smietana

Any body Know what this fitting is on this 71-72 rad?

Oldsmaniac

I am guessing that is an aftermarket radiator and that port is not needed for a 71 Olds.

smietana

Can it be capped? Should I take it to a rad shop?

MDchanic

Does it go into the radiator itself, or into a tube, like the transmission cooler does?

- Eric

smietana

Right into the tank.

cfhcar

it can be capped part store should have caps. looks like for heater hose. some cars returned coolant from the heater to the radator

MDchanic

Agree with all above - it's one of those one-size-fits-all universal application things.

- Eric

rocketraider

Heater return hose fitting. Starting mid-73 they relocated the return port from water pump to radiator cold side tank to reduce heater core nose. Apparently some cars would "gurgle" loud enough to hear inside the car. So you obviously have a "universal" radiator, which generally means it doesn't really fit anything exactly right.

You oughta see the factory "fix" they put out for cars that didn't get the updated design. It was a brass tee that went in the lower radiator hose and routed the heater return hose to that.

You can run your return hose to either this fitting or to the water pump. You'll just have to cap the one not in use. Be careful of those rubber caps. I've seen a lot of them that were thin in spots and would bust under pressure.

smietana

Thanks for all the help, when I get the core support back and mounted will see how it fits.