Radiator replacement, fan upgrade options

[Marc]

Now all that's left is a few hundred miles in Texas heat to give it a shakedown, lol. Nice job, Marc.

Hey it's finally cooling off around here! Lots of rain in the forecast too, which is a nice change from the bone-dry summer we've had.

[Wirenut]

The radiator looks good, nice installation. Good to know you were able to use original mounting holes.
Thanks for posting the photos and the details of your installation.

[59meteor]

Not sure if the radiator to hood clearance issue is different between a 57/8, and a 59, but when I installed my Auto City Classic radiator in my 59 2 door sedan, with a 428CJ FE,I checked and if I used the mounting holes in the radiator side brackets, the rad cap would have hit the hood noticeably. So I just drilled 4 new holes about 1/2" above the existing holes, and although still close (less than 1/4" clearance), in over 2 years and over 4000 miles of driving, there has been no signs of the rad cap contacting the hood. Since the radiator and hood are both bolted to the radiator support, the clearance should not change  even on large bumps in the road. I have a 7 blade, 18" flex fan on my 428, as well as dual alternator/water pump pulleys, and the upper tank of the Auto City Classic radiator  definitely sticks further back, towards the engine than the factory rad, so to avoid fan interference, I had to use a fairly short fan spacer to have enough space between the fan and radiator tank, as well as not have the fan blades avoid touching the forward fan belt. But overall, very happy with the radiator, both in it`s factory appearance, and cooling performance.

[Marc]

Thanks for the kind words Wirenut.
59Meteor, I'm also not sure if the clearance on a 59 differs from 57 & 58. There was definitely room if I needed to lower the radiator a bit to gain clearance.
I'd hoped to go with a larger fan and maybe a clutch, but I think I'm going to give it some time and see how it performs as is. Glad you're happy with the radiator. Fitment issues aside, I've mostly seen positive comments on how the radiator performs which is why I chose it.