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

Helped build a VW camper with a Olds Toranado engine and transaxle in the back and cooled with a flat mounted radiator in the back. The radiator doesn't care where it's mounted Just needs airflow.

 

Its no big deal. Just make sure that the rad seals more or less to the core support so that the air has to go through the radiator and not around it.

People have been moving the radiator for more decades than I have been building cars. Hell in the '70s when I stuff a high torque 292 in my 41 Chevy I have to move the radiator for clearance. I never looked back, it worked and I was happy

 

Due to the fact the Ranch Wagon was originally equipped with a inline 6 it was necessary to flip theradiator core around to gain valuable space for the 302 V8, your right it doesn't car which way it is mounted. HRP

 

I am wracking my brain here to remember which one it was. GM built one that the rad was in front of the core for the bigger engine and behind the core for the smaller motor.

 

Tri 5 Chevy six cylinder radiators are aft of the core support and V8 radiators are forward of the core support.

 

We moved the radiator forward in a '54 Chev and had to trim the air deflector inside the hood to clear the top tank. Maybe something to check if you move it up. Never thought of it until the hood didn't shut.

 

I guess I’m still confused why you feel like you need an electric fan....you said it overheated, you also said the rad was plugged/no good? Put a new rad in the stock spot, with the stock fan and drive happily ever after.

All to often people want to re engineer a system that needs a simple repair.


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Exactly backwards.
SPark

 

1955 Chevy, V8 was shorter than inline 6. Back in the day I had an original Bel Air V8 and the radiator was mounted toward the engine bay. Also had a original 6 cylinder business coupe that we converted to a Modified Production race car where the radiator was mounted in front of the support toward the grill. Kept the 6 cylinder radiator location when we installed the V8 race motor and had no heating issues. Of course we only ran it 1/4 mile and return. Lol

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Man!!! You're not REALLY gonna put the radiator in FRONT of the rad support are you?! You can't be serious. That ranks right up there with kicking cats and stomping little dogs!! That would be soooo worng! Man please....think of your soul!!
6sally6

 

ok...gonna make myself unpopular with the "traditional" guys. engine driven fans are extremely G.D. dangerous. there were 3 or more ford techs killed by em in the late 70s when there was a bad batch. and those werent ripped off a 65 year old car , and then run hoodless at a rod run with people walking by. sometimes "tradition" needs to yield to common sense, but as we all know, thats becoming less common. same guys feel that weather checked 40 year old bias plies are the bees knees.

 

Oh good god........give me a fucking break....


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Man you can say that again. Listen I don't know why he is even asking for advice, he seems to already know all there is to know!

 

It was mostly referencing this. Mostly.


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It breaks my soul to see a cool ass car cruising by me just to hear an electric fan kick on.... personally i feel like an electric fan fastened to a radiator restricts air flow at speed...

 

You got it backwards. the longer six cyl engines got the radiator placed ahead of the core support. the shorter tri five chevy V8 got the radiator placed behind the core support.

 

Old Wolf, my bad. Posted it backwards.

 

An electric fan is a better solution for most cooling problems because:

1. The mechanical fan doesn't move enough air when idling, especially with the additional heat load of an A.C. condenser.
2. It does move air at higher rpm, but when youre going 35 mph or more, you don't need it. Ram air moves air through the radiator just fine unless you've got a restriction. You are just wasting power turning a fan at this point. (i.e poorer gas mileage)
3. An electric fan moves max airflow regardless of engine rpm and cuts off when you are moving enough ram air not to need it. (Think about traffic delays due to road construction, etc.) You will get better overall cooling and gas mileage with an electric fan.

Yes , it's not "traditional" but advances in engineering have made it a better alternative, especially when space between the water pump pulley and radiator are at a premium. I have both and i have had no problems with my electric fans.

 

It's my experience that if I'm finding myself trying to put more air through the radiator to correct overheating, it's not an airflow issue. The radiator isn't sufficient for what I'm trying to do. i.e. the radiator holds 2 gallons, block holds 3, making the exchange non efficient. Radiators aren't created equal.

 

WOW! All of this because the guy asked about moving the radiator out in front of the support? I've run electric fans before. One advantage of an electric fan is that it can be set to come on and turn off at preset temperatures, and the fan will only run within those perimeters, if it was set up properly. They work most efficiently at low vehicle speed, and engine rpm doesn't have any effect on how effectuate the electric fan is. The chances of an electric fan running while the car is a highway speeds is probably not very high, but if the fan does run at highway speeds, that probably means the motor is hot and some thing needs to be done.

The engine driven fan turns faster as the engine rpm increases, and slows down when the engine rpm slows down. Often that is just about backwards to what the motor needs to meet its cooling needs. Up until the last 30 years, the car builders have not had a reliable method of running an electric fan, but they have had years of practice making engine driven fans do the job most of the time ( sometimes just barely) because there were few other options. Fortunately, we are no longer bound by the inefficient engine driven fans, unless of course your bound to the old traditions. Gene

 

As a side note some 50’s cars came with a lightweight metal shield and rubber seal above the radiator to the hood to force a lot more grille air thru the radiator. My 56 Ford “could” have had one depending on what part of the county it was used. They also had a half dozen water pump pulleys. Mine did not have the shield but does now and a smaller pulley. No coolant temp problems now.

 

I think we need a electric fan to blow some of the hot air away from the hamb members Lol

 

My 1958 t-bird had a 4 blade fan, no shroud. Sitting in 90 degree traffic it would get hot, so I just tried up the motor and the temp came down.

 

I think this question has been answered.

 

I did it in my 55 Chevy truck when it had the inline 6 in it. Had the engine been properly mounted I'd have never moved it. Swapping in a SBC right now and I'll probably leave it where it is just for a little extra clearance. I drilled the spot welds at the top of the core support, separated the sheet metal from the upper part of the core support, then slid the radiator in from the top. Bought me about 1/2-3/4". I didnt need a lot of room. I did have to trim the mounts on the radiator itself. If I had moved it completely in front of the core support, it would've added a lot of work.

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