trying to get my T coupe mocked up, and wondering about radiator placement. Original I was gonna mount the grill shell ahead of the front crossmember and the radiator inside it. I built a mock up engine and after seeing it in place I'm wondering if I shouldnt mount the whole works behind the crossmember, as shown in the photo. I like the look, being able to see the front spring and axle, etc, but wanna make sure I dont run into cooling problems. I dont have a radiator yet, but wanna find something that will fit within the Peerless shell I've got, and I plan to run a very mild (250hp) SBC. Would prefer to use the pump-mounted fan, and also planned to do a little shroud to direct airflow. Thoughts?
Late night question....early morning crabbing. To answer your question, the engine side of the radiator should be approximately 2-3 inches forward of the fan. Any closer and the blades may flex and create a problem. See? Here's just one reply already. Stand by, there will be more with different opinions. Patience, gr***hopper, patience.
A pump-mounted fan or any other fan without a proper shroud needs to have 3/4-1" clearance maximum from the radiator core for best efficiency. I like factory steel fans. They don't flex. Using a full factory style shroud puts the fan to core clearance out a bit but the fan needs to be centered in the shroud opening for maximum efficiency.
By looking at the one picture it looks like the water pump and fan will be sticking up VERY HIGH in relation to the radiator. Behind the axle is always better then in front of the axle for routing the hoses. I think you need to mockup a water pump and fan to answer your question. Also the thickness of the core, may become a issue for cooling. Good luck DT
front spring is gonna hit the frame long shackles will allow too much lateral movement go back to tradional hotrod methods
You will have to get the axle far enough forward that the tie-rod will clear the radiator/shell. You could flip the spindles/steering arms so the tie-rod is in front of the axle, but then your Ackerman will be out of wack. Try to get the fan centered in the radiator so you can use the largest diameter fan possible.
thanks for the replys. One says 2-3 inches away, the other says no more than 1 inch....so put the fan (factory steel ) 1.5 inches away from the radiator? sorry....just being a smart***.... I have about 9 inches of room in front of the engine right now, with the peak of the bellhousing resting on the firewall. Obviously I'll have to cove out the firewall a bit for clearance. Engine angle isnt set yet, so of course it's pointing up in the air. The shell was just set in there to get an eyeball on clearances and how things basically look......that isnt it's final position, just a very rough guess. We're still playing with the shackle length too....all these things are fine-tuning and not related to my question. Things will be trimmed here, snipped there, to make it all work. Isnt that the traditional hot method?
Just looked at the picture again, and while it doesnt go with your original question, it seems that you have a later, spring in front, axle that you are using with the earlier, top mounted, spring. I would be more inclined to have a new (longer) main leaf rolled, or get the correct axle, rather than going the long shackle route. The long shackles will give you more side to side movement, so you would need a panhard bar, especially if you use cross steering. Just my opinion...
thanks chop32. It is a later axle, a 41 I believe. Those shackles were more of an experiment than anything...playing with seeing how long we could go before worrying about bottoming the shackle against the axle. It's unloaded in that pic too, so bare in mind the angle should end up close to 45 degrees once the engine, ******, and all the goodies are there. If I end up using those shackles and need a panhard bar then so be it.....my original question was about where the radiator should go, so as you can guess, everything about this rod is in flux at this point. It could end up a 4x4 by the time it's all said and done. Thanks for the input though!
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