Interesting L78, 300593 Radiator find.

[Gary C.]

A repair workshop was closing down recently in ****ara, West Australia and friend visiting at the time noticed they were throwing out a few radiators, one of which he recognised as a Corvette type.
He salvaged it from the rubbish and gave it to me.
I looked at the numbers and it is an early 1965 L78 Radiator! Apparently, it has been collecting dust in the workshop for 30 years and they don’t know where it came from. There are only 4 known L78’s in West Australia and they all arrived recently. So, I wonder if the rest of the L78 is out there.

I have a May built L78 and my radiator is the later version 3007436.
Anyway, I’ll test and detail it as good spare for my L78.

3005936 65C Front.jpg3005936 65C Number.jpg3005936 65C rear.jpg

[Bill M.]

Re: Interesting L78, 300593 Radiator find.

Gary i was wondering what i did with that radiator!!!

[Joe L.]

Re: Interesting L78, 300593 Radiator find.

A repair workshop was closing down recently in ****ara, West Australia and friend visiting at the time noticed they were throwing out a few radiators, one of which he recognised as a Corvette type.
He salvaged it from the rubbish and gave it to me.
I looked at the numbers and it is an early 1965 L78 Radiator! Apparently, it has been collecting dust in the workshop for 30 years and they don’t know where it came from. There are only 4 known L78’s in West Australia and they all arrived recently. So, I wonder if the rest of the L78 is out there.

I have a May built L78 and my radiator is the later version 3007436.
Anyway, I’ll test and detail it as good spare for my L78.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]114791[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]114792[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]114793[/ATTACH]

Gary-------

Unfortunately, I kind of doubt this radiator will test out as being leak-free. These aluminum radiators will usually corrode through when left dry after previous use. Also, it appears to me that this radiator had at least one previous epoxy repair.

[Tony S.]

Re: Interesting L78, 300593 Radiator find.

Notice the original oval clamping marks on the top plate.
Tony

[Ray K.]

Re: Interesting L78, 300593 Radiator find.

Some additional info

My 1965 P &A actually lists the #3005936 radiator for 396 Corvettes. The page is dated July of 1965. One year later, the P & A catalog lists the #3007436 number for the '65 396 along with the notation that a new top inlet radiator hose may be required #3876780, the date here on the page is July 1966. The history section reflects the part number change in March of 1966 for service usage, although the #3007436 had been in the production line up for some time, maybe approaching a year as the vin sequence for changeover is referenced as 16200 which seems to be April 65 ( ? )

The '65 assembly manual show the #3007436 number, but there is a notation about this unit being redrawn, which would most likely reflect the part number change for production.

The Corvette Specifications Guide 1953 - 1967 only lists the 3007436 radiator. The 6th edition Judging Guide references both part numbers for the radiators and the approximate changeover vin.

How many 396's were built with the 3005936 radiator? Probably not many.

Ray

[Gary C.]

Re: Interesting L78, 300593 Radiator find.

Yes its rare radiator. I am just wondering where the rest of the L78 is in the outback of Western Australia!