1966-67 Differences between standard and C60 Small Block RADIATOR SUPPORT (pictures)

[Scott S.]

It is my understanding that the non-air conditioning radiator supports have crossed reinforcement rods, and cars with C60 should have radiator supports without the crossed reinforcement rods. There is a different part number for the C60 radiator support in the 1967 AIM. The pictures on C60-B2 do not show any crossed reinforcement rods, for whatever that's worth.

The pictures below are of the radiator support from a '67 small block (L79) with factory C60. Car had passenger side and front end damage in the early 1970s. Repairs included a service replacement RH horn (dated 1968), lots of fiberglass repair, a 1965 expansion/overflow tank, a 1965 RH inner fender (no indentations for heater & A/C hoses) and a 1965 header bar to front lower valance support rod.

The condenser appears to be the correct original style for 1967, but no way I know of to determine whether it is original. The radiator appears to be original, dated December 1966 ("66M") for this January 11th, 1967 car. Seems strange that the radiator could survive but the radiator support needed replacing, but I'm sure anything's possible.


Questions:

Is it correct that the C60 Radiator Support should have NO crossed reinforcement rods?

If so, then are the "non-A/C" and "with A/C" small block 66-67 Radiator Supports otherwise identical, so that I could make this radiator support "correct" by removing the crossed reinforcement rods?

[Ronald L.]

Re: 1966-67 Differences between standard and C60 Small Block RADIATOR SUPPORT (pictur

Scott,
The support would have protected the radiator, I have seen that on more than one 66BB in front end or front corner hits. If you don't have a lot of bumper ... frame damage, its a pretty good chance all that survived, support included. The reality of crashes is that its STEEL, not glass that's protecting your you know what

[Domenic T.]

Re: 1966-67 Differences between standard and C60 Small Block RADIATOR SUPPORT (pictur

Scott,
I installed factory air in my 67 back in the early 70's and noticed the cross bars 40 years later when I decided to make sure I had the right condencer and not one that I modified to fit back then.

I looked at pictures that vendors had and they positioned them to look different. It looked to me that if you removed the cross bars they were the same.

I think the cross bars were to keep the same structural strength the condencer gave the support, only a guess.

I bought a new condencer from LI corvette and found that it fit with the cross bars in place AND the support with the cross bars had the holes for the hoses.

Probably not an answer but maybe it helps.

DOM

[Scott S.]

Re: 1966-67 Differences between standard and C60 Small Block RADIATOR SUPPORT (pictur

Scott,
The support would have protected the radiator, I have seen that on more than one 66BB in front end or front corner hits. If you don't have a lot of bumper ... frame damage, its a pretty good chance all that survived, support included. The reality of crashes is that its STEEL, not glass that's protecting your you know what

Ron,

The only part of the front clip that appears to be original is the LH front quarter panel and upper surround (just the section across the bottom of the windshield). Much of the rest of the front end is more like a yellowish off-white, which I think would be 1965 or earlier fiberglass. The RH front quarter panel section with the angled vents is black glass and was scavenged from a red 1967 Corvette. The RH and LH parking lamp sections are also a yellowish off-white fiberglass, as are portions of the upper nose. Considering the extent of the damage we discovered, the RH (and maybe LH) front bumper almost had to have been replaced, unless something like the driver slamming on the brakes (dropping the front end) and sliding into/under the back end of a truck happened. The bumper might be spared in that scenario, but it would crunch the fiberglass all around it. The other possible scenario is the bumpers were removed for racing, and the damage happened while racing.

The frame "horn" on the RH side had been slightly bent, with about 10 or 12 shims to make the radiator support "fit". When we took everything apart, the bare frame was put on a frame-jig and all measurements were checked to bring everything back to spec.

So all in all, this car took a pretty good hit, circa 1971. It may have been hit before that, too, as there was other (comparatively minor) damage to the right rear. May have been from the same accident, or a different accident. The LH door window is the only glass that is not original, dated April of 1967 (car was built January 11, 1967), so something broke the driver's side glass early on. Fragments (lots of them) of the original LH door glass were still in the bottom of the door.

My father bought this car in late 1976. The previous owner (1972-1976) drag raced the car for two seasons (1975-1976). I have spoken to him a few times, he continued drag racing all these years since, and just sold his funny car dragster (modified midyear Corvette-style body) and retired in late 2009. It turns out he bought the car from a shop that specialized in quick repair and resale of Corvettes that had been damaged in some way. The prior owner was very familiar with Corvettes, having put 250,000 miles on his original owner '63 Corvette when it was stolen in 1972, and used the insurance money to buy the "repaired" '67. Said he wasn't concerned about the repairs being perfect because he would fix it himself if necessary, and he did some repair work himself at Fort Meade (Maryland), where he was stationed at the time. From the outside it looked good, we had no idea how much damage was under the paint. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate any earlier prior owners so far, and the Corvette repair shop is long since out of business.

This car has some interesting history still to be discovered. Under the most recent paint we found bright metallic gold paint in a few spots on the body, and even on the outer surface (inside the indented hex) of the rear valance/filler panel bolts (1ASM-F3, original Gr5 "ELH" headmark bolts). This isn't a regular gold like something you might paint a car with, this is gold like a gold bar or gold necklace type of gold, like the gold dome on the Georgia state capitol building, it's unbelievable that anyone would paint a car like that, or drive a car painted like that, unless it was for some special purpose.


Picture 1: overview of front end damage/old repairs, the front lower valance and underside of the nose has damage repair too.

Picture 2: Driver's side front quarter panel, this is the only original section on the front end, along with the section across the car below the windshield.

Picture 3: Front end removed last week

Picture 4: Georgia state capitol dome, the color of gold this car was painted at some point, prior to 1972.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1966-67 Differences between standard and C60 Small Block RADIATOR SUPPORT (pictur

Scott,
I installed factory air in my 67 back in the early 70's and noticed the cross bars 40 years later when I decided to make sure I had the right condencer and not one that I modified to fit back then.

I looked at pictures that vendors had and they positioned them to look different. It looked to me that if you removed the cross bars they were the same.

I think the cross bars were to keep the same structural strength the condencer gave the support, only a guess.

I bought a new condencer from LI corvette and found that it fit with the cross bars in place AND the support with the cross bars had the holes for the hoses.

Probably not an answer but maybe it helps.

DOM

Dom,

I have also read that the crossed reinforcement bars were for structural support, which was not needed with C60 because the Condenser itself served as a structural support. Makes sense, anyway.

The reproduction 1966-67 small block radiator supports currently offered by the vendors appear to be exactly the same, except for the addition or deletion of the crossed reinforcement bars. However, that may be a matter of convenience for whoever makes the reproduction, not wanting to set up tooling to make two different parts. What I would like to avoid is finding out I have the wrong radiator support AFTER the car is put back together. The time to find out (and replace with a correct original if necessary) is definitely NOW

[Scott S.]

Re: 1966-67 Differences between standard and C60 Small Block RADIATOR SUPPORT (pictur

Questions:

Is it correct that the C60 Radiator Support should have NO crossed reinforcement rods?

If so, then are the "non-A/C" and "with A/C" small block 66-67 Radiator Supports otherwise identical, so that I could make this radiator support "correct" by removing the crossed reinforcement rods?