new radiator from Oreilly. new shroud from CC. original fan from a guy in gilbert. new brackets for the shroud from CC. can't seem to get shroud installed right? upon research on here i came up with motor mounts. i just checked them and they look fine. the shroud seems to be too far to the DS. the fan hits on the passenger side and at the top. the edges of the shroud that are supposed to reach over the lip on the sides of the radiator, only the DS is over it. the PS side, the edge of the shroud sits right inside the radiator on the rad core. also can't get the little bolt through the hole on the PS bottom of the shroud. it was an incredibly tight fit getting the old shroud off of it.
btw i have tons of clearance on the DS, but the shroud appears to be perfectly centered just how it is.

potential problem- the car has a thm 350. where it is supposed to bolt to the mount on the crossmember, is a steel plate. the mounting holes on the trans are about 6 inches too far forward of the crossmember so the super thick plate is bolted to it at one end and to the mount at the other end. this raises my transmission... on second thought if this raises my transmission this can't be an issue because it would lower the front of my engine and the fan hits it at the top of the shroud. thought this has caused other problems for me that i won't bore you with right now. sorry this is so long. before you ask, i can't get any pictures. sorry
before i replaced the shroud and fan there was a Ford fan that was just over 17 inches. it fit fine with the busted shroud that was wired in place, but since it didn't fit with the new shroud i decided to get a correct fan for this car.

since i have the entire front of this car torn apart right now, should i go ahead and get a new core support too? would it maybe help to tear it ALL out and start again?

 

How did you check that the motor mounts were ok? I'll still bet you have a soft or broken mount(s).

Here's a real quick way to check. Open the hood of your car. Place the transmission in low gear and block the wheels. STAND on the brake. If it's an automatic give it some gas to load/power brake the engine. If you have a manual trans, you will have to use the heel of your right foot on the brake and throttle it with you toes while loading the clutch with your left foot. If the engine lifts on the drivers side such that the fan hits the shroud you have a broken drivers side motor mount. The engine will visibly lift a couple of inches as seen from the drivers seat.

You'll have to do this quick with the cooling system apart.

 

yesterday we determined you dont have the correct water pump for a 1975. Could differences in the location of the water pump be throwing the fan location off?

 

i have the CAs out so i looked through the wheel well, and felt them too. as for the water pump, i was under the impression that a 350 is a 350 is a 350. the water pump style and location are the same. i've seen a few other 350s from this time frame and it all looks the same. keep in mind my engine is a crate motor from the 80's.
i remembered one other thing about that trans mount. i off set it a little because with it raising my trans, it also raises my driveshaft and causes it to rub the body. i off set the trans a hair so the DS would be more to one side so that now it only rubs the body if i have a passenger. i have to run to autozone today anyways, so i'll just get new motor mounts and give that a try.

 

in addition to the 2 hub sizes, 3/4 and 5/8, you have long and short pumps, so they do differ in closeness to the shroud but I'm not sure if there is any other difference.

 

oh great
i just got back from running all over town trying to find motor mounts and a spring compressor and now i get to turn around and go back to measure water pumps
this car is a headache of love... scratch that, it's just a headache now
i'll probably be heading down to phx for an internal coil spring compressor today anyways... darn auto parts stores only have external compressors and i have no room to fit those things on this car!
tomorrow i'll be certifiably insane.............

 

i'm gonna try uploadin some pictures for y'all


http://s1163.photobucket.com/albums/...rent%3D002.jpg

http://s1163.photobucket.com/albums/...rent%3D004.jpg

and this little bolt on the bottom


ok so that didn't work... but the link is working for me so hopefully y'all can view the photos. as they show, the fan hits on the right (passenger) side and has about an inch of clearance on the left (driver) side. and according to some pictures in my haynes repair manual the shroud should be sitting closer to the core support at the top. covering the top of the radiator. should i try bending my new brackets to pull the shroud forwards? the problem then is that the shroud flexes and the fan starts hitting really bad in one spot.
also the people at Napa said there were three different length or whatever water pumps, and that mine should use the medium one...

 

i've figured out part of my problem. the pipe on the radiator that the lower rad hose fits onto faces too much at an angle. it's pushing the shroud towards the driver side which causes the huge gap on the DS and the rubbing on the PS. i think that if i replace the rad and bend the brackets a little i should be able to make it all fit right. or i might break down and shell out the money for a new core support WIAI. be careful about those while i'm at its

 

You would have been money ahead to have bought a radiator from DeWitt's. I don't think you need a new radiator support unless your existing support is badly rusted and needs replacement. Your water pump should be 5,795" with a 3/4" shaft. Be careful what you buy from non Corvette venders as people will list items that fit Corvettes and they don't what they are talking about. Especially on EBay.

 

Yes, there is definately a short and long water pump for Vettes, esp for the BB engines.

 

there's hardly any bottom to the core support it's so rusted. i just don't have the money for one right now. money to spend on this car seems to come in $25 increments lol
another newbie question- where can i get DeWitts radiators? is it a specific company or can i get them at places like Ecklers and CC?

 

you mention that you had the whole front end apart. including the core support? if so, when you reassembled it, there's some slop in the clearances for mounting that, which will determine how well the fan lines up with the shroud.

could also be that, if you removed that rod that goes from the core support to the nose, that maybe the front end drooped a little... maybe.

these things would impact the up-&-down, but not the left-to-right.

just my humble opinion.

 

thanks for the advice, i'll remember that for whenever i replace the core support, but i have never removed it (yet). there's one bolt that won't come out, so when i am moving everything around the support has to pivot on that lower bolt. and no i haven't bent it either. i yanked the rad out late yesterday and will be returning it today and am unsure where i want to get a new rad from...
well i definately don't recommend a corvette as a beginners project car. this car has been a real PITA sometimes.

 

You could look in the left sidebar of this (and most every other) page of vendor sponsors of this forum. Not too far from the top is COOLING. Click on the link where you see Aluminum Radiators...they're the only one. Or type Dewitts.com in your browser.

So simple even a caveman could do it.