So I have a 75 convertible Corvette, not that that matters. It is a stick and I guess that is important because we don't have to disconnect the transmission lines now. I looked at a few video of C3’s online and the shroud looks nothing like mine. I kind of wish I had the shroud of the other C threes out there because for some reason this 75 shroud is a nightmare. There are these cutouts for the upper control arm I think and it's a Nightmare trying to get that shroud out of there.

There must be a trick or something stupid I am missing because it does not just come straight out. All the brackets are off and the screws are out. The radiator moves up and down, the shroud moves up and down. There's just something I'm missing. There just does not seem like there's enough room to squeeze the shroud straight up . It keeps on hitting these indentation marks for the upper control arm. I could send pictures later if needed.

 

Presume you have the fan/clutch removed?

Do post some pics.

 

Something on the subject I saved.

From DUB

YES...I know how to do this and know what I am writing about.



MARK and REMOVE THE HOOD. No way around it.



On the sides of your radiator support...where it is bolts to your inner skirts. REMOVE THE TOP 2 ON EACH SIDE. You (obviously) can get them from INSIDE the wheel wells.



NOW...loosen but DO NOT REMOVE the bottom bolts for the radiator support.



NOW...the 2 LARGE bolts (5/8" socket required) that hold the radiator support to the BOTTOM of the front impact bar...LOOSEN THEM VERY WELL. You will notice an angle bracket that JOINS the radiator support to the impact bar. In most cases..I do not have to remove this angle bracket....but sometimes I DO...and sometimes I have to loosen all 4 bolts.



NOW....you pull towards the front of the car and this will tilt the radiator support. When I am doing this by myself...when I tilt the radiator support forwards...I take one of the bolts that I took out of the SIDES of the radiator support and stick it in the TOP hole...So when I let go of the radiator support...it will STOP on this bolt and still be tilted forward. Once that has been done on BOTH sides...the radiator WILL COME OUT...but you might have to remove the side foam seals to help you out.



I ALSO have the fan should pulled back towards the engine and it may tilt a little further out at the TOP.



Then it is a matter of lifting it evenly fora little bit...and then angling the drivers side up more so you can get the bottom tube out from round the control arm and shroud..



This is a fun job and I can do them by myself...so I know you can to do this.



When going back in here is a VERY HELPFUL TIP. I cut a large piece of thick cardboard...and drape it over the top of the radiator and make sure that the cardboard goes all the way to the BOTTOM of BOTH sides(front and rear) of the radiator. THEN..I use string and tie the cardboard to the radiator in 2 places...making it tight as possible and NOT able to move around so you have good control/grip. TRUST ME...IT IS WORTH THE TIME.. This is so when I an dropping the new radiator back in...I do not have to worry about damaging the core...and when I get it in...I cut the strings and pull out the cardboard so i can finish up its installation.

 

Removing radiators from C3s is a giant pain in the ***.

Whoever's responsible for engineering such a disaster should get a swift kick in the ***.

 

I should mention the reason for this removal is because this morning I tried to drain some of the fluid because I felt it was getting old. When I did this. I started unscrewing the drain plug and guess what? Everything came out. Basically, the drain nut that is soldered to the radiator Came out along with the nut. So when I was removing the nut and spinning it, it all came out in one shot. I knew what I had done ugghhh. I did not realize that I should've had one wrench on the nut and one wrench on the bolt. That would have saved me a massive headache.

I'm thinking of trying to solder it back together again without having to remove the radiator. I know this is going to be difficult because it's upside down, but I've election. done a lot of plumbing work so I know how to do this kind of stuff. I only wish I took a closer look and realized that when draining a radiator on a Corvette, you need two wrenches, one to hold the nut from its spinning in the radiator ( and popping out) any other for the drain plug so you don't have the same episode I had

 

Kind of late now, but doesn’t your radiator have a petcock on the passenger side tank down low?

 

I think the engineers should have been made to do component removal and replacement on the cars they designed! Assembling the whole cooling system was a breeze in an open chassis and as long as the body dropped down it was a successful design... unless one has to work on it! The power brake booster and driver-rear brake line block are two other components deserving of an ***-kicking.

 

There is no need to use the petcock or lower drains, a trip to Harbor Freight and $11.00 will hook you up.

Multi-Use Transfer Pump

36 in. Pickup and Reach Tool

Cut both ends off the 36" pickup tool, you're after the tube. Push the transfer pump hose onto the pickup tool tube and drop that into the radiator and other hose into a Home Depot bucket. Takes about 10 mins to pump the radiator dry.

Easy Button.

 

Removing lower hose takes 15 seconds to drain radiator.

 

I soldered mine right back in. Ceaned it, fluxed it, and torched it. I too have a 75.

 

Sorry you're having the problem. A pain for sure. I was able to take the radiator out of and put a new one back in ours without too much difficulty without removing the hood. But it's a BB without air and a different shroud. To do ours, I had to remove the water pump to give me the room I needed. Not that big a deal, but yours may be way different. That said....

If you end up removing and replacing the radiator, make sure you cover the front and back of the radiator with a large piece of heavy cardboard. If you don't, you'll be sorry. Good luck! Paul

 

Hope you got yours removed. Good advice given to ease the process. I was able to remove mine ( '75, w/ a/c, & std, trans ) easily with hood still on, and didn't move support forward. Yes it can help with more room, but wasn't necessary for mine to come out or go back in. Also, many have stated they cut shroud for easier removal & replacement.
, Many ways to do it.

Let us know how you did.

 

So it turns out it was a lot easier than I thought. Two bolts in the wheel well two bolts underneath couple of bolts up top you definitely unfortunately have to remove the hood that inch or two is everything that the hood gives you. And I can’t stress enough to mark that hood before you remove it or else it won’t line up properly or like me it’ll lineup poorly and your panic not being able to open up the hood once you close it. Had a few leaks on the On the radiator I was able to solder them myself it’s fully sealed I was able to run the car for 45 minutes and store it. Carburetor ran great engine was running beautiful no more blue or black smoke. I really need to run an in-line fuel filter to get all that bad gas out of there that has debris in it.

 

Thats great! Happy for success ☺.

 

Yeah someone on this post put directions in I don’t know how far back in those directions were extremely helpful I just worked off of them and use my common sense so this forum is absolutely amazing and the people are so nice here. Everyone is very respectful and I’m glad I’m here. The car is away for the winter I’ll reach out to everyone in the spring for some help on finding a rear bumper and some carburetor work again just in case

 

We're glad you're here too! Best, Paul

 

My 1976 Vette is an automatic with air. Yes, I cut the shroud top and bottom to get it out but what I did looks fairly neat. I thought the air cleaner intake would cover the top splice but it didn't and still likes fine to me! Radiator was a pain getting out but not as bad as I expected. I kept the hood on and it caused no issues. Installed a DeWitt Direct Fit........it does a great job and looks great in natural aluminum finish. AND, per Mr. D, I also put a thin masonite type material covering the front & back of the new radiator core to protect it during installation and didn't uses string but had another system to retreive the material once the radiator was in place. I did mone a couple years ago and all is well.

I do have a two post lift and I believe being able to raise it up and down to get to the different parts helped Grandpa keep his sannity while doing the work!

I'll have to say that the Corvette is one tight ****** to work on in most areas. It is really tight up around the front suspension and the fan shroud/radiator area. But I got it done.....thanks to the lift.