm going to have to fork out the money for a replica one.... am I right about that? It runs a bit warm on 75 degree days.

Yup the 22" in 68 had the steel fan shroud. I have been kicking it around buying a new one for my 68 Roadrunner but I am too cheap and the car runs cool on hot days so no worries yet. I had my 22" radiator done at the local shop with a 4 row core so it cools very well now.

 

[johnnyguitar]

Yup the 22" in 68 had the steel fan shroud. I have been kicking it around buying a new one for my 68 Roadrunner but I am too cheap and the car runs cool on hot days so no worries yet. I had my 22" radiator done at the local shop with a 4 row core so it cools very well now.

Thanks for that idea, I'll check it out up here!

 

[PP1RT]

Looks like you have a qq1 blue R/T with blue bucket seat interior. 8 3/4 rear with 3.23 gears. Stripe delete car?

Look around for a build sheet. Check under the rear seat between the springs and seat foam. If not there, maybe take off the bucket seat backs and look there. That will give you more info on your options.

Cool car!!

 

[91r/t]

Also do you have a 7 blade viscious fan on the car? Clutch fan or no? I run the 7 blade with no clutch. For the power robbed it's worth it cooling wise.....I kicked around doing a clutch fan setup but haven't needed to or done it yet. One of thise bigger fish to fry things. Maybe sometime I'll swap and see how it does.