cutting the front out to fit in a new radiator

OK, got the radiator, did a little cutting so the radiator will fit further away from the engine (to clear my electric fan), and have it centered between the fenders, but now there is all this extra metal cut away on one side and it looks uncentered, and sorta crappy.

Can I cut away some of the metal so that there is a more equal amount of open space on both sides of the radiator? Sorta like (but probably not exactly like) the pictures below..

Would it mess up any structural strengthening supports? Even better, can I cut out on both sides to open it up to be nearly symetrical?

Would allowing more air to pass into the engine bay be beneficial or will it hurt in any way?

 

What size radiator did you get?

 

know how to weld/measure? of course you do, i read dellas saga. im not being a s/ass here, you can fab a new support fairly easily. i did it and put a 4 core 30.5 in my comet. unfortunately my digital camera took a dirt nap, or id show you. just look at it, think of what ya wanna see when its done, im sure you got it under control.

 

this is a Griffin 19X22 (I would have gone 19X26, but then you start to hit frame that I don't want to cut into. Beside, 26 is a DAMN big radiator for this small car.)

It really isn't much bigger than stock side-to-side, but thicker by 1/2-3/4". I want it so sit under the lip at the top and nearly flush to the front piece of steel. This will give me a good 3/4-1" between my electric fan and the water pump pulley.

I have some more cutting into the old radiator mounting surfaces so it will sink deeper into the frame. Actually, quite a bit of cutting. But, I am worried that once it is mounted, all this space on the sides will look like crap, especially if there is much more space on one side than the other.

 

Wow, that is some space with what is cut out you could have gone with the 19x26. I would fabricate and weld in new metal. I wouldn't want the open spaces as the air will go around the radiator rather than through it.

 

im gonna mess with my camera to show you what i did, i have a 72 comet gt. i made the 30.5 slide right in, im also running an electric fan. think about this, if all ya wanna do is move it out, just cut where ya want, slip it forward, then reweld the channel, just go from inside to out. i mean really, after all youve done, youd let a silly thing like this hold you back? i have faith, now just fix it!:16suspect

 

In order to fit a 30.5 inch wide radiator you would have to cut into the front of the frame rails.

 

like i said....so? if ya wanna do it, do it, its no huge loss.

 

my radiator fits barelly between frame rails, but i didn't have to cut them, only the radiator support.

 

In the first picture it looks like its way too small for the opening, did you cut it out on the sides?, you want the air to flow through the finned area of the rad, the more you force through them the better, it looks like you'll have to go back and make filler panels so nothing bypasses the rad.

 

I like your way of thinking

 

guess its born outta necessity. my father was a master machinist, i picked it up, and now i just cut and fab as i desire, so the fear of failure is never on my mind. like i said, if you can envision the outcome, the journeys almost over.



wages

 

Well, since I cut my entire radiator support out (in order to make swapping the engine and tranny combined out easier), I'd say cut away.

I fabbed a removable peice of 2" SQ angle Aluminum to go across the top and attached them to the fender wells. That peice, along with the Monte Carlo bar seems to be just fine.

I picked up the idea from Ivy Colllins (ex-maverick owner/racer from here).

I'm not sure if you can tell by this picture or not, but here's a distant shot of what I did.

http://mmb.maverick.to/gallery/files/7/2006show132-00_original_original.jpg

I'll be at Strictly Performance (45 S) on Saturday morning with the Maverick if you wanna come look at how I did mine (and watch a Dyno Tune in the process).

 

I plan on doing this type of mod. I suspect one could take a fox body Rad and fit in there with dual electric cooling fans. More pics from people who have done it would be very appreciated!!!

 

Rick,


I checked out your picture. I like it much cleaner than the original maverick support.