Tom, yes I think we are in agreement. The key for the tall 2" Rad anyway seems to be not the trans per se, rather it is whether the Rad had the oil cooler (regardless if it was plugged for a Man Trans or used for an Auto Trans). If oil cooler, then bracket at welded nuts.
I was just surprised because I figured the filler neck would be in the same position for the 2" Rad with or without the oil cooler.
My car is fairly early, 11D from Fremont.
It has the sq. holes in the brace for the caged nuts. So seems to me, the sq. holes were needed for some reason from the start even if the Man Trans GTO Rads were not yet in production.
And since my 4 spd build did not apparently get a Man Trans Rad, plus the late Dec. '63 Inspector's Guide makes no reference to the Man Trans Rad (2" or 2-5/8"), I assume they were not yet in production.
However, there were 8 other Tempest Rads being used in production.
Maybe 1 or more of them also had the "alternate" filler neck location and required the sq. holes and caged nuts in the brace. And it would have been simpler for PMD to punch the holes in a single design brace rather than have different braces for different applications.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, perhaps the only explanation for why the two different filler neck locations were used for the 10 different '64 Tempest Rads used in production was because they are the standard arrangements Harrison offered.
Some had the filler neck in one position, others had it in an alternate position.
Looking at all of the '64 Tempest Rad choices, I'm wondering if the short 2" Rad used with the 2 bbl 326 & Man Trans (Code 55, no oil cooler) might have used the alternate filler neck position.
This Rad is listed in the Inspector's Guide but the usage description is in error.
It shows for use with Auto Trans, should show with Man Trans since it did not have an oil cooler and all 326 Auto Trans were water cooled. The Inspectors Guide correctly indicates the short 2" Rad Code 53 ALSO for the 2 bbl 326 with Auto Trans, it has an oil cooler and obviously they can't BOTH be for the one application.
Whether the Code 55 or some other Rad, I'm guessing one or more '64 Tempest Rads had the alternate filler neck position and the reason was simply because that is how Harrison designed them for reasons of their own, PMD didn't get to control it.
I would also have guessed that the most common Rads were able to use the welded nuts but since the Code 50 2" Rad for the Man Trans 389 had the alternate filler neck position and it was pretty common once it came into usage, I can't even claim that the most common Rads used the welded nuts.
Still will be useful to learn which arrangement was used for the Auto Trans 2-5/8" Rad if anybody knows.
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