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Technical How wrong is it to mount the rad in front of the core support?

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by samdjr74, Dec 11, 2019.

  1. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    Ok, so am I breaking more rules then it's worth to mount my radiator in front of the core support? I'm not going to place the entire radiator in front of the core support but I need space between the front of the water pump to mount the new electric fan and radiator I got from Wizard cooling for my 58 Coronet. Basically the bolts that hold the pully onto the pump are slamming into the fan. My idea is if I cut away the oversized mounting brackets that came with the new radiator I can use mount the brackets to the front of the rad support and gain about 3/4". But obviously this is not commonly done, so is it a bad thing or a great idea?

    No pictures just because I can't fit everything in there without cutting the bracket and I'd prefer not to cut my stock rad support.
     
  2. Doublepumper
    Joined: Jun 26, 2016
    Posts: 1,534

    Doublepumper
    Member
    from WA-OR, USA

    I've done it in the past with no issues. Just need to make sure the radiator is well supported and there is no flexing of the core support from moving the radiator. Worked for me....I thought it was a great idea.
     
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  3. low down A
    Joined: Feb 6, 2009
    Posts: 500

    low down A
    Member

    i did the very same thing when i put a 440 in a 56 chrysler. i didn't look at it as a bad or a great idea more of a solution to the problem of not enough room. i think tri 5 chevy's from the factory were done this way maybe the sixes
     
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  4. I’m confused as to why you would have to. Those cars came with a big block with a real fan.


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  5. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    Well the water pump on the 325 sticks out pretty far so it can move the original fan as close as possible to the radiator. Because of this I have no room to run and electric fan which I'd prefer to do to keep the engine cooler.

    Funny thing is if I could find a water pump that doesn't have a super long snout and new pully I'd be set but from what I can tell, there wasn't a short snout option.

    wp.jpg
     
    loudbang likes this.
  6. Why do you think the electric fan will cool better? I would use the original setup long before an electric fan. As for your original question, the radiator won’t care


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  7. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    The original set up is inefficient and has no shroud. The 4 blade fan is small and just a poor set up. The electric fan has a shroud, pulls more cfm's and is self regulating
     
    loudbang likes this.
  8. Ok, funny it worked for as long as it did. I’ve personally never used an electric fan on anything, I would upgrade the fan if anything but hopefully it works for you


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  9. kevinrevin
    Joined: Jul 1, 2018
    Posts: 189

    kevinrevin
    Member
    from East Texas

    Why not put a shroud on the original set up? You can likely find one that will work, or even build your own.
    Or, just put the electric fan in front of the radiator?
     
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  10. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    Actually it's never worked well. Maybe it did a few decades ago but since I've had it, it ran hot. Now at some point the poly heads were swapped for hemi heads, so this probably had a big change in the cooling system as you couldn't get a hemi in 58.
     
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  11. Lots of stuff never had a shroud and cooled just fine, I have a big block dodge in a car with no shroud and no problem. Do people think these cars just overheated all the time when they were new? They didn’t.


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  12. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    So I had a pusher that worked ok but not great and unless it was running it was blocking air flow. As far as finding an original shroud, it's almost impossible as it only came with cars equipped with A/C. So I could build one but my radiator is brittle so we keep going down a rabbit hole finding new issues. That's why I opted to go with a new radiator and electric puller fan with shroud.
     
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  13. How hot is hot? Did it boil over? I doubt the heads drastically changed the cooling but anything is possible. If it works better for you to move the rad and run an electric fan then go for it, there are lots that overheat Ewing electric fans due to poor setups. Whatever you choose to use will work if done properly.


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  14. kevinrevin
    Joined: Jul 1, 2018
    Posts: 189

    kevinrevin
    Member
    from East Texas

    So, you replaced old radiator with new one. Did that solve the heating issue?
    Or are you just adding the electric fan because you think it is necessary?
     
  15. I would give it a shot with the new rad, possibility of an issue if the old one is no good? Just thinking might save some work? Either way, I love these cars, post some pictures!!


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  16. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    Haven't replaced it yet, just got it in the other day and need to modify the brackets so I can mount it.
     
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  17. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    Hot enough to boil over.
     
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  18. Many cars had the Rad mounted in front of the Core support. Doing that is just fine, the car won't know. I suspect going to electric fans in your case is just a different brand of Band-aid. Trying to convince you that a manual fan can and would do the job isn't going to work so just do it and come back to us with the results. Changing to Hemi heads isn't your issue either. It's either water volume, water flow or air flow. When those 3 things are all correct the type of fan you use to move the air don't matter. Trying to fix any one of those issues with electric fans isn't going to work.
     
  19. Radiators aren't all that smart....they won't know if they are in front or back of the support, they just want air flow.
     
  20. J. A. Miller
    Joined: Dec 30, 2010
    Posts: 2,057

    J. A. Miller
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Central NY

    I don't know your mechanical background so I'll ask anyway. Are you overfilling the radiator? Radiators with a top mounted tank need space for the coolant to expand. When they are overfilled, they will puke coolant out.
     
  21. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    No, i'm not overfilling it
     
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  22. My wife has a ot vehicle with way over 200,000 miles and the electric fan keeps it cool on the hottest days even with the air cond on and sitting still idling. So I know that they do work. What ruins cooling systems is adding tap water. The minerals in tap water will clog up the radiators and water jackets. Before you install that new radiator. knock out all the core plugs and make certain the water jackets are clean. and refill with distilled water and antifreeze or rust inhibitor. Even if you have to pull the engine clean those water jackets.
     
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  23. badvolvo
    Joined: Jul 25, 2011
    Posts: 471

    badvolvo
    Member

    I used to do the electric fan thing, works well on my streetrodish 36 chevy. However, my 59 Vette always ran hot, didnt want to go the electric route. I bought a flex fan, it sucked, it was worse than the OEM 4 blade. Tried another better looking fan, fit my shroud better. I had to change the thermostat to get it to warm up with the new fan.
    Bought the same one for my 632" BBC, nice shroud, keeps this 900hp beast cool without issues. Street driven as well.

    I am completely sold on using a belt drive fan, the right one, with a good shroud.
     
  24. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    Actually I'm thinking about going with a waterless coolant. That's what the radiator manufacture recommends. It's not cheap but it removes a lot of those issues with water.

    I still need to pull the core plugs, I want to do that next week if I get a chance. So far I've drained the block with the drains but they didn't do much, pulled the entire water pump housing off and sucked coolant out with a shop vac from the block as well as blew coolant out from the head down through the block.
     
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  25. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,388

    Squablow
    Member

    The radiator in my '57 Chevy is mounted in front of the core support with no issues, they actually came that way on the 6 cylinder cars. That should be fine.

    I've always been told that a non-flex, non clutch mechanical fan will move more air than any electric can, but that's just what I've heard, I have no actual data.
     
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  26. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    Theres nothing wrong with mounting a radiator forward of the core support on tri5 chevies. I do it all the time.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2019
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  27. Betcha it boiled over BECAUSE the radiator was plugged. If it is junk, perhaps cut it open and prove me wrong. FWIW, I have been down that road. More than once. Never had an engine overheat after rodding the radiator. NEVER.

    Ben
     
  28. rudestude
    Joined: Mar 23, 2016
    Posts: 3,048

    rudestude
    Member

    Don't understand why you would think its wrong...thats been common practice for years in the hot rod world on some cars and trucks..
    As long as its done nicely and you don't chop up the core support so that the radiator is the only thing supporting the front sheet metal...
    Along with the radiator being pluged up , I have had a engine block so full of muddy sandy crap that it would hardly flow...I was going to replace a leaking soft plug and when I pulled it out the block passage was plugged solid..I pull all the plugs I couldget to and rammed coat hangers in it to break the crap up then kept flushing it....

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  29. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

     
  30. samdjr74
    Joined: Feb 8, 2016
    Posts: 170

    samdjr74

    I plan on leaving the radiator support as is so only the radiator bracket itself will be trimmed. And I agree, I need to pull those freeze plugs as soon as I get a chance.
     

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