I am going to be replacing the radiator and the support this weekend hopefully. I was wondering if anyone could offer me any advice to save some time on this project.

About how long should it take?

Will I need any special tools other than patience?

 

Make sure you use two people to pull the radiator. It's a matter of lifting up the driver's side a bit then passenger side and some finessing. I left the fan shroud on and took it out as one unit. Good luck.

 

Twice as long as the service manual might suggest.

Well stocked FCB.



Favorite Corvette Beverage.

 

I've done mine twice. I would offer this advice:
Remove the hood.
Remove the fan.
Remove the radiator support with the radiator. (Look for the bolts in the wheel wells).
When you have the radiator and the support loose, tilt them forward and remove the shroud - in one piece.
After removing the hood, one person can do this in 2 hours.

 

First off, THANK YOU
Your advice is very appreciated!

Now a few more questions, forgive me if they seem unintelligent.

Since I am going to be replacing the support and the radiator all in the same day (prays this is possible). Would it be easier to unbolt the support and lift it out as one unit or take it apart piece by piece?

I don't know a whole lot about vette's this being my first to work on and own. The radiator support isn't a crucial part of the frame is it?
I will be able to just unbolt the support and slip, pry, pull, tug, and beat the support out and then just put the new one in, right? Or am I being naive here? The body pieces don't have to come off do they? The hood I can deal with, but would rather not, based on past experiences with old trucks.

I did find out today that the support is a 1976 support, the vette is a 74. Is this as bad as sign as I think it is?

This will be the first major restore event that I will being doing to the car. I spent the last 2.5 months of just keeping it running and the wheels turning on the ol' car.

Most likely I will be the only one working on it. How big of a bottle of asprin am I going to need?


edit in:Thank you BK.

 

Huh??? You don't have AC or vacuum-operated headlights in your car?

 

It is a LOT easier than these guys are making it out to be.

Leave the hood alone. It is a hassle to realign and soon we will see posts from you about "How do I get my hood open, it's stuck" where it catches wrong.

Leave the support alone. It aligns the front fenders. You ready to have front surround cracks? It also has the AC lines and vacuum lines for the headlights.

Drain the coolant.

Remove any air intake ducting you have, like on '76 to '81.

Remove the hoses.

Remove the transmission lines, if an automatic.

Remove the fan shroud and slide it back.

Take a big thick piece of cardboard and slide between the fan and the radiator. It helps to turn the fan so that two blades help support it at top.

Unbolt the radiator clamps.

Pull the radiator up and out, with some twisting to get the lower connection to clear the a-frame.

30 minute job, I don't know what these other guys are doing.

Leave the cardboard in. You can slide the radiator along the cardboard to get it back in, too.

 

If you don't cut up the shroud and it is plastic like in a 73 you need to pull it all at the same time. If you have A/C it's harder. Plan on all week end unless you cut up the shroud if it's your first time at this job. Some pull the RH upper A-Arm to get the shroud out.

 

He said he is replacing the radiator support. Maybe you can replace it without removing it, I can't. If you can get the radiator out of a C3 in 30 minutes, you can work miracles.

 

I was just reading those! Passenger side won't catch on it's own, without an extra shove.
It has too be replaced. The lower support that the radiator sits on is rusted into two pieces except for two small spots that are less than an inch long. Advice on alignment of the front fenders? I don't know what Front surround cracks are, but chances are the car probably already has it.


Thanks for the tip about the cardboard.

I would demolish the shroud before I pulled the right upper A-ARM

It's an automatic, has a/c and vacuum headlights. It is a 74 with a 76 radiator support and I assume a 76 radiator that is on its last leg.

Since the support controls the alignment of the fenders would it be better to have a shop do it?


Edit: I could get mine out in under 30 minutes but it would involve unchaining it and hitting a big bump! Getting the radiator itself out isn't what I am worried about. It is the support and everything that I now realize that is connected to it.

 

One unit.

Crucial to the frame, No. Crucial to front end fiberglass and hood, Yes.

Naive? No. Oversimplistic, Yes.

Nothing should be coming off. The support and rad should be coming out. Your choice, but removing the hood allows a considerable amount of work space.

Could be. The '76 support may not be a direct swap. First design '76 shroud has studs to mount the fan shroud; second design does not have the studs. Which '76 support do you have?

Before you mmake the big leap, you want to ensure you have replacement seals for the radiator and the fan shroud. Leaving the seals out will lead to overheating.

 

Just be aware that all the "stuff" in there has [or, at least, it originally had] a purpose...or GM wouldn't have spent any money to buy it. The shround "system" must direct all the airflow into the radiator, because the C3 design tilted the radiator backwards and hurt the efficiency of the cooling system (it would have been much better to tilt it forward, but there is not room). If you don't seal up the airflow system correctly, you WILL have cooling problems.

 

I will check the fan shroud to see which type it is.

I am pretty sure I order all the replacement seals. 70% are still in place and I will use the old ones if I find I forgot to order one.

If I leave the hood on, would that help keep everything in place as far as the front end fiberglass and all that stuff? Sort keep things squared up?

Thank you for your answers!

7T1vette, so what you're saying is keep the shroud intact and get all the seals back in place, right?

 

Yes, I think you need to keep the original hardware...if you can. If you can't, make up some sheet metal/fibreglass stuff to accomplish the same purpose. The area around the radiator is supposed to be almost totally blocked off...to force the air through the radiator. The exception is the open "gap" between the top of the radiator and the upper radiator frame surface (about 1/2" gap). Above that, there should be another seal to the hood.

I would agree with the others; the hood should be removed to give you access to the radiator and shroud. Be sure to put "positioning" marks around the hood hinge plates, so that you can re-align the hood easily.

 

I agree with BKbroiler. Just mark the hood attach points before you remove it. 2 people also make it soooo much easier and quicker

 

I will be putting the re-cored radiator back in my 73 this weekend. I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago, it took most of a Saturday to get it out. I left the hood on and left the shroud in place. The car has A/C so removing the radiator support is out of the question. The previous owner had altered the shroud a bit. This alteration made the radiator somewhat easier to remove. But believe me,it was still a bear by yourself. I will let everyone know how it went.

 

I paid too much attention to his title about the radiator. Yes, if he is pulling the support, too, then the hood also has to come off. And a lot of lines that don't like to be disconnected.

That is going to take a lot longer than 30 minutes.

The two slowest parts I've found on the radiator removal is waiting for the coolant to drain and getting the darn transmission lines out. I know why so many cut them.

 

The shroud and the radiator are not easy to get out without breaking the shroud in a 73 no matter how you cut it. If you bust up the shroud its easy thats why most original 73 shrouds are broke up or were sawed out and screwed back together.

 

I don't know on a 74, but on my 79 I don't think I could have pulled the radiator by myself. I was leaning over the front of the car, trying to tilt the radiator up on the driver's side, but no luck. I pretty much figured it was impossible because I coulnd't see what the radiator was doing. Wound up calling someone to help me get it out.

 

Oh I won't have a problem draining the radiator. I did it pretty fast today!

Replaced the thermostat today in the Napa parking lot. The upper radiator hose decided to pop off the thermostat housing while I was inside Napa! And of course it spewed around 3 gallons out onto the parking lot!

No studs. The shroud bolts on. It appears to be the wrong shroud, cut outs for upper and lower radiator hoses when they aren't in the way. Doesn't fit right up to the support in some places. Also I picked up the upper radiator hose for a 74 and it doesn't come close to fitting using the current set up of support and radiator....wait and see if it fits with the new support and radiator?



So now the general advice is;
mark the hood placements,
remove the hood,
take the fan off,
take the shroud off without or as little damage as possible,
disconnect transmission lines and A/C lines,
pull out radiator, then the support. support is too far gone to pull as one unit. the radiator would fall out as i pulled the support out!
put new support in,
connect lines back together,
put new radiator in new support with seals,
put top brackets back in place with seals,
put radiator hoses back in place and put hood seals on,
refill with coolant.

Transmission fluid? I expect that is going to leak some too, while I disconnect the lines. A/C, I don't think it has any freon left in it. Doesn't cool at all. So as far as those lines that don't like to be disconnected. Any tricks anybody is willing to share to make this less of a hassle?

Thank you all again for your advice.