he cooling system in a
C2 Corvette has plenty of
faults, even in the original
configuration, and when
you start modifying the
engine the problems only get worse. The
constant struggle to stay cool has created
anxiety in thousands of Corvette owners,
as one eye is always glued on the tempera-
ture gauge. The subject in this cooling sys-
tem overhaul is a small-block car backed
by a manual transmission and 4.11 gears.
The healthy small-block and low rearend
gears made for big fun, but anything
over 55 mph for more than a few minutes
resulted in overheating issues. A five-speed
transmission helped matters tremendously
by bringing the cruising rpm down, but it
didn’t completely reduce the temperature
anxiety. A generic aluminum radiator and
electric fan also seemed to help, but it
didn’t fit the car well enough to be consid-
ered a permanent solution.
The car’s previous cooling system elimi-
nated the original expansion tank system.
While the universal aluminum radiator was
simple and effective, it was a little too tall
for the car, making the hood clearance too
close for comfort. The radiator hose place-
ment also wasn’t ideal and it just didn’thave the right look. In an effort to cool this
low-geared hot rod Corvette, we decided to
start from scratch with a new radiator from
DeWitts, a new fiberglass fan shroud from
J&D Corvette and a box full of cooling sys-
tem goodies from Zip Corvette.
Going from cobbled together univer-
sal parts to a selection of direct-fit parts
made for an easy install. It was more work
to undo the universal components than it
was to install the new pieces. Everything
fit as advertised and the assembly process
was simply a matter of bolting factory-type
pieces together, a task that we handled
over the course of a few evenings in theBY TOMMY LEE BYRD (^) I PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE AUTHOR
Climate Change
We Install a New Cooling System in a Modified 1964 Corvette
[ TECH]