radiator

[fordtechfx404]

could someone tell me how to cut the radiator support to move it forward to get more clearance in front of the engine . i have searched but cant find it in here , but im not the best on computors either .thanks in advance for any help.

[Teddyzee]

Sure.
On my '97, I trimmed the underside of the core support. Only had to cut about 1/4"or so.
I was then able to sit the rad on the frame, under the support, instead of on the rad mounts that are on the frame in front of the support. This allowed me to bolt the front of the rad directly to the vertical, flat section of the core support.

Some pics... These are from an update thread on another site, from Spring of 2011, I rewired the engine, painted the engine bay, and did many other updates.

Here are some pointers on my rad install. 1997 Ranger 4.0 manual trans rad, works great with the 5.0.
I cut the bottom of the core support slightly to stuff the rad underneath, where the AC condenser once lived.

This swap was done in 2009, and I've just pulled it all apart for cleaning, painting, and other work. So, none of the rust you are about to see is still there!!

Here is the rad with two 10" puller fans mounted.


The rad used to live on these two frame perches, the upper one, at the tip of my finger


It now rests right on the frame, pointed here:


A few more shots of the frame positions






The wings on the side of the rad were trimmed slightly, maybe 1/4", to drop the rad a little lower once it was sitting on the frame. This was to reduce the amount of trimming needed under the core support.





Here you see the minimal cutting that I did under the core support


The larger square is for the rad cap, which is easily accessed/removed






So the rad is now bolted directly to the flat part of the core support.
Here are the stock bolt locations in the rad:

[Teddyzee]

And more...

Here is the mounting hole I drilled in the core support. From the inside:


And from the outside




Quite simple, really.





I also notched the front crossmember slightly to clear the lower rad hose. I actually trimmed way too much, and I'm not sure it was absolutely necessary. You can see the missing chunk in many of those pictures.

Here's a sneak peak of the thing back in position. Truck is still in many pieces...

[fordtechfx404]

I forgot to mention that mines a 88 model . That stil gives me an idea of what i have to do .

[Teddyzee]

Here's a '92. Should be a similar procedure:

I think I have the same radiator he is talking about trying to fit. It's the pre 95 4.0 explorer radiator. It's smaller and fits a lot easier. I didn't have to cut away from the top of the core support at all. I cut the sides a bit and the bottom was cut to about 1/2" thick to get the radiator as far forward as possible. It sits flush with the vertical center section of the core. Then I bolted it thru some existing holes in the core and I made mounting tabs for the bottom. This radiator has pegs sticking down from the bottom.

I cut the material away on the bottom until all that was left was flat steel. The radiator sits up against it. And I'm using 87-93 FEAD. With the dual fans (complements of teddyzee) I have plenty of room.

All I did was cut the mounting brackets off the radiator itself and pushed it down and slid it under the lip of the core support. I then made L-brackets out of aluminum that I screwed to the core support to hold it there.

The bottom of mine went by-by, but this is on a Gen-1. 87-93 FEAD. Not much room for an elect. fan, just went with a mechanical flex for now.



Made a new piece for the bottom out of some angle iron from the hardware store - there were 2 holes in the frame already there that worked good for this:



Did all of this with a sawzal, grinder, hand drill, drill press, and a reall large drill bit for the 2 pegs at the bottom of the rad. Drilled two holes in the front core support and used 2 stainless bolts to retain the radiator in at the top. Trimmed a little at the top for the radiator cap. Stock mustang upper hosed worked good, lower is a different story.

Edit:

Ended up with:



Pete

[Grumpy]

man yall cut alot !!!!!!!!! ..LMAO.. i got the Duff aluminum rad and so far with my whole swap..... i have had to cut not one thing !!!!........ lol... the Duff one fits inside the rad support and requires no cutting.... yea yea yea... its like $400 but hell... its worth it to me ...lol

ill get a couple pix of mine put up in a day or so ..... got a dentist apt today to have some teeth cut out... so i doubt ill feel like it today... lol

[plowboy34]

We did the Duff radiator also, we got it when they first came out and got it for like $300 but as grumpy said worth every dime. If I was to do another one I would do it again. We have never had a cooling issue, works awesome.

[Grumpy]

yea ... when i got mine... almost 2 years ago .... it was $395 plus like 20 for shipping ....its THICK too and a direct fit.. NO cutting .... just like 3 or 4 small holes to drill .....thats it .....

[faststang90]

i got 1 from summit like 365.00. i had to add spacers under it and had to drill and install some thread pieces. also i had to get some hoses

[Teddyzee]

So many ways to skin a cat!

Those rads look... cool.
(was going to say "nice", but couldn't resist )