That is not the case. For one thing, there was nothing such as a factory A/C A-body in '64; that started in '65. The '64 A-body A/C was still a dealer-installed package, which did not include a new radiator. And even in '65, the factory A/C cars didn't get 3-row radiators.
Fan shrouds were available for the '64 A-bodies with \6 and with V8 engines. They were typically installed on cars with A/C installed and/or trailer-tow equipment. '64 was the last year for the ring-style shroud; starting in '65 they were box-type shrouds. Both kinds were 2-piece items, upper/lower.
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Yup, low-speed/stopped-in-traffic heatup is usually a matter of insufficient effective airflow across the rad. Make sure there's an adequate fan, a shroud will help quite a lot, and install the hood-to-rad-support seal on the underside of the hood; that's another A/C and trailer-tow piece to prevent air going up over the radiator instead of through it. Gary Goers № W81, available (if anywhere) from
Quirey Quality Design, the outfit who bought out Goers when his health failed.
As built yep, they did. That strike could easily be erased even back in the day by having a 3-row core put into the stock rad (easy on the V8 cars; plenty of room between front of engine and back of rad). Decades later, high-efficiency rad cores with denser fins made it even less necessary to try to hack in a wider rad, and now we can do it
even better still.