Hi all, this may be hard to diagnose without seeing it or living it but….I’m stuck. I have a 31 roadster, stock chassis, 32 C engine. (Banger obviously). Trying to fit a 32 shell on the stock hood with sides and I can’t get fan clearance with the radiator . To close my hood gaps, I’ve got to move everything toward the firewall and the fan is about 1/4” from touching the radiator couple questions -anyone Experience this? If yes, what’s your solution? -how close radiator to fan is too close? -any ideas? -not excited by it and it may be blasphemy, what about an electric fan? Of course I can run the car without a hood entirely but I’ve got a perfect full hood that I cannot hang on the wall. Thanks.
Have you had the A shell and hood fitting? Is it just the 32 shell that has created this problem? Is the 32 engine longer anywhere than an A? What radiator?
The Model A and 1932 engines are the same length. The '33-'34 engines were slightly shorter to allow for the slope of the radiator. Charlie Stephens
with out pictures, possibly quite difficult…… Can you get a shorter fan, or is the one on there correct ? 1/2” to 1” minimum clearance, depending on how much your fan flexes. how big are your hood gaps ?
I have a 31 A roadster on an A frame with a 32 grill shell. What I ended up doing was getting a 32 hood top and then shortening it to fit the space I had, which was longer than a stock A hood when I set the spacing for the fan to radiator. I also raised the accent line on the side to match the A body line. It worked out pretty good although I run mine without hood sides.
Does the rear tire fit/match the fender profile? If it does, work out the wrinkles in the front end tin.
I did my 31, ran into every problem you can think of,...with the shell on the radiator as tight as it could get,... I ended up having to run a die on the radiator support rods and cut about 3/4'' off the rods .. that put the fan about 3/4'' from the radiator... runnin a 34 B motor (??) with the 3 hole C head... some have had to trim the bottom sides of the shell, but mines up about a 1/4''' but I had to trim the fenders a little... also did the drop headlight bar,... that didn't fit either... camera makes the shell look crooked,... but it's not...
I also wondered about this, but as OP said, ‘31 roadster on stock chassis: - if the body holes line up with the chassis holes, in theory it should be correct, but who knows what has been modified in the last 90 years……….especially if the roadster body has seen time as a channelled hot rod and had the bottom panels redone.
Use a 33-34 water pump (shorter that 32 or A pump) and move radiator and shell back needed amount to work with "A" hood
Thank you all very much. Worked on other things today and didn’t get any assembly done or photos taken. Have a work trip up north this week so I will try to loop back on this in 5 days. Thanks again!
I had similar problems with the gaps being too big when I put the 32 shell on. Like @2FORCEFULL, I had to cut 1/4 inch or so from the upper radiator rods and run a die down them to move the radiator back a smidge, but I still have adequate clearance on my fan. I measured the distances from the cowl to the A shell at the top and bottoms and was able to get the 32 shell within 1/4 inch or less and I counted that close enough. LOL I am really no expert on Model A's by any stretch, but maaaaybe there is a difference in fans and some years are shorter than others?
Found a pic of the differences in the water pumps, note the spacing between the grease fittings. How thick is the radiator core ? Heavy duty radiator ?
I ran a B motor in my 30 pickup with a stock radiator and shell and everything cleared. I have a 32 grill shell on my V8 A 30 sport coupe and the stock Model A hood. You can't run a stock Model A headlight bar due to the 32 shell being a couple of inches deeper. I have a Brassworks flathead radiator for a Model A with a 32 grill shell and had to notch the bottom of the firewall for the flathead but shouldn't have to move the engine with a banger. This is the best picture I could find from the side and the hood lines up fine.
could you post the measurements of each???? pretty sure I have a short one.... that's what she said....lol
I'm not running the hood sides, but if I was I don't think I would be here any longer..... with the engine fire I didn't know it was on fire till the flames started burning my elbow that was sticking out the window....by the time I got stopped it had burned the rubber fuel in two, and made the fuel line a torch, I was able to get inside and shut the battery and fuel off, flame were about 4' high comming out the side of the hood.... also.... I was told this years and years ago,... don't know if it's true, but... that was what started the flames on the sides of hotrods.... a guys motor caught fire and some one took a pic of him driving by....
Sounds like a good idea at first. Next you will need to replace the front pulley so the belt lines up with the pump. Checking my car it looks like that would put the pulley too close to the stock Model A engine front mount for my liking. You also need to replace the timing gear cover to move the generator back so the belt aligns with the pump. I am not sure I would go this route. Charlie Stephens
I am not sure I would go this route. The bottom of the '32 hood sides curve down and the bottom of the Model A is straight, which means you would need to rework the hood sides. The body belts are wider on a '32 than a Model A and I don't think they line up. The Model A has a hood rod in the center and the '32 is a piece of formed sheet metal. If I was faced with the problem after looking for alignment issues and finding none I would look for a reproduction fan that was made with a pulley, a spacer and bolt on fan blades I would then shorten the spacer (or have it done at a machine shop). Place a wanted ad on fordbarn.com. Everyone is going to the aluminum fans and these should be available if they weren't thrown away when the change was made. Electric fan, they look like #$&*. For your info my stock '31 RDPU has about 3/4 inch clearance between the water pump shaft and the radiator. It came with a '32 shell when I bought it. Charlie Stephens
I measured last night and like @Charlie Stephens above, I have about 3/4 inch between my fan and the radiator (at the bottom of the arc...there is more distance at the top end).
Sorry, I’m travelling this week and slow to respond. It’s an aftermarket 4 row, 2 1/2” thick aluminum radiator
WOW!! My water pump is way longer. I just found this photo on my phone which I think tells the story of my problem. With the level vertical, on the front of the cross memeber, there is a very small gap between fan nut and level.
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