Crossflow Radiator Mods - progress pics
 

Just a couple of teaser pics...I have been working on cleaning up the hood latch/radiator support panel as well as fitting the new high-efficiency crossflow radiator into the design. I am at the point now where I am trying to decide whether to fabricate a set of rear opening hinges like the stock setup or to use the front flip hinge setup. Once this part is done I can move on to paint.

That's looking great, very clean looking. Is that a chevy bumper you have fitted on there, it looks good also....John

Nice....

you running A/C? where does the condensor go? mine is on the outside, radiator is flush like yours

Sam

Yes I am running A/C but I haven't gotten to mounting the condenser yet. The condenser will fit inside the radiator opening and will be pretty much flush with the air deflector panels. The core support is fabricated with 1x2 box steel and mounts to the outside edges of the frame vs the crossmember. Yes this is a 56 Chevy 3100 bumper, it still needs some more massaging but I have it worked close enough to get it mounted and ready for some fine aligning. Here's a pic of the radiator from the back side...

cool. I missed that little space in the rad opening.. very nice..

oh, I had to make a special A/C fitting to get the lines thru the air deflector into the dryer that hangs on the inside of the passenger side air deflector. and I had to chop a craftsman 19mm wrench down to 2 in long, and grind the forks to tighten the outside of the fitting.. check out what it will take to finish before you paint!..

I ended up with tape, bubble wrap, movers blankets all to protect the finish while I struggled with that one fitting!!..(behind the grill!)

Sam

Have you got inner fenders yet and are you fabbing your own as it does look as though the originals will work. I had to fab my own to fit the frame I used. I was also curious what you did for mounting brackets for that bumper.

Inner fenders are polished stainless steel, I believe that they are the ones that Midfifty sells. I got a few more tricks in the works that I will share later for how the fenders mate with the inners. As for the bumper, the stock Chevy brackets will work with a little persuasion. As for the pre-fit, that is what's going on now...everything will be assembled before disassembly. These fenders are repops and will need some massaging to get the gaps right, you may have already noticed that they are welded to the valence...I am not messing around with trying to bolt these pieces together and have them fit correctly.

I missed the comments in your original post about hood hinges..

the flip works nice, PROVIDED you don't need access to the radiator area for anything!.. tradeoffs stink.. also the gasket at the rear of the hood to cowl has a tendency to catch, so they make these rubber bumper pads.. but they look dorky across the cowl.. I was considering whether to move the gasket to the hood itself with appropriate adhesive.. course I have put screws thru the cowl ridge.. I am worried about hood movement taking the paint off of the cowl (or hood).. they make a clear protective tape.. (for like clear nose bras on expensive cars). heat applied..

also on mine, there is a small lip on the inside edge of the hood bracing that rubs just on the cross support (rod from cab to front valence).. and rubs the paint off the hood.. grr... (will post pics when I get back from travel this week)

I also think I need to put in the gasket from the hood to the rad opening to stop air flow around the radiator, need to check if it will seal as I am not using a stock radiator either.

Sam

Very nice work, very clean!

You guys never fail to amaze me with the quality of work that you do

Bobby

maybe I was included in that 'guys', but I am humbled by the work CharlieLed is doing. I put parts together (a little fiddling here and there), HE is doing real fabrication!!!

sam

very clean...I had to take a second look...I'like!

LOL, yup you were incuded in that statement. If you ever doubt it, just walk out to your shop and take a look at your green beauty.

Bobby

I am very fortunate to live within walking distance of Direct Sheetmetal. I can take a design or template over to Dave and have a sheetmetal panel back in just a day or so. In the case of the air deflectors, I had him make them with 3 extra inches on the top and bottom so that I could "adjust" as necessary. The hood latch panel design originally called for a cutout for the top of the radiator but a flange seemed to be a better solution. All these panels are fabicated out of 14 ga steel, stiffness was an important factor for me in this area since I will not be using the stock bracing rods. I never understood why Ford didn't make a more rigid core support for these trucks.

I love the look of the Radiator valance/hood latch panel or Slam panel as we call it over here in the UK. It looks much nicer than the stock item and to be honest I like it more than my modified item that I have been having a real pain with making it fit correctly. I might just have to borrow your excellent idea...thanks for sharing

Out of interest, how easy is it to get the front on and off again with the fenders welded to the gravel pan. Or is it going to be a case of once its on its on?

Cheers
Lee

The fenders have to come off together now but they are held on by the same bolts as before; three inside the cab, one lower rear, one upper rear, and the top row along the inner fender. Once those are removed, there are the bolts on each side of the air deflectors, and there are bolts that pass through the air deflector into the valence. Since my core support is three inches deeper than the Ford air deflectors, I have room to run the bolts into the valence from the engine side of the core support into anchor nuts that I installed along the lower edge of the air deflectors. That should make the remove/replace effort much easier. That said, I forsee little reason to remove the fenders once they are in place...we have no rust issues here in SoCal and dents, etc should be able to be repaired without the need to remove the fender(s).