I'm putting a straight-6 in my 52, and i took out a flathead V-8.
been thinking about cutting the firewall alittle bit and modify the radiator support some to get the clearance i want.

then talking with someone; they said "they think a factory I-6 radiator support is different than mine".
anyone know about this? or able to take a picture of their 6 for me?

thanks,

 

There should be two sets of mounting holes. The rear ones are for the V8, the front for the 6.
Some of the sheet metal shrouns amy need to be trimed and the seal attached to the undersid will need to be narrowed and moved forward.

 

The radiator on a flat six radiator sits farther forward than one in a truck with a flathead 8 because the six is a longer engine. The air dam in the hood also sits further toward front. I just checked my F-1 and there are two sets of holes in crossover below the frame to move the radiator "U" mount forward for the six. There are also holes in the inner fender panels. You will have to shorten the air dam in the hood or find one from a six cylinder truck.

 

If I remember correctly, there are 3 bolts to remove to move it forward. I recommend taking the tire off to get space up under the fender. I did not and had to fight around the front tires. It was fairly simple to do. once you look under the front fenders you will see the second set of holes to move the mounts to.

 

I'll be damned. I wish I'd known that two weeks ago when I was struggling with how to fit in a bigger electric fan behind the radiator. Oh, well, what I ended up with works.

 

Wow, you guys are great............

i don't know how i didn't see the 2nd set of mounting hole in the crossmember.
they are about 4" farther forward than the ones the radiator support is mounting in now.
so the inner fenders have a 2nd set of holes also?

 

As stated by others, the radiator or "core" support just moves forward. The upper and lower air dams are different for the V-8 position from the 6 cylinder position. The easiest way is to find a used set of the 6 cylinder air dams. Someone on the forum probably has a set that you can buy. Then the entire changeover is a bolt in (holes are already there in the hood and front sheet metal). It is possible to modify the V-8 ones but it will take some doing to make them fit well and look good.

 

The lower air dams should be different. 48-50 model years were different from 51/52. 51/52 were flat, while the 48-50 had a few bends at the edges.

The upper air dams are also different sizes. 6 cyl is approximately 31" wide and V8 is 33".

Rad support for 6 cylinder sits closer to the grille, while for the V8 sits further away from the grille. The PO of my 52 did the opposite of what you're doing. He, like you, couldn't figure out how to move the rad support closer to the engine. So, instead, he made sleeves to fit over longer bolts and mounted the radiator to the support as it was positioned for the 6 cylinder engine. I couldn't figure out why he did that for the longest time until I parted out a few trucks and realized the different position.

Now, I'm in the process of putting the OHV 6 cylinder back inside. Good thing is that I won't have to move my rad support. I just have to add the upper air deflector as mine is missing.