Saturday, June 8, 2019

Preparing for Ford Nationals - Radiator Upgrade 2 - Incorrect Radiator Arrives

The Champion CC379 radiator arrived today and I quickly realized the return outlet was on the wrong side.  I needed to purchase a Champion CC338 and made a mistake.  I quickly ordered the correct one in hopes of receiving it in time to install before the trip to Tulsa.  I decided I'd wait just a bit to return the CC379 as it has the same size core and I could use it for mock up purposes.

As I sat the radiator in place this evening, it was very apparent this would not be just a drop in type situation.  I purchased the stock upper and lower radiator mounts from Scott Drake along with the rubber insulators.  While it is a start, it is far from functional.

The upper mount bolts into place without any trouble.  The mount will fit over the top of the radiator as expected without the rubber insulators in place.  However, the insulators are just too thick (~1/4" thick) to fit in the upper mount and still have it slide over the radiator.  I don't see a way to fit anything thicker than 1/8" in the mount with the space that exists.  

The lower mounts are worse as they are exactly 3" wide.  However, where they contact the radiator, it is only 1-3/8" wide so the bottom can just slide forward and backwards.  I can complete rebuild the lower mounts but I think I'll use them to hold the weight and then make some brackets to the radiator support to keep the radiator from moving forward and backward.  I might put some more work into it later but I need to get this going for now. 

With no radiator, I'm limited on what I can do this weekend.  With it being our 19th wedding anniversary, my wife and I are heading out of town.  I'll do a bit of work when we return on Sunday so that I can install the radiator which is scheduled for delivery on Monday.

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