1952-59 Ford Just a support question

Several months ago I bought a core support and for the past few months I've been trying to figure out what is going on with this silly car. I have a radiator core support that measures 23 1/2" and an opening for a core support that measures 25". The support fits the reproduction radiator perfectly. Am I missing something here? Are there supposed to be spacers in this space? Is it possible that the front clip is from a wagon or the police cruiser that may have had a larger radiator? I'm so lost on what is causing the gap, please help a wayward soul!

 

I need pics of the offending piece, as I am a visual person.

 

Here's a couple of quick shots from the parts book for '54 Ford, not real clear but it'll give you an idea of what should be there & how they go together:

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Unfortunately my camera is not working and the camera phone that I have is connected to a blackberry which is pretty much a joke of a phone, so no pics are available at the moment.

The manual pages show a completely different support that I have because the '54 core support was changed and the one shown in the book is for the flat head not the Y-block. The top picture from the book does show the pieces that I have for the left and right side air deflectors but its really just the distance between the two and gap that is created when you put the core support in between the side supports the problem.

 

What racerron1120 posted is 1954 Ford OHV-8, the last year of the flathead was 1953 except in Canada so the pics above are correct for your car, if you notice in the bottom pic you can see the 1954 crossmember and where the radiator support is.Since your car came with an engine swap,who knows what they may have changed so you may have to fab up some brackets which should be an EZ task.My '54 was missing the support as the previous owner tried to use an '84 MK VII radiator which was nowhere near a fit.I went to Pic&Pull with a tape measure and have a Jeep Grand Cherokee radiator in my '54 all I had to do was drill a few holes and for mount cushions I got the thick rubber pads that go under table legs.Took me less than an hour and it was a done deal and it uses stock '70 Mustang hoses.Just have to be creative when you are doing swaps.

 

First off, I would like to apologize because I reread my post and I sounded like an arrogant *** about the picture of the support. I definitely don't mean to sound like that since I'm asking for help and since I'm in an infantile stage of learning how to work on cars and learning about this car.

The core support I have is just a large "U" shape with two bolts at the bottom center about 5 1/2" apart from each other. We fabricated a piece yesterday that creates the remaining 3/4's of what appears to have been the originals wholes for the two bolts on the crossmember. There was a thread months ago about a build that I have pictures from of the core support and it look exactly like what I have. I will try to upload the pictures to my profile so that you guys have a better idea of what I'm trying to explain. Sorry again for sounding like an ***, I appreciate all the help and advice that I get from you guys.

 

Mine is a 54 and it looks nothing like what is pictured above (16138) but sounds like what 54hot rod is describing. The way mine fits is the U shape support bolts directly to the panels that have the fresh air inlets. Hope this helps? I will get some pics tonight as I am not posting from home!

 

I still don't know how to load this picture on to the thread but I'm sure I'll figure this out soon or I'll give up and ask Scott. Any way mine is just like Red Baron's but the "U" support, and the panels have that gap that is causing the whole problem. Its the small things like this that make me turn to the sky and ask, "Why?". The radiator burning the transmission cooler months ago or the leaking carburetor gaskets seemed like a normal thing, but this just makes not sense to me.

 

I think to get the picture to load, you might have to host it at another site and when you use it you have to click the little ****on on the reply tool bar that looks like mountains on it before and after the image link.

 

If you're having trouble posting photos within the threads here on the social group, do a search on posting photos ON HERE, NOT ON THE MAIN BOARD. Scott (Skoh73) has done several how-to threads in past months which tell how it's done. It's not rocket surgery, but you'se gots to know which ****ons to push to make it happen.

Try this one: Posting pix in our threads "how to"

Scott is our resident photo posting expert. He is also the guy who runs the social group map. Thanks again, Scott!

 

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This picture is from the thread of another guys build, but he sent this to me so that I could see how his supports went together so I could get it right. This was all before I actually tried to put the pieces together and Now looking at a picture like this I'm more confused because mine looks like this but I have that gap that doesn't make sense.

 

Well I got to looking at the parts book again to see if I could find something that looks more like the pic you posted. I don't know why but instead of only 2 different illustrations (grille/cooling, and fenders/hood sheet metal) Ford had 3 images for the '54s. Here's the other one:

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I tried to find any others that might include some front sheet metal/cooling/grille pieces but didn't see any. I guess you gotta use all 3 pics to determine exactly what's supposed to be there and how it all goes together.​

 

W/o photos of your setup there's just not much more we can do...

There's only five main pieces that go from side to side and they only ***emble one way.

 

wow i really need to clean up that front valance lol. i had to get some metal spacers for the sides of the "u" so my radiator would bolt in int the center where i needed it to.

 

Eric thanks for posting the third page. Mr. h thanks for sending me the picture months ago so that I could give a visual to what I was talking about.

 

raceron1120 that is exactly how my support bolts in, but my support looks a little different. Looking straight down from above at the edge, that pic looks like it has an L-shape, whereas mine is more of a c-channel. If you look at the diagram you posted, that is the same shape as mine, can you see the difference I am talking about?

 

Good news, I made spaces bolted it up and bolted the radiator to the support yesterday. I just need to make one adjustment to the bar that goes across top of the uprights so that it all fits together nicely. Now the only thing left is flushing the engine and transmission then replace all the fluids. Thanks for all the help and advice offered. Now I have to rip out the carpet and redo that and the weather striping thanks to the rain. Maybe I can get this thing done in time for GNRS.

 

Hey Steve did you get those hinges replaced yet? Hope they were okay to work with.

I've got a bunch more stuff to pull off that old '54 but winter and OBEs got the best of me this year.

Ron

 

I haven't put the hinges on yet but I did check them out and they are going to be great. I pretty much have a trunk tool box and a front and back seat car parts storage. I've been collecting parts while working with the radiator problem and the various other problems that are common with this hobby. The main point is that I'm having more fun than ever and it keeps becoming more fun.

 

When you replace the hood hinges install the new vent rubbers at the same time not after,found out the hard way.

 

Thanks for the advice Jeff.

I've been looking for an electric pusher fan that is big enough for the engine and to push enough cfm but I am having a hard time about it right now. I know that I need an 18" fan since the four core replica radiator's core is 19 1/2" across. I was planning on showing the car at the Grand National Roadster Show but that looks like a no go right now.

I've contacted The Fan Man company and Perma Cool but I'm still waiting on a response whether or not they can make a fan large enough for what I need. Does anyone know of a company that makes an 18" pusher that will be large enough for 3000 cfm?

 

Your radiator is almost the same as an early Mustang,here is a solution for you fan & shround combo www.fordmuscle.com click on Tech Archives,click on cooling and check out Junkyard fans,this is your best bang for the buck and you won't be getting a Chinese import.Pay attention to the text about relays,NEVER run an electric fan without a relay.

 

Jeff I took a look at the tech article but it looked like that may not work on the new radiator I have because I have less than a 1/2" between the pulley and the radiator. I think you may have looked at the picture in my album and saw the old radiator which I'm sure you are right about that one being from a Mustang. Anyway, the picture that I've attempted to attach should show you what I'm using now.

 

Every attempt should be made to position the radiator far enough forward that a fan, engine-driven or electric, can be mounted behind the radiator, not in front of it.

Pusher fans are good as helpers, but as a primary fan they are inefficient. And, in many cases, the pusher fan shroud cuts down on the air flow through the radiator at highway speeds, contributing to high engine road-speed temperatures instead of mitigating them.

 

I had read before that pusher fans really are not something that you want as a primary fan, but looking at the space I have I'm really confused on how to do anything else. Hopefully Firday I can take a picture of the thing so that you guys have a better perception of what I'm talking about.

 

I had to put spacers on the radiator to push it forward, and clearance the splash pan to make mine fit.

 

I've been thinking about doing spacers too. I feel a little dumb asking this but what is a splash pan? Like always I'm the new guy learning everything as I go.

 

The splash pan or splash apron is that section of the front sheet metal that is directly behind the front bumper, usually painted Argent (silver). It sits below the grille.

 

Go back to the fordmuscle link I sent you,you will see an article for a dual electric fan.Notice in the pictures that the fan hub centers between the two fans thus eliminating the clearance issue.One of the solutions I always advise when doing a 289-302 swap is to use the 65-69 Mustang water pump which is about 3" shorter than the late model pumps this will put the top and bottom hoses on the p***enger side,you do have to use an aftermarket balancer to match the pump about $69 from Speedway which comes in both 28 & 50 oz.balance.

 

[re: ...what is a splash pan? Like always I'm the new guy learning everything as I go...]

Go back to the first parts book illustration I posted in this thread; the splash pan - also known as a stone shield - is shown, the base # is 17748.