I've read many posts on the subject, and read just as many different opinions, but if you are trying to remove or reinstall a radiator and find it near impossible, then remove the headlight actuators and the hood to give yourself enough clearance to make it easier.

I have a '73 with AC, so with the condenser bolted to the front of the radiator support, you can't pull far enough forward on the support to get the lower radiator pipe clear of the control arm and the fan shroud.

It took me all of 30 minutes to disconnect both actuators and then another 5 minutes to set the radiator and shroud back in the car - without a second set of hands.

It was this post by redwingvette back in 2002 that made me realize the actuators had to come out:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ve-a-arms.html

Default Re: Fan Shroud Again - Remove A-arms? (theandies)
I've done mine aleast 4 times so I'am getting good at it.
1. Remove core support bolts inside wheel well
2. Remove fan
3. Remove fan shroud bolts, radiator and condenser bolts (remove hoses and trans lines if you plan on pulling radiator).
4. Remove headlamp actuators (gives room to pull radaitor support toward front of car.
5. Pull radiator as far forward as you can and wiggle fan shroud pulling up the driverside first.
6. Reverse to reinstall.


Here's a link to a great thread on removing the actuators :
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-actuator.html

In this pic, you can see that I have another 3-4" of clearance to pull the radiator support forward now that the actuators are out.

 

Interesting I never removed the headlight actuators to remove the fan shroud. I have taken off the hood though. I going to put my radiator back in next week. I also need to replace the headlight actuator seals, so I might as well remove them while the radiator is out. (so I have to remove them anyway lol!)

 

If you don't have the A/C condenser on the front of the radiator support, you probably don't need to remove them, but if you do, it gives plenty of room to reinstall the radiator with the fan shroud placed and leaning back against the engine.

And yes - good time to refurb those actuators!

 

I'm truly, truly dreading this job... I've got plenty of mini projects before I get to this, but if I'm lucky (and I never am), I'll be pulling the radiator this winter to put in my new Mike Jones roller cam to match my Profiler 195cc heads, and all the horrible stories about pulling the radiator shroud, radiator and installing aftermarket radiators has me worried especially given that I'll have a lot more to be worried about at that time...


Definitely appreciate this tip.

Adam

 

Are you removing it with the Radiator support connected or is the condenser making it hard to remove it? I was going to remove the shroud completely before pulling the Rad. I was not going to pull the hood or actuators either. I also heard unbolting the shroud and setting it back out of the way you will not have to pull it completely out of the car, but just hang it on the pulley area.

I am about to do this so will be following the thread, I have watched videos but it was on cars without AC and mine has AC.

 

If you have AC and you just want to remove the radiator, my experience is that you can still do this without totally removing the support, but you have to loosen the support enough to push it forward. To do that, you have to remove the bolts from inside the fender wells and loosen the two large bolts at the bottom of the support - don't need to take those out, just loosen them up a good bit.
On my '73, I could do this without loosening or removing the condenser or the hoses, although you may need to remove any brackets holding the hoses to the engine compartment in order to let them move forward.
Once the support is loose (and assuming the radiator has been complete disconnected) push it forward and then pull the shroud back and see if you have enough room to pull out the radiator - the problem with doing it with the shroud is clearing the shroud over the control arms.
If you don't have enough room (I didn't.) Then remove the actuators and push the support forward another 2-3 inches and then you should have plenty room to pull the radiator up and out, while clearing the lower pipe.
I did this with the hood off, don't think it could be done with the hood on.

Again, this is all my experience. Others seem to have an easier time with it - but I'm thinking it may be non AC cars or different shroud setups.

Also - remove the front section from the shroud first too.