my radiator is too big to fit in the stock opening but it looks like if i cut out the upper radiator support the radiator woud sit in there nicely. then all i would have to do is fab up some brackets to hold the top in. you can see where it would need to be cut by the green line. is this a okay thing to do or would this be a bad idea???

 

a pic from the side

 

Lol...having fun with that radiator install yet?

For what it's worth, i modified my lower tray rather than the upper.

BTW...I ran across the same issue. That's a LOT of metal to work through on the top. Even for a torch or some other relevant cutting tool.

 

what was the size of your new radiator? i was thinking of getting a Summit . i think it's 30'' x 19''

 

o yea, its a blast....

how ya been? hows the car comin, i havnt seen ya much. i got my fuel pump in (slight PITA) and the new motor should be in by the end of summer!!

i know its a lot of metal on the top but it will be much easier to make brackets for the top. plus it fits in the bottom just fine, just need something to cushion it and if i slice the top like i want to it should be a perfect fit. i just want to make sure cutting the top is an ok thing to do, no structural problems or anything else i might not be aware of.

 

mine is about 32x19x3. everything is okay size wise but its just a little too tall. i got it from a friend locally and its a heatex brand rad. the only thing is that the upper rad hose fitting is smaller than stock and i hope a clamp will be able to clamp the hose enough the closer i look at it the better it looks but the summit rad is a very nice piece too i hear and fits without too much work (i think)

 

Had the same issues with my 31x19, and also modded the bottom tray to saty with the "stock appearance" up top.

If you have a small welder handy it's a route that's worth the effort for a cleaner look IMO, but if you dont have the experience or tools available, you gotta do what you gotta do. either way will result in some fabricatio, just up to you to pick your posion.

Good luck with it.

 

i do have access to a welder but for my steering sake and the fact it would be a ton easier i think ill chop the top. the engine bay is getting painted but i think before i paint it ill clean up my cut nicely and connect the two pieces of metal i have to cut on the top support. thanks for the help and advice!

BTW, how did you actually modify the bottom tray?? any ppictures by any chance? seeing you used the stock fans makes me think a little bit. does anyone know how much the stock dual fans flow??

 

I dont know what they flow cfm wise, just know with my set-up the hottest it's ever gotten is 180*, usually it's stuck on 150*. Dont matter if it's in town, hwy, or interstate-does'nt even matter what ambient temps are either. we were at 106* Sunday drove around town a lil bit and 180* was it.

Does make it tought on cold days, when they filmed the show Pinks at our track I drove the car out there down the interstate, had to turn off the pump and fans for 5-10 minutes at a time to get the temp gauge to move off 100*, turned them on it's spike to 120* then back down to 100* in seconds.

I dont have any pictures of the modded lower tray, but I cut it out completely leaving the tray itself intact, welded in a 3" filler panel so the radiator would sit up UNDER the metal your talking about cutting out, then welded on some gussets/arms that bolted into the existing sway bar holes to keep it from wanting to move forward or backwards. I also had to massage the pass side "frame horns" in a little to allow the tanks to slide in between them.

 

well a quick cut on top and everything will work out nicely. i can keep my stock rad hoses and i can even reuse one heater hose. i need to pick up a heater hose and a fitting to attach the hose to my waterpump. i got rid of the cluttered looking heater control valve while i was at it....havnt had any a/c for a while now.

i just wish i could cut straight

 

Looks good.

Nice support. Reminds me of my 9/16ths wrench.....

And you were worried it wouldn't fit....bah.

 

haha. well as always i have more problems, i cant run a heater right now (like it really matters) because the heater hose going to the waterpump and the heater hose going to the manifold are directly in the way of eachother. so hopefully with the stealthram the heater hoses wont interfere.

oh and something made me laugh today...i went into pepboys to get a fitting and a heater hose (lucklily they had what i needed, unlike autozone) and they guy told me the hose i had wasnt a 3/4". i literally said are you kidding me??? can i just go in the back and look around. when i showed him a 5/8" hose and a 3/4" hose he shut up.
dont you hate it when they ask what kind of car its going onto even though you said it will have to be from a different application but they wont listen????

 

came out good. does your upper hose fit it look like a diff size than the housing on the intake?

 

oh, i guess i forgot to mention that. nope the upper hose fitting in smaller and the lower is smaller too. i hope i can clamp the hose down enough to prevent any leaks but if that doesnt work i dont know what the hell im gonna do. the only way i can find out is after i get the brackets welded up fill it up with coolant and start the car.

 

What is the inlets diameter on the radiator? As you can probably imagine, there's only so much a hose clamp can do.

 

go for it ive chooped and screwed a few engine compartments in my day. im not sure though if that looks like the core support i hope you dont cut back too much and then rear end someone

 

no, thats the core support. its already cut. this is the bracket i made to hold the radiator into place