stupid cooling design??

[48chebbie]

i have been chasing a cooling problem on my 73 polara wagon,and i really never thought about this,until i started looking for an aluminum radiator.
my wagon has a 400/2bbl and A/C,and came with a 2 row radiator ,and a fan with clutch from the factory.
anywho,the car slowly,but surely,while driving in hot weather,the temp will keep climbing,and climbing,to about 220-230 after 30-40 minutes of driving. then,no matter what i do,it doesn't cool back down.
so,i have replaced waterpump,thermostat(160-180-195)tried them all,radiator is flowing great,i have tried a new fan clutch,and then,now a fixed fan (factory hemi 7 blade)which now,it starts to cool down when i hit the highway with the fixed fan.
so,now to my dumb cooling design point,both my upper and lower radiator hoses are on the right side of the radiator!!!!
was this the way the factory did these cars in the early 70's??? seems like a dumb design,because it offers very little cross-flow of the radiator.
i have plenty of waterpump housings,that the lower exits on the driver side,so i am going to change to one of those,and look for a 3-row,BB radiator. if anyone has a good used 26" 3 row BB rad.,please let me know.
ok,i'm done ranting..........

[Chryco Psycho]

that is the way some were from the factory , have you had the rad cleaned first & try advancing the initial timing & shortening the advance curve this can often make a big difference in heating

[mopar1968]

Are you using a fan shroud?  Unefective cooling can be traced to a missing fan shroud.

FYI.

[48chebbie]

has factory fan shroud,and i am going to pull the radiator today,and get it cleaned and flow checked.

[mopar1968]

Are you using the factory gauge, or aftermarket (i.e. AutoMeter) to measure?  Remember the 38 year old factory temp gauge is probably not very acurate.

[48chebbie]

both,factory and aftermarket temp gauge,and reading radiator temp with an infered themometer.

[TylerCharger69]

You mentioned  a 2 row radiator.....I'd get a bigger one....And.....It's easier to change the top hose placement then the bottom  because of the water pump outlet and which side it is on.    The shroud factor  is a big one though....

[mopar1968]

I think your issue is the Radiator.  Since you have a 2 row (small block) now, once you change to the 3 row BB it should be fine.  I bought mine from Year One for my BB to replace my 38 year old stock radiator.  I wouldn't buy again though from them as it was fairly expensive and Summitt has a house unit that is better and aluminium.

Good luck.

[48chebbie]

well,i took my stock radiator out,and from the looks of all the calcium on the left side,the radiator is mostly stopped up. no biggie,got on ebag this morning,and bought a brand new,american made stock replacement radiator,for$140.00 shipped. as for it being a 2-row,the car came stock,with a 2-row,and my car,and literally hundreds of thousands of these cars came stock with a 2-row,so i replaced it with the same. should be good to go now.

[dodge freak]

It might have came stock with a 2 row but I bet there was a 3 row option available for it. Hope it works out for you, the 3 row would have last a few more years before it had to be change. Really it depends where you live, up here in Michigan its hot at low 80's in Vegas thats the low temp. of the day.