moving the radiator forward

RICH MUISE · 2013-01-17 09:40

quote from Jim:"Sooooo, I ordered 1 1/4" square aluminum tubing to space the radiator forward. That way I won't have air coming around the sides of the radiator either."

awesome idea Jim..wish I had thought of that, but since I hadn't welded in my spacers yet, I'm just going to do the same as you.

JimNolan · 2013-02-19 21:01

Rich,
Have you installed your radiator yet with moving it forward. Just thought I'd check first before I did mine. The hood seems like it'd be close. Hate to cut when I didn't have to. Also, which fan would cool better at idle, a fixed fan or a clutch fan. As you can see, I'm trying to talk myself out of this retrofit. Jim

RICH MUISE · 2013-02-19 23:28

No hadn't done it yet. Without my front sheetmetal on I'd just be guessing anyway. I did cut the slot in the core support as I posted before, and I removed the flange along the bottom of the support as well so I could drop it down another 1/2 inch or so. I also picked up some 1" square tubing like you mentioned you were going to do for the spacer.(thanks again for the idea). It's less than the 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 I was shooting for, but I figured I could always add a strip of aluminum if I had the room to go further forwards.
What radiator are you running though...that may make a difference. It seem like some of the aluminum custom jobs at least looked lower than the oem's. I do know that 6 cyl radiators are forwards more than the 8's, and I also know that Pat Fleishman has move his 8's forward to the 6 cyl position. He was the one that told me about removing the lower flange so the radiator could drop some more. If for no other reason, my 4.6 used the electric fans, and my wiring harness will have those sensors wired into the harness, so I'm going to try to fit the Mark viii fan and shroud to the '57 radiator and core support. Gotta get my engine in first though to see if I have enough room.

suede57ford · 2013-04-12 06:05

I had modified my radiator support to move the stock radiator ahead and everything has fit nice and stock.

I put one of the Auto City Classic Aluminum Radiators in my car last week and I could not initially close my hood.

The mounting holes in the New Aluminum Radiators are drilled about 1 inch lower than the stock radiator and the neck for the cap is taller.

I redrilled the holes in the radiator up about 1.25 higher, and did a smack with a 2x4 & Sledge Hammer over the neck with a hammer to flatten it's angle to be more like stock, and it fits nice now.

The height difference might not be an issue in a stock radiator support.

I painted the radiator with a coat of black epoxy, then a coat of gloss black urethane. I just did I light coat on the fins, but did full coverage on the upper and lower tanks and side brackets. It looks almost factory with the exception of the tig weld bead on the top tank.

I had some complments on how nice it looked last weekend at the LoneStar Roundup.

The painted radiator looks really nice, and the cooling seems to be fine.

You guys should take advantage and purchase some of these Aluminum Radiators from Auto City Classic while they are still available.

RICH MUISE · 2013-04-12 12:03

Pat great info..never would have thought of whacking my radiator with a 2x4. How much are you moving your radiator forward..seems like you told me an inch.

suede57ford · 2013-04-16 23:41

Rich, I cut an inch strip out of the support on both sides and reweld the original flanges back on. The lowered inch weld flange gets trimmed off too. I actually loosely mount the radiator, and mount it a little lower before tack welding the flanges on. The radiator support is made of a thick gauge metal, so it welds nice, and after grinding, metal finishing, and some paint it looks stock.

With my supercharger this gives me more room for the extra pulleys and now I can run a fan clutch and 6 blade fan. I still don't use a shroud, as I don't need it and it doesn't look right on my factory looking engine compartment. I do use a non- thermal fan clutch as it really saves some parts if the blower belts come off and get caught in the fan blade. The clutch keeps the fan speed down as well as saves a few hp.

RICH MUISE · 2013-04-17 09:22

Thanks for the info Pat...so now we know the new Aluminum radiators from auto city will fit under the hood when moving them 1 inch forward and modifying the cap inlet to lower it a bit...cool.

Jeff Norwell · 2013-04-21 06:40

Great info in this thread....thanks ALL!

Jeff Norwell · 2013-04-21 06:50

As a 57 newbie.. I have a few dumb questions... what are the different aspects in a 6 vs.8 rad in sizes?.... the reason I ask is....are the upper and lower tanks different in size?
When it comes time to do my rad... can I use 6 cylinder tanks for a v-8 application?
If i locate a good stock V/8 rad....I was planning to use it with a custom re-core.....am I on the right track?
options?
Sorry Rich to hi jack your thread.... just inquiring on the basics.

JimNolan · 2013-04-21 07:29

Jeff,
Lord knows the amount of information on radiators I know would fit on the head of a pin. But I'll share my Radiator experience. 1. Aluminum radiators are better than copper for cooling. 2. The bigger the motor the higher the BTU the more cooling capacity needed. 3. 1/2"-3/4" radiator-fan spacing is best for optimum air pulling. 4. Cool Kraft Radiators (Opti-Flow) is junk and warranty is no good. 5. The more radiator capacity, the better the cooling capacity. 6. Griffin radiators (not universal mount) are a thing of beauty and precision built for exact fitment and function. 7. All the above is an accumulation of experience I've had and had to pay dearly to obtain using an FE engine with standard engine fan.
Using the same motor and 160 degree thermostat, I have actually overheated using the copper radiator w/heat shroud and drag raced all day long in 105 degree heat with the water temp never exceeding 200 degrees with a Griffin Aluminum radiator w/o heat shield.
I have come to the conclusion if I can't buy a Griffin Radiator for my engine build I can't afford to build an engine. Jim PS Bear in mind that I've only had experience with stock, Cool Kraft and Griffin Radiators used with an FE engine. I'm sure there's other radiators that would work but I've not got the time, need or money to evaluate all of them. Sorry to sound like a Griffin Radiator salesman, but I believe I could be.

Jeff Norwell · 2013-04-21 07:41

Jim
Real Life exp. is much better than theory in my books.....
I used a Griffin rad in a 34 years back and it cooled flawlessly in all kinds of horrid summer heat.
Awesome info..... thank you!

RICH MUISE · 2013-04-21 08:25

Jeff...I agree with Jim 100%. Is that the way I went? No. If I had no budget restraints, Griffen would have been the choice. I was one of the many who jumped on the special pricing Classic City had when they came out with their new aluminum radiator in pretty much a stock design last year.
The oulets on a six cylinder radiator are on the wrong side for most v-8 aplications. Classic City had an issue with inlets/outlets being not in the correct position when they first came out, including the pics and corresponding stock numbers, that they were showing on their website. I assume by now they have the problem straightened out, but I don't know for sure. If you order one of those, be very specific with them as to which sides the top and bottom outlets need to be on.

wildhog · 2013-04-21 22:36

I ran into the same problem with the mounting holes and hood would not shut. Had to redrill and lower radiator, would also suggest taping out the drain plug and replacing the plastic plug with brass petcock. Tom

Jeff Norwell · 2013-04-22 07:53

I looked into the Griffin website this weekend.... they had a direct bolt in replacement(exact fit).... no prices(from what I saw)....and the ones i mapped out were for a Fairlane..... i assume the Fairlane and Custom V/8 Rads are the same.The only thing that got me a little confused was there were 2 different sizes.....(core size--18x24 and 16x22.88)
There website mentioned these were a direct OEM fitment.
I guess calling and asking would be the best.

JimNolan · 2013-04-22 08:32

Quote from: Jeff Norwell on 2013-04-22 07:53
I looked into the Griffin website this weekend.... they had a direct bolt in replacement(exact fit).... no prices(from what I saw)....and the ones i mapped out were for a Fairlane..... i assume the Fairlane and Custom V/8 Rads are the same.The only thing that got me a little confused was there were 2 different sizes.....(core size--18x24 and 16x22.88)
There website mentioned these were a direct OEM fitment.
I guess calling and asking would be the best.

Jeff,
When I order mine, I call them and talk to a tech. I let him tell me what I needed. They had radiators for 312 w and w/o auto, radiators for FE engines w or w/o automatics etc. They had any engine combination you wanted. The Radiator that they sent me for the 57 had holes (not slotted) drilled that was so tight the bolts wouldn't hardly pass through them and they fit the mount holes in the support perfect. When I got through mounting it, I considered it a structural piece of the car.

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moving the radiator forward