I am replacing the radiator shroud on my 73 small block. The engine is out of the car and the old shroud was in very bad condition so removal was easy.

How on earth do you get the new shroud in? I have the six vertical bolts out of the core support so that I can tilt the radiator forward a couple inches, but there still is not enough clearance between the radiator and the upper control arms.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers,

 

My 69 had some 73 parts in it and I know just what you mean the shroud recesses between the forward most control arm crossshaft bolt and the radiator.

Now I believe the correct way is to remove the radiator. Lay the shroud into place and then install the radiator. Then bolt up the shroud.

Purest wont like my solution. I split the shroud at the very bottom right in the middle were the fan goes. I then took and pulled the shroud together at the bottom where the split is so that the shroud now overlapped itself at the bottom so that I could get the shroud to go down past the control arms then I let the bottom of the shroud spring back out. Viola its in.

I then made up two pieces of 1/8" thick x 1/2" wide (by maybe 3-4 inches long) aluminum to span the split I made. I drilled two holes in each piece of aluminum through the shroud as well and then hold the split together in the shroud with bolts and fender nuts that are installed on the aluminum pieces. Painted the aluminum black and you cant see it unless you know to look for it.

I now have a dewitts aluminum radiator and electric fans so no more problems. I still have the shroud and can take a picture of it if you want to show you what I did.

 

'Purists' may not like your solution...but, then, they didn't have to get that d@mn shroud back in place, did they? I think your solution is a good [and practical] one and wish I'd have thought of it when I did mine. As long as you have a way to lock the joint back together when you get done...who cares? You can't see that unless you are under the car.

P.S. You can get the shroud and radiator back in the car without damaging them. Of course, YOU will end up with black & blue arms, a strained back, and with more skinned knuckles and cut-up hands than you can imagine!

 

OUCH, bin there, done that. I remember, you had to bring that up didn't you. And I bleed like a stucked pig, as they say. Had to do alot of clean up in the engine bay when I was finished.

 

I just reinstalled mine yesterday along with a new DeWitt's Direct-Fit aluminum radiator. I had my hood off having just done a top-end rebuild and new cam. You are 6/8 of the way there! Pull the two bolts from under the car that hold your core support in. Slide it up and out. I got away with doing this - but my hood was off, with your engine out yours is likely off as well. Otherwise, pull your hood if you want to... Now:

Make a sandwich by installing your radiator and the shroud both onto the core support while it is out of the car. (With my car, I also installed the condensor as part of the "sandwich" for my new Vintage Air a/c system that will now occupy the next few weekends of my time...!) Lay some blankets around nose and fenders. Since your engine is out this does not apply, but for others it may - be sure you pull your fan off - but leave the pulley and belts alone. Lean over front of car (or get a helper - even easier...) and slide the assembly down - cocking it slightly so the lower hose fitting clears your A-arm. Line it up and loosely install bottom bolts, then the side bolts. I used a smaller phillips screwdriver from inside the fenderwells aimed inwards through the center hole on each side to gently apply downward pressure on the core support to line up those holes. That did not bugger up the threads in the core - but be careful...

Also - my core support was rusted out. When you see yours at the bottom you may decide to spring for a $300 repro like I did. Ialso transferred my still-good foam rubber seals from the old core to the new - gotta seal airflow so it goes through radiator and not around it. As for the DeWitts - my indicated water temp is much lower - it used to run straight up at 210 - now it is fully one notch left - love that product for sure!

 

Here some pics as no one crucified me for cutting on the shroud.

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Hi msn,
I'm a purist, but I like your solution if it works for you. It's nice to see you used a tool to cut the shroud and didn't borrow bubba's 'shroud hatchet'.
Regards,
Alan

 

My car will never be original, but I don't like to butcher stuff. This just made sense to me and I figured most people wouldn't see it being its on the bottom.

 

But, I'll bet that you still don't have the lower shroud extension for that shroud. They are hard to come by...don't show up much at swap meets/flea markets. The repros are just junk and cost nearly 100 buck$. So I'm just going to make one out of sheet metal (aluminum) or sheet plastic stock, then paint it a color close to that of the stock shroud.

 

I recall i had the bottom bolts out of the core support and was able to angle it forward. Then i wrestled in the radiator and shroud as a one piece sandwich. I also installed all new shroud seals too and this way the shroud was already sealed up to the radiator. Once the "sandwich" was in i used long bolts through the core support bracket to pull in the radiator - but becareful as once the radiator starts to pull u have to remove the long bolts from the core support bracket then install shorter bolts to avoid puncturing the radiator - like bubba had done to mine previously. And a small leak from the top bracket area puddles water down onto the core support - as many have found out.

Good luck and don't forget new shroud seals - they are very important to a C3 vette cooling flow and after thirty years most are trash.
cardo0

 

I did mine last year and found that removing the hood....be careful...and pulling the passenger side A arm out of the way was a tremendous help, may also have to swing the other one out also.

 

I have had mine in/out several times in the past 15 years.
1. remove hood
2. remove rad support bolts in wheel wells
3 remove headlight vacuum cans ( if you have AC)
4. remove top rad hose
5. remove shroud top mount bolts and the two nuts on the bottom of the radiator
6. pull top of rad support toward front of the car as far as you can
7. pull the shroud away from the radiator on the drivers side enough to get around the top hose barb and pull up gently untill it comes out.
It helps to put some cardboard between the radiator and the shroud so you do not mess up the fins.

Reverse to install. Make sure the lower radiator hose is on and the clamp is tight before you install the shroud; It is almost impossible to do once it is in place.

 

Ive got the extension still sitting in my garage.

Same repo as the pictures above.

 

This is why I modified mine.
Its a real PITA. You can chip the hood or your head light housing too easy.

However, you would think you should not have to be in this area too often.