Thanks to Smokedtires and others, I completed the Universal radiator and elec. fan install in my '76. It took some effort (and with air conditioning was a little more difficult) but turned out pretty nicely if I do say so myself. :cheers:

 

:cheers:

 

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Had to one up your one up. :p:

 

You are gonna have to post me some pictures. I would like to see what it looks like. I just got my original back from the radiator shop and already I am thinking of getting an aluminum radiator.

BTW, where did you buy the radiator?

 

Congrats!!

 

Aluminum radiator and electric fans = free HP & :cool: times ahead :D !

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[Modified by SmokedTires, 6:18 PM 11/13/2002]

 

Thanks again all. I'll try to get some pics and post them.

 

I want to do the same thing. What radiator did you use and why was the a/c a problem? I have a dude that will also build me an aluminum radiator support for cheap. Any trials and tribulations? I've heard that there have been past posts concerning using an aluminum universal radiator, but could not find them. Also, I have an auto transmission, so I suppose I will be left to using a remote trans cooler. I'd love to see some pics and congrats on the install. Thanks!!! :conehead

 

I did this install and I felt it was difficult. I used the griffin Nascar radiator with the auto tranny cooler. The lower hose was a bit of a challenge. I used the stock radiator mounts but I added extra rubber on spots I felt the metal would rub on the aluminum radiator. Mounting the Flex-a-lite fans was also a bitch. I ended up having to cut major plastic on the flex a lite shroud to get a good seal around the radiator. The other lingering problem is where the flex a lite bulb thermostat goes into the upper radiator hose at the radiator. I do not have the original rubber gasket so I tried to make my own... never has sealed to my satisfaction... I have two hose clamps on the sucker and it still leaks small amounts of fluid after cooling down.

Now I will say this about performance - That setup works great. Since installing I have not had temp over 200 degrees and that temp only because I have the fans set for that temperature. Outstanding cooling performance.

 

But when I did my C3 with dual spal electric fans (we did the radiator later), I removed about 50lbs of weight by removing the spare tire. There was a definite SOTP difference, as well as more tire scratch when getting into the gears!

After the radiator was finished, I couldn't get the darn thing to overheat in the FL sun + AC! :cheers:

 

Ok I am going to work on some pics. 31x19 Universal radiator. Smokedtires has some great pics that gave me the idea of how to do the job, but he does not appear to have A/C The AC problem had to do with the radiator upper brackets which must be moved, requiring new holes be drilled in the core support which has to be removed for drilling. I was replacing the core support at the same time so one extra step was eliminated. The evaporator is mounted through the same holes as the upper brackets (if you look at your radiator you will see what I mean.) Because the evaporator had to go back where it was originally, I had to get a little more creative in mounting - drilled additional holes and bolted through the core supports and bracket. Hard to explain but a PITA. In my opinion, this was not the easiest job in the world. Definately took more time than I thought it would but I work really slowly. In my case, the fans mounted nicely and the seal is good. Put it this way- at my hourly rate of pay (not as a mechanic!) it cost me way more than what I saved but for me, this is a hobby and overcoming the problems is therapy. ;)