Thinking of going to an aluminum radiator in my original 69 Barracuda 383 4 speed car. Would like to use my radiator shroud as well if possible. Anyone have any recommendations of brand and type. My stock radiator is a 22 inch unit.

I guess I will ask the question, why aluminum? You don't have your original 065 radiator? Aluminum does not cool any better than stock, just weighs less. I used a Champion on a 340 Dart because the owner did not have one when he bought the car to restore. I had to drill one new hole for it to fit the factory core support, and the factory shroud did not fit well. It did cool the 340 just fine though.

Yes I do still have the original radiator in the car. I just always thought aluminum was better. The 3rd owner who had the car for 30 years before I bought it mentioned the car has always ran a bit hot. It seems to always run down the highway at about 190-195 degrees and in traffic at about 210 or so. I've got a 180 thermostat in it. Recoring the radiator and new water pump haven't helped the issue. Just trying to get the running temps down.

Use the copper-brass. At Carlilse there was a guy that made radiators that looked just like the original. IMO stock type rad looks and works much better.

http://www.usradiator.com/radiators/plymouth.html
I have the optima 4 core with triple pass in my 68 charger

It might not have been recored with the proper core. The big block Dart radiators had 3 rows with 1/2" tubes, all others had 3/8" tubes, and pretty much all replacement cores are 3/8" tubes. Send it to Bob at Glen-Ray Radiator and he will make it perfect. He is the guy being referred to above.

This, I have run my Dart with a 383 and 3.91's down the highway doing 65mph in 95 degree heat and had no issues with overheating once I fixed a split seam between the tank and the core.

I've used Champion Rads for years....best bang for the dollar

Wasnt sure about the Champions.But when I broke the oe one in my built 65 B body 440 I ordered one.Seemed cheap at like 160 shipped from EBAY.So far even in the 90s it runs cool.Only thing lower hose is 1 3/4 and the lower outlet is 1 1/2.Bought an adapter and all is good.Oh yeah had to ake a top hose also as my 65s was different.Rocky

Thanks for the recommendations. I will take a look at all the options given and go from there. It appears my stock one is a 3 row with 3/8 tubes now. It had new core done back in the late 90's. Car has been stored inside from most of the time after that. It had a water pump change as well. Has a shroud. I may have something else going on too. Other possible issues besides the cooling efficiency aspect. It doesn't boil over or pee out the overflow. I've double checked the accuracy of the stock gauge and it is close to being correct. With a 180 thermostat car runs around 195 or so down the highway and can get to 220 at stop and go traffic or sitting at idle for 10 minutes. In general, the car runs warmer than my 71 Cuda or Roadrunner but they have 26" radiators as well. My small radiatored 72 318 Barracuda runs a little warmer than those cars do in the summer too . Just not this much.

I was an Engineering Manager at a heat exchanger manufacturer for two years.

The only advantage of aluminum is cost and weight.

Copper / brass has better thermals, corrosion resistance and durability.

I would never put an aluminum radiator in anything that originally had a brass unit.

I had an OE 65 Cbody with shroud in the 65 for years.Never got over 190 and it was never touched.Broke my heart when the jack slipped and broke the bottom.Thats why I went Champion.So far its working great even when its in the 90s here.Rocky

Based on some of the feedback I'm not going to give up on my original radiator just yet. I'm going to have a radiator shop check it out but I suspect now that I may have another issue going on other than cooling efficiency.

Glen-Ray as mentioned, they even have a HD core they can put in it, and it will look like a new factory unit, and the shroud will fit. When I got mine, they even supplied new shroud nuts and had the ribbed overflow tube attached. They are a bit expensive, but it worked great.

The Champion is OK, as they don't cost that much, but the 4-core is really thick and may cause clearance issues with the fan. I had a 4-core 26" in my B-Body, but had a hard time getting good airflow through it using electric fans. I think the thinner 3-core might have cooled better due to better airflow, but I decided to just get the Griffin Dual 1" core radiator.

Make sure the rad cap has a good seal and is holding pressure. Also check that the hoses aren't collapsing; back in the day, there's be a fine coiled spring inside the lower hoses to prevent that. I've had both scenarios in the past.
Not sure how you're checking temps, but I suppose in addition to having the stock gauge you have another?

Morty, what about the myth (or truth?) that aluminum dissipates heat so much quicker and better than brass?
I also thought an aluminum rad was better, maybe not??

That's a myth. Per density the copper / brass unit will cool better however the margin is very small.

The only advantage of aluminum is cost and weight.

The big disadvantage is strength and durability. Aluminum has no real fatigue strength. As such it should never be used in a severe or industrial application. Also pure water will corrode it in no time.

The aluminum radiators in modern cars have isolation and expansion notches to quick fatigue to a minimum but eventually the tubes will crack and leak.

I have checked the hoses. My lower has a spring in it and I have put on a new 16 lb cap.

I actually used a laser temp gauge along with a known good mechanical gauge just to verify my old stock gauge. It is fairly close to the temps my verification gauges saw.

I've got the stock 065 radiator at a shop now to be torn down and rodded out just to make sure it is good. One thing the shop guy reminded me of was to not run 100% antifreeze. I tend to do that over the years because of some of the low temps we can see in Northern Indiana in the Winter time. I'm going to go 50/50 and see what happens. I know water will dissipate heat more freely than straight antifreeze. Thought about adding some water wetter also but I've used that in past cars and don't recall it helping much.

I lost the original block in my 69 Dart GTS 383 4-speed because I put 100% antifreeze in it when I lived in Indiana. It broke the water passages just above the lifter galley's on either side...

IIRC the lowest temp protection is at 70/30