Since winter is approaching I need to break down and replace my heater core as I had no heat last winter. While I do that I plan on replacing the radiator as well. Since I have a '90 I have the closed style radiator. The easiest thing to do would be just swap in another closed style radiator, but if the open style holds more water I could go with that.

So the question is, does the newer open style radiator hold more than the older closed style?

 

My guess would be no, or very little difference.....all years seem to have basically the same dimension rad (31" X 11") and 3 row rads have only a slightly thicker core than 1 row rads (3 narrow rows vs 1 wide row).

http://www.radiatorbarn.com/