Ken,
You Da Man!! Fine job, I knew that a guy as inventive as you would figure out a way to repair it. Aaron is one lucky young man to have you around helping him with his car.

 

Yeah, what would we do without you? :lol:

 

Is there something funny about my work?

Ken

 

Thanks for all the positive comments, guys. I kinda surprised myself on this one, really. I haven't welded much before; I just sat down, read the manuals and had at it! It's pretty damn strong, too!

Steve, the support isn't a big block support (that I know of?) Aaron's car is just an L48, but I don't think they differed between small and big block, that I'm aware of. (At least not for '74?)

The metal I'm using is about the same thickness as the two pieces of sheet metal the factory used (spot welded together) to make the original. However, this stuff is welded pretty heavily and braced a lot better, I think. I'm probably going to make the lower mounts out of some channel as well, rather than trying to weld the old rusty junk on.

Ken

 

No, really, you are a master. Never cease to be amazed at your capabilities. :yesnod: There is nothing you can't do. :blueangel:

 

You may not be the one putting it in....
(playing around)
But at least I'll drive my older stingray...when's the last time you even started the 73??? :rolleyes:

:cheers: :D

 

Hey, Aaron, glad to see you are getting your car going.

How is the ported manifold on the 82 coming. Been driving mine for over a year now. Love it. Glad for the "technical" expertise. Looks like working in hot weather happens.

 

Cars been going for a while..since july...I miss my daily 2nd gear scratches, but oh well...

We don't have a ported manifold on the 82 yet. Ken is porting one, and i'm going to do a 3 angle valve job, new valve guides and seats on his L-98 aluminum heads he's got in auto shop for him.

 

Okay guys, I've been at it for another day's worth of work.. I found out that the radiator Bret (War71) gave me is nothing like Aaron's '74 radiator, so using it was out of the question. The shroud wouldn't fit it, and for good reason. This pic shows the difference between a '71 small block radiator and a '74 small block radiator - the bottom outlet is actually about 4 inches HIGHER on the tank on the '74 radiator AND the core itself is larger (wider) than the '71 unit. (The '71 right-side tank is larger, though.)


So, I decided to re-use Aaron's radiator. That way if he gets a new radiator, it'll still fit the support I just made, or if he gets a new support.. you get the idea. Rather than mix and match years, I decided to stick with the proper year configuration so he wouldn't get it confused (and it wouldn't be "bubba'd" anymore than this.) Here's a few pics of the progress..

Radiator brackets welded on and lower shelf (angle-iron) welded on.....


Radiator brackets completed, with radiator in place and shroud set in place..


I got a little creative with the shroud brackets - rather than have the shroud bolt on, I had it slip under these pieces of sheet metal welded onto the end of the brackets. The radiator slips in, then the shroud slips into these pieces - and bolts on up top.


Here's a closeup of one of the brackets.....


I just got done painting it, and I'm going to let Aaron drill the few holes that need to be drilled and install it. Hopefully we'll get it all put back together this weekend!

Ken

 

War71's radiator looks a great deal like my 69 SB radiator. Down to the dent in the bottom hose connection. The only practical difference is the location of the bottom hose connection, it apparently was moved up to more easily clear the A-arm. There is no way to get it in without the dent in the pipe.

 

And hopefully..I can go to the C3 Meeting this Sat.... :yesnod:

 

Smokehouse, I believe that the dent is part of the design to fit around the sway bar. I sent the first Griffin radiator back because of the dent. The second one came back with the same dent! After I installed it I realized why the dent was there in the first place. :crazy:

 

Mine looked almost that bad. I just cleaned it off and painted POR 15 on it.
I'll fix it later. :smash:

 

The whole repair cost me about $40 in materials (minus paint and MIG wire, of course.. I already had that.) Hell of a lot cheaper than a used one that's still rusty! :D

Here's a couple of pics of the finished product....





Ken

 

What can I say, you are capable of anything you set your mind to and decide to do. :rolleyes:

 

Would you have been able to build one for me????


[Modified by Aaron-74, 8:39 PM 9/6/2001]

 

Do you have a problem, Larry? What's the rolleyes for?

Ken

 

Say what? I pick the emoticon based on what it look like. Did not realize the underlying description was roll eyes. No problem. Just complimenting you on you grand capabilities. Chill out. Let's see now, what emoticon looks good... :crazy: yeah, crazy, that's the ticket, fits this post. :lol:

 

Ken,
WOW.
But I can see a major mistake :eek:
You posted pictures of your fine work and now you will likely get many requests from members to repair theirs :D
With having said that, will you fix mine? :D :D :D

Stew

 

It's going to go in tomorrow..I have to drill some mounting holes and what not. But me and Ken think it SHOULD fit. I hope it does. But I don't think there will be a big problem.