69 L78 Chevelle

[dreemz]

Speaking of radiators, what would be the proper tag code for a 396 L78 turbo 400 Chevelle? My research suggests BW. Would this be 3 or 4 core? Who might be a good source for one? Are they date coded as well? Thanks.

[Mr70]

The 1969 L78 Chevelle received a 3 core radiator stock.
I think With auto trans. it would be coded BR.
With Manual trans.it would be coded BO.
The Original Harrison Tanks can be a difficult find,but are out there.I have two here,that I can measure for you if that helps.
I want to hold onto them.

[dreemz]

Thanks for responding. My understanding was that there were two different codes for the 396 turbo 400; i.e., BR if you had air conditioning, and BW if you did not. Assuming I can find the tanks, and recore the radiator, can the tags be obtained separately and applied?

[Keith Tedford]

Since L78 cars didn't come with air, your choices are pretty well narrowed down.

[dreemz]

So Keith, are you saying BW is indeed the correct code? If you followed the post from above mr70 thought the code was different irregardless of AC.

[Bill Pritchard]

Very interesting topic to me We've had a similar discussion over on Team Chevelle recently:
http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/for...c/6/5546.html?
Chris Carney, who has a very original 350hp T400 69 SS396 Chevelle with factory a/c, has a BR radiator in his car and it is so coded on his build sheet. I have a very original 325hp T400 69 SS396 Chevelle without a/c, and I have a BW radiator. My build sheet, however, shows 'BC' in the radiator box (#121 on the Body Broadcast sheet) so I'm kinda

dreemz, I'm curious, where did you get your info about the radiator codes?

[Keith Tedford]

Our COPO Chevelle has the 4 speed and BO rad like an L78. I would assume the assume that the automatic L78 cars would get the BW.

[dreemz]

Bill-
Thanks for the link. I got my info from an original parts manual. Once again I'm not 100% sure , but maybe you can double check. Part #3019205-BR for 396 TH400 w/ air and #3020143-BW for 396 TH400 w/o air. Could not find specific L78 application.

[Mr70]

dreemz
I confused you in part with a COPO Chevelle application..
The 1969 Chevelle L78 was built with a 3 core Radiator as std. on the line.
Auto Trans. was Coded BW Part #3020143.
The VO1 upgrade was Coded BR Part #3029205.The BR has a deeper core thickness.

The Manual Trans 1969 L78 Chevelle,was built with a 3 core Radiator std.on the line.
Coded BO Part #3017256.
The VO1 upgrade was coded BQ Part #3019204.The BQ had the advantage in Core Constant displacement.

These & the RPO-VO1 upgrade Radiators were also used in Various other Chevelles for 1969,including air conditioned optioned Chevelles.
When the COPO Chevelle (427 cid) was built,it received the VO1 Heavy Duty BR or BQ upgrade radiator as std. Equipment.
Similar to the Heavy Duty BE & KQ 4:10 Posi Rearend gear,over the Std. 4:10 BV & KK 4:10 Posi.
These exact Radiator Part numbers & Codes were also carried over to the 1970 Chevelle/Monte Carlo applications as well.

[Keith Tedford]

I guess what I have after all is a "BQ" rad. I thought it was an "O" with a slash through it. I sent MR70 (Rick) a scan of the tag for his input.