Auto City radiator hood clearance

[jdlafayette]

Hello Guys, I have an Auto City radiator in my '57 with a 390. It's not done and the hood is still off. The gooseneck looks too high to clear the hood. I measured the height compared to the stock as best as I could and it looks about 1" higher. I know a bunch of you guys bought one too and I wanted to see how it has worked out.
Thanks, John

[57AGIN]

 jdlafayette:

Just be real careful when you go to put your hood on.  Put some modeling or car cleaning clay on the radiator cap and gently close the hood.  This will give you an idea about your hood clearance or lack thereof.  If your filler tube and cap are placed toward the firewall, it probably won't be an issue if it sits on top of the radiator in the center of the core support, you will probably have a clearance issue.  Here are a couple of photos to show what I mean.

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Bob, the radiator John is talking about is very close to the stock oem design with the neck/cap on top on the driver's side. The car in the last pic may have one of those...looks a little "squattier" than mine.
John..mine's in, but my hood/fenders are not yet..it's going to be very close. The only one I know that I've talked to about it fitting is Pat/Suede'57. He's installed several I believe.
LOL..I know for sure I'm not going to be able to use that vintage billet Moon radiator cap I've got.
I also moved mine forward about 1 1/4", so I've got less hood clearance than in it's stock location. Take a look at slotting the radiator flange to move it down a bit....see how much room you've got at the bottom using the holes as they came, I think you can gain some there.

[RICH MUISE]

Also, when I lowered mine, I cut off the upward facing flange off the botton/inside of the core support where the inner and outer pieces are spot welded, then rewelded the seam. I don't know if this is necessary if the radiator isn't moved forward, but it allowed me to drop it another 1/2 or so. My lower radiator tank is touching the main core support bolt.
I wish they made those radiators an inch shorter.
I know James and his dad have bought some, but I don't think James has ever posted anything about the fit.

[jdlafayette]

Hello Guys,
Thanks for the input. I am going to have a friend help me place the hood on this weekend. I have a lever type cap on it which I bet might hit. I can lower the radiator about an inch but will have to remove and drill new holes.
Thanks , John

[RICH MUISE]

Cool...no pun intended. If you have a dollar tree store near you...I got some kid's play-doh for a buck there a year or two ago...works great for making impressions..you could put a big ball of it on top of the radiator cap, close the hood and know exactly how much clearance you have. smells good too!

[jdlafayette]

I will try that this weekend when I can get a friend to help me. There was a lot of talk about these radiators but then it all died down. Maybe nobody has gotten that far like me! I end up doing everything 3 times. The picture doesn't show radiator height very well. I will get a better one. Thanks , John

[RICH MUISE]

I posted some pics of mine in the "4.6dohc being installed now" thread a while back, including the Markviii fan and shroud, and overflow tank....but no hood yet!
This pic shows how I moved it forward. Note the slot (both sides) that let me mount the flange insinde the core support with 1" sq. tube as  spacers.

[57AGIN]

Rich:

You probably solved your clearance problem by lowering your radiator, but I'd get out your Play Dough just in case.  The hood on the 57's drops down closer to the radiator the further forward you get.  My clearance issue didn't happen because the neck of the filler tube goes straight toward  the rear then angles up, I have good clearance at the point where my radiator cap is.  I was real concerned about the fit of the Paxton carb enclosure box, but found I have good clearance there, too.  Jus plain luck, not good engineering.

Bob
57 AGIN

[Ford Blue blood]

Bob being lucky is sometimes better then being good!

[RICH MUISE]

I don't think it will be an unresolvable problem by any means, if it is a problem. I've got several routes I can take if I need to, from moving the radiator back forwards..as it turns out I could have kept it in the original location..just would have been harder to adapt radiator hoses. Another solution would be to alter the tank so it's got a filler like yours (not on top). I do like being able to look into the radiator tank to watch coolant flow..something you can't do if the filler is side mounted.

[jdlafayette]

I just had a friend help me set the hood on my car and the radiator is at least an inch too high. Have to take some measurements and redrill the radiator mounting holes and lower it as much as possible. If no one else had this problem maybe mine was drilled wrong.
Happy Easter, John

[RICH MUISE]

That's what I didn't want to hear. I'm getting the feeling all or most of these Classic City Auto radiators are too tall

[57 Ford Kustom]

Rich,
   Don't I remember a member on here saying that he used a 2x4 and a hammer to set the fill lower? Maybe it wasn't a classic city radiator, but he said that he hit it down until it cleared the hood and with no damage to the radiator!
tim

[RICH MUISE]

Yep...that was Pat Fleishman. Not a bad idea really given the size of the weld around the top tank..just gotta be careful what size hammer to use. I actually gave mine a few taps, but not hard enough to move anything..never gave it a second try, but I probably will sometime. That alum sheet they used to form the top tank you would think should move pretty easy, but it's sturdier than you'd think.