As you can see, the opening on the AutoRad core support is way bigger than what's found on the factory piece. We also liked that the radiator was now centered on the car rather than offset to the left the way GM did it. The aluminum core support came in a bit lighter than the steel stocker, but the radiator is a touch heavier, so we consider it awash in the weight department.

The new core support simply bolted in where the stocker used to reside. We were also happy to find that all the boltholes lined up.

AutoRad did say that the bracket for the subframe bushings may need to be shimmed depending on the car. You'll know right away if the top of the core support isn't even with the upper fender bolts.

The Best Of Show crew then attached the fans to the radiator and set it in place. It was close, but the larger AutoRad unit did fit between our framerails. It definitely takes maximum advantage of the available space. The Maradyne M142K low-profile S-blade fans each produce over 2,000 cfm, so adequate airflow will be the least of our concerns.

OK, we've seen this done wrong several times (including once by us) so pay attention. The natural tendency is to attach the hood latch to the outside of the core support like was done on the factory unit. But that's not the way it was designed. On the bottom side of the upper core support rail there's a slot, and the latch inserts inside this slot. It's then bolted in place using the supplied countersunk bolts and lock nuts. Because of this, the radiator can't be bolted to the core support until the hood latch is in place.

We then finished attaching the hood latch to the front valance.

With the latch in place, we secured the new AutoRad radiator to the core support using the stainless hardware they provided. Since these fasteners were going into aluminum, we dabbed them all with a little antiseize. One unexpected added bonus was that we gained over 2 inches of clearance between the front of the engine and the radiator. This extra space can make running an air intake system much easier, especially on front-fed LS applications.

And here's the new core support and radiator in place. All we had to do now was reinstall the headlights, grille, and lower valance.

From a functional standpoint, the new system will easily cool our big-inch LS engine no matter how hard we beat on it. Aside from that, it just looks killer! Next up will be designing an oil cooler system as robust as what cools our H2O, and we have an idea that will utilize the tabs AutoRad installed to hold the A/C condenser.