Flightoficarus

Alright, so admittedly, I'm way behind on the progress with my car, due to being busy over the holiday season, and it always being utter crap weather (stuck working on it outside until I get the cooling issue fixed). Decided I'm getting sick of letting the car sit, and have been working out in the crap weather anyway .

So here's the deal - Started overheating, likely due to a failed water pump or very badly clogged radiator. Since I want to drop a 350 in later, I decided to go ahead and replace everything with a new thermostat, HD water pump, and one of those 2-core champion aluminum radiators.

At this point, everything is done, except the radiator. I'm told that you have to shave down the rubber radiator isolators. Been continually trying to do so with a box cutter, but these things are turning out to be quite a bit more of a PITA to cut down than I thought they'd be. To make matters worse, from what I can tell, the lower isolators are stuck to the bottom of the radiator housing without removing the A/C Condenser that sits in front of the radiator, and it looks like a pretty involved process to remove it.

I still have nearly an inch or so of clearance when attempting to drop the new radiator in, so it's not even close to fitting, and it seems there's no way I'm going to get it to fit without either using a different tool to cut the isolators down, or removing them completely (bad idea). Am I wrong about the bottom ones being stuck in the housing w/out removing the A/C condenser? I'm told a grinder would work well on shaving them down, but the car is stuck outside away from any power sources until it's mobile again.

Help extremely appreciated!!

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

How far is the drive to get inside & power outlets?
Get hot before you would get there?

Can you borrow a cordless drill, get a burr, & go at it that way?

Sorry, that's all I have! I haven't swapped our rad yet, but may be doing it next fall.

1ADan

iTrader: (4)

the bottom ones do isolate both the rad and the condenser, but if you'd got the rad out, there should be enough play in the rubber lines to allow you to move the condenser without breaking any lines or losing any coolant. If you can tilt the top down and toward the engine, you may have enough play to let you get the bottom isolators out

Flightoficarus

Well, just a quick update, I did get those bottom isolators out. Unfortunately, it still doesn't quite fit, despite spending hours and hours with a grinder bit piece for a drill trying to shave these things down. They're quite thin at this point, but it looks like I'm going to have to trim just a bit of the A/C condenser isolators (the thick pieces that isolate the condenser from the radiator) to get the radiator to be able to tilt forward enough for the fan shroud to line up w/the bolt holes, and shave the top isolators down to absolutely paper-thin.

Maybe I'm trying the wrong approach w/these things, but it's been a hell of a lot harder to get this thing to fit than others on here have made it sound IMHO. I surely hope the benefits of this thing are worth the trouble of getting it to fit, cause I could have replaced my old rad w/a stock unit 20 times over at the rate this it taking me!

abray1

I had the same problem in a 90 corvette with a Griffin radiator. I cut the rubber pad using only the condensor part of the factory rubber pad and used GE clear silicone to line the bottom of the radiator and the bottom of the metal radiator support area. You will see what the radiator will be rubbing against and where it needs to be a little thicker. I did my car in 1998 and it still runs and cools great.

Twin_Turbo

iTrader: (25)

if it's anything like the summit "direct-fit" (ahum) rad it won't fit without fabricating a new top mount and tilting the rad a bit

NINÅ

Flightoficarus

The mystery had been solved!!! somewhat...No amount of shaving these things got it to fit, so I figured something else had to be wrong. Found out I've basically just been wasting ridiculous amounts of time the whole time. It didn't even fit with no isolators in it at all, and sat a bit crooked, so I knew something else had to be wrong. Found out that the car had been jacked up from the radiator core support, and it's nothing I have the tools to fix, so it's off to searching junkyards for another core support and isolators to start all over...

Do all year F-bodies use the same radiator core support?

Twin_Turbo

iTrader: (25)

Yes, how badly is it warped? Mine was warped too, I hammered it back in shape.

Flightoficarus

Visually, it doesn't look THAT bad, but then again, it might be worse than I realize. Even with no rubber isolators (including the A/C condenser ones) in the car, the radiator sat a bit crooked, and the fan shroud would not line up with the bolt holes properly. So either the area where it's noticeably bent is causing that much trouble, or the thing is beyond hammer salvaging. Whacked away at it a bit today, but didn't have too much luck.

Although it looks like it from what I can tell, I'll ask here anyway. Is removing and replacing the core support a simple bolt-out, bolt-in deal?

I'll try and get a pic of it up here as soon as I get a chance.

Twin_Turbo

iTrader: (25)

no, it involves welding.

Here's mine, pass side is crooked

[img]http://www.vettemod.com/forum/imagehosting/24a81c0de34684.jpg/img]





I managed to hammer it back into shape. Post a pic of the radiator, if it's like mine it won't fit the stock setup anyway, it'll be too tall

Flightoficarus

Alright, I know I didn't get pics of my core support, but a good news/bad news update!

The good: I managed to hammer the bent part of the radiator core support back straight. Not 100% perfect, but good enough that there are now no height issues with the radiator fit (Isolators are chopped down pretty thin, but there's something other than bare metal that it rests on). It sits nice and straight like it should, not crooked like before.

The bad: The only way I seem to be able to get the radiator to pull forward enough so that the fan shroud will line up with the bolts seems to be to remove the A/C condensor isolators. Looks like i will I have to chop these up too, or McGaiver it with something else.

I'm guessing some of you who had no issues getting it to fit removed your A/C entirely? What would be the best, heat-resistant material to use for isolation if I need to get a bit more creative here?