The T-V8 finally drives, but what about the radiator shake?

I've spent all my free time (and then some) putting together this 27 T roadster on A rails with a 52 flatty for the last six months. I worked hard to get it to the Hamb drags, but missed it by one week. I drove it for the first time this past weekend.

I've got one major concern. The radiator does alot of shaking right to left as I drive. So much that it appears it will end up self destructing. This doesn't seem normal. I had it mounted solid on rubber belting, then went back to the spring loaded mount bolts with no difference. My tires are in balance, no shake there. Is this normal? How can it be corrected?

 

Don't know the answer to your question, but that is a really cool car. Nice job dude.

I am curious as well - I may end up with the same issue.

 

I'd like to suggest you try mounting a second radiator support rod, mounted to mirror the one that you already have. Having only one support rod will keep the radiator from moving fore and aft but not side to side.

Nice looking car by the way...

 

I agree..add more support is possible...Cool T roadster!
Tim
MBL

 

try putting the second radiator support rod on! they aren't just for front to back support ya know! that V shape stops them from shaking like you are talking about. what made you decide to put only one on anyway??

 

I plan to put the second support rod on. I only had the driver side rod mount for the cowl - of course I had two for the drivers side and none for the passenger side. As soon as I locate the second one, I'll have it mounted. Probably can't see it in the pics, but there's a chalk line on the cowl to mount the passenger side rod. There's so much shake, it doesn't seem like the second rod will help that much on the lateral movement.

 

Answer is gonna involve triangulation, in more than one plane likely, but before doing anything, now much is crossmember moving?? In other words, do you have the frame doing the mambo down there or is radiator jiggling atop a fairly stable platform??
That car has really good proportions!

 

Good lookin T!!

I didn't want to use the support rods from the firewall to the radiator because I felt it would take away from the looks of the engine and I would have had to bend them around the air cleaner cover. I made mounts that attach to the frame and go up the sides of the radiator to support it at the the top as well as at the mounting points at the base.

Is your radiator shell "resting" on the radiator? If so, that weight could be part of the problem also. You may want to make mounts for just the shell so it is not adding to the weight that is supported by the lower mounts. Kind of like it is "floating" around it. Just an idea.

 

No shocks? Is your frame boxed?

Having driven a '32 without boxing I notice a LOT of grille shake. I bet your's is the same.

 

box the frame, add some strength

 

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Bruce, the front end looks stable going down the road. One advantage to an open wheel car - you can look right down on what's going on. I don't have tire shake and the front crossmember/lower end of the radiator are stable. The only issue I know of is a hard miss in the flatty. There's not much give in the biscuit mounts, so that miss could be transmitting through the frame to the radiator. I've got a dead cylinder that will get dealt with this winter when I put a cam in the engine. It appears there is some sort of harmonic going on with the radiator shake.

Which leads me to Nailheads comments on the shell. I do have the shell mounted to the radiator and it could be amplifying the shaking. At this point my plan of attack is to 1st - mount the 2nd radiator support rod, 2nd - if that doesn't help, pull the grille shell and see what happens, 3rd - either add supports to the side of the radiator or float the shell depending the results from #2.

Always a few bugs to work out in a new build.....

 

....yessir, triangulation.

That starts with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for POOL!

 

damn- that's a nice lookin' hotrod.

 

I love it! That looks like it could be from grandpa's photo album.

 

'32 type shells have been mounted to radiators for around 75 years now. I doubt that the shell is the problem. Radiator support rods in the usual Ford configuration should put a stop to the movement if all other aspects of the frame/mounts/brackets/etc are done correctlt. The triangulation of the support rods is what makes them work so well.

I have seen a number of parallel support rods done for looks and they almost always allow shake in the radiator.

My two cents.

Charlie

 

Is that rod mount a stock T piece? If so I might have it.

 

I'm using Model A support rod mounts. They have the angles formed in. The T only had the one support rod from the center of the cowl to the radiator. I picked up a passenger side mount this evening, so will know soon. Thanks for the offer on the mount anyhow.

 

my av8 does the same thing, i attribute it to an unboxed frame. sometimes i run a stock hood and the shaky rad settles down so i dont think the support rods will help you much.

 

I thought T's only had one, but couldn't remember. Glad you found one.

 

Then again.....could be squirrels. Water gets hot, they start wiggin' out. Have you noticed when the car is parked, the radiator isn't moving around? Cool water.

 

A couple of thoughts: Just as an experiment--pure science interests here...
pull off the shell to lighten radiator a bit and see if that alters the mystery dynamic going on...
Second---how about forming a bracket on each side, I'm thinking a tall, narrow triangle shape with a 90 degree edge on backside to stiffen, which would bolt into the two bolt holes on each side of radiator that attach grill shell...bottom of triangle would be short so as to eliminate visual impact, would give each side of radiator a second mounting bolt about 2" aft of stock one. Both on one side bolted solid, both on other sprung.
Looks like you have a '33 truck setup?? If so base could be extended more than with '32 without disrupting engine bay appearance. Bolted in right and painted to match, it would seem to be part of the regular radiator side straps.

 

oh yes, stock T would have had single central radiator stay rod I think. I'm guessing that two on a stock T would have made the radiator the stiffest part of the frame, and torn it to shreds in the first 50 miles...

 

I have a similiar setup and I get radiator shake when the tire pressure gets low. The car is so light that I don't notice the low pressure from looking at the sidewalls.

 

Trying to build battleship standard radiator mounts is looking in the wrong direction. Your ride is neat but lacks a very important aspect that controls the vibration in a chassis, LACK OF FRONT SHOCKS. With out the shocks the chassis is in constant spring oscillation and this vibration transfers up to the chassis. Because of the C frame design this magnifies to any free standing part, in your case the radiator and shows up as a vibration. You do not want to bolt the radiator solid so this can be cured in two ways, first, triangulating the radiator to the firewall with the radiator support rods. Then add a set of shocks to the front to control the spring and you will see that the radiator movement will now be very limited as well as the ride greatly improved.