Vern and Hotrod, When you went from the 8 to 6 cylinder positions what did you do for fit of the L shaped front fender support braces since they bolt to the core support which moves forward by 3 inches? Does the bolt at the fender attach to the same point on the fender, i.e. do you bend the fender brace to fit (beat to fit and paint to match!)?

 

A lot of activity on this thread. I didn't know what I was starting. I checked out the links that were posted and saw the prices that they are asking for their radiators. Now that my blood pressure is down where it should be, I need to know what year Dodge the radiators mentioned, came out of. I'm not building a parts truck. I'm doing this because I perfer the fabrication route. The Dodge looks like what I had in mind from the start.

 

Vern and Bobby, can you get us more info on the dodge radiator, what year, motor, or maybe even a brand and part #? This will help when I go to the "dumb looks are still free" parts store. Rob, as far as gas tanks go, I plan on keeping my stock location tank. I drove lots of trucks into the 80's with cab fuel tanks with no worries, plus it leaves room under the bed for the spare. I'm going to plug the stock, bottom of the tank fuel pick up, and go with a top mounted pick up/sending unit combo. Sac Vintage Ford sells them pretty cheap. Its for a carb, which is what I'll run at first, then later when I fuel inject it, I'll probably contact Rock Vally Antique Auto Parts. They advertise TPI kits for your present tank. Great thread!-Rusty

 

I bought mine on Ebay from a radiator distributor in Oklahoma City. The radiator part number is 43-6001 Chrysler and replaces industry model 1583. The brand name is Ready-Rad Heatbuster. It fits 71-78 Dodge pickups with 5.2 or 5.9 liter V8. I don't see one exactly like mine on Ebay currently but if you look around I'm sure you can find one. It also has the transmission cooler mounted in the bottom tank if you need it. I used an external cooler.

Vern

 

Will,

I haven't put my support braces or fenders on yet, however, there are two sets of holes in the inner fenders so you can bolt them in either place. I have had the inner fenders bolted on loosely just to check clearances and trim them for the IFS and everything seems to fit okay. No beating, banging, or bending of the fender braces is necessary. Perhaps someone further along can add to this.

Vern

 

Vern, I was referring to the outside end of the fender brace where it connects to the fender proper. I went out and rechecked the fenders (currently off but in final prime) and there are two holes in the fender proper to connect the fender brace. End of mystery. Thanks for the response.

 

I think you resolved this problem in a later post, but I can look tomorrow, if need be, as I can't remember right now. I also added a couple pictures of how my electric fan mounts in my "Miscellaneous" Gallery.

hotrod48

 

Sorry guys, I didn't take any pics over the weekend of the fan/radiator core position. I got tied up with ripping up carpet, repairing and painting walls, etc (sometimes you have to placate the little woman)

I got to looking around the garage after the Budwieser air cleaner comments, Its amazing how many parts I have stored in those nice high quality Bud longneck boxes. I wonder how much more power Clydesdale Horsepower is over regular horsepower??

Vern, You can replace the cheesy plastic petcock with a brass one. I was going to do that also and somehow it slipped my mind (until you brought it up).

Bikewrench,
I ordered my radiator through a local parts store. Autozone or Checker Auto, I can't remember which one now. They didn't show it in their catalog but I had their part number from an online search of their site. I gave the counter guy the part # and he punched in the # and said that he could order it in. It took 2 days, they didn't charge extra for ordering it in. I think I payed approx $125 or so (this has been several years ago)

Bobby

 

The Ron Davis radiator for the 47-52 Ford f1 is $570!!

 

I'm thinking my dad said mine was around that, maybe a little bit cheaper, with the electric fan and bracket.

hotrod48

 

I called US Radiator and the
"Desert Cooler" goes for $357.00
But since I'm in Virginia, shipping will be $50.00.

 

Thanks Bobby. I think I'll take the same route.
Rob

 

Will,

I got the engine back in my truck today and have some measurements for you. I am using a six bladed clutch fan 19 inches in diameter. From the center of the fan down to the top of the original crossmember it is 11 1/2 inches. The fan is not perfectly centered in the radiator but it cools very well even without a shroud. The fan blades come to within 1 1/4 inches of the top of the core and dip 4 inches below the bottom. There is 1 1/4 inches between the blades and the lower hose outlet. Due to the two inch engine offset to the passenger side the fan blades are even with the core side on the passenger side and 1 inch inside the core side on the driver's side. I am using the long water pump. Looking down at the fan from the top, the centerline of the fan is directly over the original V8 holes for the radiator support.

I hope this helps and will be glad to check any other measurements you might need.

Vern

 

Vern, Thanks for the measurements. I was away for 10 days and then came home to a dead computer. I just got back on line an hour ago. I just checked my measurements. I guess I have the cxxxy sitting lowerethan you do by at least 1 1/2 inches. I set it as low as I could and still clear the Jag IFS and room for headers.

 

Just for sh**s and giggles. Has anyone ever ran across a cross flow radiator that will fit? There is a marked improvement in cooling using a cross flow as opposed to the down flow. I wasn't sure that there would be enough room from side to side in the radiator cradle. Just a thought.

Bike