[Tom Vaught]

OMT and others,

Quote:

Question #1:

"I have a 3 core that measures 17 1/2" that is original to my 64, but it is not a tri power car. I won an auction on E-Bay for a 4 core 17/12 that was off a 65 tri power."



I have seen 15 1/2" 3 cores, 17 1/2" 3 cores, and
17 1/2" 4 core radiators all installed in ORIGINAL
64 cars. A friend who was a top Zone Manager for
Pontiac told me one time "We are not going to shut
down the line just because we don't have the correct radio antenna, radiator, radio, battery,
or even engine for a specific vehicle. We will
work it out either in "Repair" or after the car is
delivered to the dealer."

What he meant by engine was that if the customer ordered a "tri-power" engine in a car and his car
had to be built with a "4-Barrel" engine, the
factory would knock some money off the invoice but the car still went down the line whether the
customer liked it or not. I know of a few friends who refused their car orders when they did not get what they wanted. Most of the time the dealer would try and make a trade with another dealer for a car he had on the lot that was not specifically ordered for someone. Tom V.


Question #2:

Quote:

"I was under the impression that the 4 core did not come standard with either the 4bbl or tri power in 64. The 3 cores that came with the car, either the 15 /12 or the 17 1/2 were undersized and did not cool the cars properly so in 65 they made the 4 core standard. Is this true?

Paul Zazarine and Chuck Robert's book on GTOs says
on page 357

" In 1964, two radiators were used for the GTO:

2" X 17.5" for the 4-BBL/ No A/C

2-5/8" X 17.5" for the A/C Cars and Tri-Power

I have also the factory advertisement that says the GTO gets a "Higher Capacity" radiator and the
"Tri-Power" gets the "Heavy-Duty" Radiator.

The only exception appears to be the 15 1/2 3 core
radiators which may have been installed as a fix
for line shortages and the customer never caught
it or complained. These would be a RARE exception
as the core support is TOTALLY different and the
factory would have had to use both the radiator
and core support from the Lemans to make it work,
therefore this would not be a line mistake but a planned resolution for a shortage.

Hope this helps. Tom V.