Didnt know which forum to post this in. Part transmission question, part BBC question....
I recently purchased a 3-core radiator to cool a BBC and replace the old 2-core that I got with the car. The dimensions are about the same due to the fact that it has three narrow cores vs two wide cores. He (salesperson) also pointed out that it has more fins/inch^2 than the old radiator. Does this sound correct and should that provide the extra cooling capacity I desire?

Second, another person recommended not using the rad to cool my ATF fluid and go with an external cooler. My radiator has the fittings but I also recently scrounged an external 8x10 tranny cooler from a ford econoline van. Any recommendations on one method over the other or should I use the 8x10 to supplement what cooling the rad will provide? My theory is that many a car runs with just a radiator to cool both engine and tranny without a problem, but, when I pulled this external one from salvage, I noticed that the factory setup put it in series with the radiator.

Opinions?

Techinspector: If you are listening...this is the last item I needed to get my BBC going. The last "to do" on my list is to check the pressure on my valve springs (so I dont flatten my cam) and then we can continue our discussion from a few weeks ago.