hey guys im putting a 350/350 in my 54 and have the stock radiator was just wondering if anyone else has put this setup in their 54 and if you just used the stock radiator with a ****** cooler in front or is there a radiator with a built in cooler i can use that will bolt in with out to much fab? this is my first time putting in a 350/350 any help would be appreciated thanks tim...
Hey Tim.... I run a 350 Chevy with a turbo 350 trans also. FIRST...I drilled a 17 inch hole in my radiator a bit ago by using a 'stainless flex fan'. Do not use these fans as they tend to pull the blades forward the faster they turn. If you use a mechanical fan, use a factory style steel fan, they pull more air and are very reliable (a bit noisy at high rpm). SECOND.... build yourself a fan shroud so the fan pulls the air through the radiator not around it. I can send a pic of the one I made.... very simple but effective. THIRD.... after the radiator got re-cored I had my radiator guy put in a trans cooler in the bottom tank and ran my cooler lines from the transmission through the tank and then to a Hayden cooler in front of the radiator for extra cooling for cruising at low speed. It works perfect! My engine runs at 180 degrees and the trans is at 120 degrees most of the time. geno
if you have any old 55 galon drums it realy easy . just cut out a section and then adjust the diameter , pop rivet it together and make you some mounting tabs on it . there you go. kinda like the old early 60's chevys
For you guys that wanted to see my fan shroud... I now have pics posted in my '53 photo album. Haven't figured out how to get them on this posting.... dumb car guy anyway....
im liking the fan shroud alot may pm. you about measurements when the time comes. looked thur your photo album very nice ride! thanks for the pics..tim
Ron.... you're a frickin genius!!! Thanks!!! This was very easy to build. I didn't have any fancy sheet metal bender or special tools, just my work bench and some clamps and rubber hammer. I have three fasteners that the nuts are welded on the blind side to make install easy, two on the top and one on the bottom to join the halves. I used four welded tabs that are mounted to the radiator to core support bolts as seen in picture two. I spaced the fan so it would be 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the shroud. It is also sealed tight against the radiator to make sure the air flows through the radiator and not around it. The shroud can be taken out without removing anything in the engine compartment. This setup flows some serious air through the radiator even at idle. And yes.... this fan makes a lot of noise at 9500 rpm!!!!
Thanks but I'm no genius. I wish I could do 1/4 of the stuff I see you mechanics doing on here. I've spent my career on the other side of the parts counter watching technicians do mechanic-ing while I sold parts. Now I work behind a computer most of the day doing basically the same stuff for our soldiers. A tip to moving or duping the pics like I did - after you post 'em in your album you can sometimes just right-click on the pic, hit "copy",then go where you want to dupe it, right click again and hit "paste". It usually works. ron
Yesterday 10:16 PM genosslk: "And yes.... this fan makes a lot of noise at 9500 rpm!!!!" ...but not for long!
The Jalopy Journal
