Thread: Mounting Radiator

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Just wondering how you mount the radiator. Do you need the spring bolts??

Sean

Good question, my Son and I just had this discussion about his car. He is going to use the spring bolts, but I have always just used a fat rubber fender washer under each side between the radiator and frame. My theory is, if you have no frame flex in that area semi-solidly mounting it is ok.

It will be interesting to see what others think. Good thread.

Don

SGO70,
I agree with Don, make your chassis rigid and you will have know problems. One other thing I have learned is I mount the radiator off the sides instead of the bottom. By using 4 mounting points instead of 2 it spreads the vibration loads over a larger area. If you look at my roadster build you can see the frame work that I use to mount it.
Ken

The spring system was used before we had the roads we enjoy today. Look at modern radiator mounting systems to answer your question.

The main thing about mounting an radiator is to let it sit on its own weight, cuchioned somewhat, and have the ability to flex independedly from the frame
If your mount it hard or by more than 3 points , it will always have stress introduced with frame bumps or twists----let it float!!!!

I originally had mine bolted in with good ARP bolting but since it is an aftermarket chassis (TCI) have my concerns as to its' rigidity. I have the spring bolts there now - but sure would prefer just some rubber pads and back to my ARP's assuming I can still find some in my bolt supply.

It just kinda puzzled me to mount them on the springs, I thought if you were driving at highway speeds it would be pushing a lot of air. Wouldn't the flex would actually be hard on the mounts? I thought if I mount it to the shell on the side mounts and then mount the grill shell solid the shell would take the flexing or force from the air if any. Or am I crazy??

Sean

We forgot to tell you one important aspect..........you don't mount the radiator solely by the base, you also need some support rods. Either run one on each side from the top section of the radiator to the firewall, or on an angle down to the frame. You need to fab up something that will clear your engine but act as a support for the top of the radiator.

I had to make my rods intersect the radiator about mid way up and go to the firewall. Every car is different.

Don

I used spring mounts and 3/16 rubber pad underneath. It's a good idea to have some damping particularly when using the newwer aluminum rads due to fatigue issues with the mount weld areas. at the radiator (when applicable).

Kitz

I think I knew that but wasn't considering it . Sometimes I miss things, that explains the top mount bracket.

Sean

I have been watching this post very closely. I am trying to figure out how to mount my radiator, but don't have a frame or crossmember to work with. There is a 71 camaro front end under my 37 Cadillac and I have no original mounting bracketry to work from. I had always been somewhat worried about how I have mounted the radiator so far and this post has confirmed my concerns...I think.

Take a look at the pictures and tell me if you have any ideas. If you look closely you can see that I have made brackets inside the doghouse/nose of the caddy. I then drilled four holes on each side and ran bolts through the mounting flange on the radiator. (In the pictures there is currently only one bolt per side and some clamps holding it all in place.) The radiator is supported solely from the sides of the radiator. It seems like I should have something supporting the radiator from the bottom but I am stumped as to what/how to fabricate a support.

Any ideas?????
radiator 1.JPG

radiator 2.JPG

radiator 3.JPG

...hummm, glad I saw this post! I just took my radiator out so I could pull my engine & the aluminum tabs that WERE welded onto the bottom of my aluminum radiator where BOTH broken off! Yep, I couldn't tell until I pulled the radiator out & both tabs just fell out onto the ground! THANKS Everyone! Bill

oh, & it was solid mounted to the frame....

Go look at about anything OEM---the radiators mostly just set in a rubber cuchion held by a type of channel strip running across the front

[QUOTE=37 Caddy]I have been watching this post very closely. I am trying to figure out how to mount my radiator, but don't have a frame or crossmember to work with. There is a 71 camaro front end under my 37 Cadillac and I have no original mounting bracketry to work from. I had always been somewhat worried about how I have mounted the radiator so far and this post has confirmed my concerns...I think.

Take a look at the pictures and tell me if you have any ideas. If you look closely you can see that I have made brackets inside the doghouse/nose of the caddy. I then drilled four holes on each side and ran bolts through the mounting flange on the radiator. (In the pictures there is currently only one bolt per side and some clamps holding it all in place.) The radiator is supported solely from the sides of the radiator. It seems like I should have something supporting the radiator from the bottom but I am stumped as to what/how to fabricate a support.

Any ideas?????
QUOTE]


Take a look at some of the later cars.
They have a bent angle - or channel - U that fits within the nose of the car.
The radiator bolts solidly to the U as well as bolting to the front clip.

The U supports the front clip on a single center rubber mount that allows flexing of the front clip as well as damping vibrations.
The radiator floats along and doesn't need vibration dampers etc. because the U resists twisting etc. and vibration is damped by the single rubber mount.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the thin fender cars - A's Deuces etc. - a neoprene rubber mount works fine.
Especially so since the - usually - 3/16" stamped front crossmember resists flexing quit well.

A pic of my 32's radiator mount.
No probs in 48,000 miles and 14 years.


Hard to see, but theres a 3/8" thick neoprene pad there.
Make em yourself out of neoprene with a hole saw.
Drill the center hole after the neoprene has been in the freezer overnight otherwise you'll rip and tear the material.

I'm half convinced to pull the spring setup I have now and go with the rubber/neoprene