About to replace the radiator in a 73 Vette w/air conditioning and auto trans.
The "interference" is the fan shroud. It keeps hitting the upper A arm bolt and does not allow enough "rearward" movement of the shroud to permit clearance so the radiator can be lifted out.
Any tips appreciated.
Thanks
Bill

 

Same problem on my 75 - also with AC and auto tranny. There are six bolts (three in each wheel well) holding in the radiator support. You need to remove the top two on each side and loosen the bottom bolt on each side. Then you can swivel the radiator support forward enough to get enough clearance to pull your radiator out. Then the fun part is getting the shroud out without damaging it, and then re-installing it. It can be done - I did it, but it's a little bit of work. Consider going with Spals.

 

After the hood is off and the upper 2 bolts on the sides of the support removed, I used 2 ratcheting straps attached to the workbench to pull the radiator forward and hold. I discovered this trick after 2 hours of trying to hold the radiator back far enough to remove the shroud on my '76.

 

something else that helps is to cut a piece of press board or card board to fit over your radiator between it and the shroud. helps keep you from screwin up the fins on your rad.

fan shroud removal sucks, dude. good luck.

 

I have used a different method of radiator removal with my 70 with factory air/turbo 400 for the past 35 years. I do not remove the hood or mess with the radiator support. I have bolts for the radiator support which are hidden by fiiberglass shielding in the passenger wheelwell anyway. Placing a floor jack under the passenger lower control arm I raise it enough to remove the front tire. All the tension is not off the upper control arm. Remove the nuts to the upper control arm, tape and identify the alignment shims. The control arm is removed from the bolts and moved into the wheelwell. I also knock out the rear control arm bolt from the frame protecting the thread end. The bolt has a serated shoulder that locks it in the frame. I also knock out the front bolt when the radiator is out to make it easier to install the upper control arm when the shroud and radiator are reinstalled. Tighting the nuts with the control arm will pull the sererated shoulder of the bolt into the frame.

 

after damaging it (slightly) the first time on those !@#$ed upper aframe arms. Second the suggestion to put a shield in the way.

I like the idea of pulling those arms! I never thought of that. One way or the other - they are a nuisance, much, much worse because of the silly one-piece shroud, which should have been a two piece you could take the top portion off like so many other GM designs. If I had kept a shroud, even having massively rebuilt my original one, I would have modified it so it was a two piece.

Since the hood comes off and goes on so easily, I pluck the hood, undo all six bolts on the sides of the radiator support and the two large bottom ones from underneath. Then I pull the whole thing forward and out, with the bottom radiator hose still attached to the radiator.

(I dread the day I may have to change THAT thing with a shroud on...)

Now that I have no silly shroud I am a much happier camper.

One nice side-effect of giving up and pulling the radiator support with the radiator and shroud all at once, despite the weight and awkwardness, is I found all this rusted out area underneath it I welded up and then had powdercoated. BTW, without the shroud, I didn't have to put it all in as a unit and could put the radiator in with just the support partially up and leaned all the way forward.