Cooling issues

[Big_John]

I have a Bee-Cool radiator that was too big for the opening, I think it's a 26" radiator, but I didn't measure it. It made no difference to me, It fit between the battery and the right frame rail. It came with a notch cut into the tank for the right frame rail, approximately 3/4 of an inch deep. To take advantage of the entire radiator core, I had to cut 4 1/4" from the opening and moved the original edge back and welded it. It looks like it could have come from the factory like this. Well, at least to the guys that aren't on here .
Here's some pictures, it really wasn't that difficult to do.

This is where it started


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Then I cut 4 1/4" out of it. Here you can see I moved the original metal at the opening back. I used some of the metal I cut out, to fill the gap.


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Here it is welded.

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It's thin here, but not a problem.

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Here it is primed and installed so I can fit the condenser, drier, and put holes in it for the hoses. Then it comes back out for paint. It's the last part to paint. You can see the opening is large enough now. I still need to make a shroud for electric fans, I'm running 1 large one and a smaller one because I don't want to have a cooling problem. I have a 140 amp alternator and there's an American Auto Wire Highway 22 plus harness installed so the fans and all the other electronics are covered without any wires getting hot.

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This is how I took care of the opening, you may find a better way. Good luck!! Over 40 years ago I had a cooling problem with this car, if I remember right, it had a lot to do with the timing and air/fuel ratio. I was screwing with it, without understanding things well enough
Might want to check those things out.?.?

I like how you did that.

So many guys just hack the opening to the larger size, pop some holes in it and call it a day. This is the right way to do it!

 

[redsled]

That’s an excellent tutorial. Unfortunately I’m not that handy. Lol. However I’ll keep it in mind as a last resort. Appreciate the insight!!

 

[Darby]

That’s an excellent tutorial. Unfortunately I’m not that handy. Lol. However I’ll keep it in mind as a last resort. Appreciate the insight!!

If you have a nice solid support now, you might want to get an estimate from a shop to make it work with the larger radiator (show them my pictures). Once you know the cost, you can make a decision about purchasing another support and painting it. Keep in mind it could need repairs, rust or dents before painting it. There’s an expense either way, pick what’s best for you.