It is past time that I replace the radiator in my '81 F100 (and the heater core too. It's starting to steam and fog the window on cold days. Sigh.) It came with the normal duty cooling (I believe) as it has a raditor with a 2 row core. The core is about 1 1/2" thick or so and each row of tubes is made of very flat tubes.

What I would like ot know is if I can upgrade to the heavy duty radiator (aka: Modine 561 vs. 560 "stock") without having to find a whole lot of new mounting brackets and such. Will the HD radiator drop into the existing radiator supports? I know, it sounds like a stupid questions, but this IS an early '80s Ford, so...

Thanks for the help.

 

You would have to change your hoses, but you should change those anyways. The tanks were all pretty much the same size, just different core thickneses.

Jared

 

What engine are you running? the inlet and outlet are on different sides for the 6 and the 8 cyl. If you're running a 302/351, you could go with a 4 core radiator for a F350 w/ a 460 with A/C, PS....etc. How heavy duty do you wanna go?

 

Ford offered extra cool on all it's engines, and it was the same radiator as was used with A/C. I believe it was a 3 row for the 300-6, and a four row for everything else. The four row raditors are available for the 300-6, try some of the online parts houses, or try the online store here.

Jared

 

This should be really easy, since have done it myself on my 80 F150. Basically, if you look at the driver's side top mount for the radiator, then look about 6 inches over (more to the driver's side), you'll see another threaded hole. This is where the mount moves to for the wider radiator. You will need a longer hose, but it's an easy swap. If you want to get really creative, you can open up the sheet metal in front of the radiator (there will be metal in front of the new section that you just put in), but I just left mine as didn't really have an over heating issue, just wanted the biggest radiator I could get in there (my 300 doesn't generate much heat I guess).

Zee