So I'm in the process of gathering parts for a 27 roadster build and I have some questions about what grille shell and radiator are going to work. I'm building a narrowed Model A style frame and would really like to channel the body the height of the frame (4"). Now the question arises regarding what radiator and grille shell to run with the 327 I have so that the shell will sit at or below the cowl. I've been trying to find pictures, but it feels like most cars are running a suicide style front end instead of a stock A style front crossmember. It seems like the most common option for a stock crossmember is to run a 32 shell, but what radiator? Will The early mustang radiator that everybody runs in the 28-29 shell work? Or will I have to fork out for a aftermarket radiator? So with that long winded explanation out of the way, if you have any pictures of channeled 26-27 roadsters on A style frames, I would love to see them.
So after digging through my stash of inspiration pictures(that were probably stolen from here), these were the only ones I could find...
I bought a leaky Walker '32 radiator at a swap meet cheap and had it recored and modified to fit a chopped '29 A shell.
I have a 28-29 grille that I was planning on using, but wasn't sure if it was going to work since it didn't look like I would be able to find an off the shelf radiator that would fit. How much is the shell chopped and do you know the dimensions of the radiator? Very good looking car by the way.
I think I chopped the grill shell just over two inches... 2-1/4"? it's been a while and I sold the car a few years ago. I cut the shell to work with the cowl then had the radiator cut to fit the shell. here's a link to the build thread, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=494628 you're can see me lining things up around post #153
This is how i did. I bought a radiator by size with the in/outlets where i needed them. Then mounted it with the bottom tank behind the crossmember. I decide to use a 32 grilleshell so i could mount a electric pushfan behind the grille. The downfall with this is that the radiator sticks out about a 3/4 from the shell if i want to cover the crossmember. To solve the problem that the radiator is lower than the engine i made my own termostathousing with the filler integrated.
I like this. I didn't think about moving it behind the crossmember, but then again, the electric fan never crossed my mind either. Very interesting.
Years ago, Wescott had an ad for their 4 1/2" chopped deuce shell to fit a '26-'27 T roadster. Since Speedway has a 4 1/2" chopped deuce rad for their Loboy Deuce kit, I ordered one for my T coupe. Looks good to me.
You might consider Speedway's 6" chopped Deuce radiator. Make a cardboard mockup to see if it's lower than the cowl. Dimensions and pictures are here: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/6-In...PQIiGCSaj3xY8bzcy1Ttsr6waH53DrzYHfGoQhBKfBe72 I also bought Speedway's 4.5" chopped Deuce radiator, after making a cardboard mockup to ensure it would fit my '28 on Deuce rails. Then I trimmed the bottom corners of the grille shell to lower it down over the radiator, so there's no gap between the top of the radiator & inside of the shell. That combination puts the top of the shell below the cowl. Hope this helps.
I used a chopped and sectioned Studebaker shell with (expensive) custom radiator on this one with body channeled over A frame. radiator mounted on top of stock cross member. drove it like that for a while later switched to chopped T shell
The 4th rad I got this p***ed year,after the others went bad from old age,being I've had my rod together from 1959,its a 28A Bobtailed roadster. Last rad I got is a alum Champition" called/listed as T-bucket rad,and it fits OK into a 28A shell with about a 3/4 inch gap on the sides<but with stone screen{this screen in pic did not have holes bigv as I wanted,so I replaced it latter with SS wire with 1/4 sq.,can't see any gap with a screen in place. The hight works if your shell is chopped about 3 inch. like my shell.
Thanks for the reply guys. I've looked into the Speedway chopped shells, but I picked up a 28-29 shell pretty cheap and was hoping to use that. I'll have to look into this once inget the frame and body into the garage and mocked up. Please keep the pics and tips coming!
inexpensive aluminum radiator behind tubular cross member with chopped original '32 shell with suicide style frontend, earlier T channeled over custom A style frame.
Have you considered a "track nose"?? When I built my T (it was a suicide front though) it had been channeled but the huge copper radiator sat above the cowl line, I un channeled the body and lowered the radiator as much as I could and used a Speedway track nose with a home made grille. That may not be the "look" you want though?
I had a channeled '27 roadster years ago but it had the suicide front axle setup so no help there. This car showed up at the '79 Street Rod Nats, I think it was from CA? The grille shell is similar to the one in your post #3, don't see any frame horns on this one but they may have been cut off? Likely channeled more than you're thinking too - check the driver's knees! Anyhoo, it's another one to chew on.
another picture of my old roadster with chopped radiator and '29 shell on stock cross member, body on top of A frame makes for a lot more room inside the little body
I love track nose roadsters, and I had originally wanted to build one but somewhere along the way I decided I wanted to see frame horns...
The more I look, it seems if I want to channel it and use a cheap off the shelf radiator, a deuce shell is going to be the easiest...
While looking through the Street Rodder digital archives, I stumbled across this. Looks like they mounted the radiator in front of the cross member. Actually after looking closer, the brackets appear to be coming from the bottom of the frame rails. I was hoping to get a better view of how they ran the lower radiator hose, but no luck.
Some worthless personal opinion but for me the 32 chopped grill shells look really heavy to me. Too much m*** as the front of a relatively small car. Also the proportions of a heavily chopped 32 shell isnt pleasing to my eyes. Pauls brown roadster and the other cars with the A shell works for me.
I like them with a small chop, but when they're chopped too much, they look cartoons to me. I'm leaning toward using the 28-29 shell I have and not chanelling the body, but we'll see.
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