Oh boo hoo. New aluminium rad won't fit...

[SaskStag]

It was finally somewhat warm enough to fit the new ally rad I had made for the Stag with all the modifications required for he Daddypump and header tank. Looks the business.

Managed to get the rad in, but the right hand side bracket won't line up with the bracket on the car. The left hand side bracket is lined up and won't allow any more forward movement. Bottom bolts are both in.

The rad itself looks a bit twisted and may be responsible for the discrepancy, so I have contacted the manufacturer, but I can only see this being a long, drawn out process involving postal services across country borders......

I might have to push the left hand bracket further forward. How do I cut into that bracket and make another one in front? How have others done this to fit in wider rads? I have a welder, although I wouldn't trust myself with it
IMG_2231low res.jpg IMG_2225low res.jpg

Thanks for any thoughts
Tanya

[flying farmer]

If the rad has got a twist in it then you really have two options, send the rad back to get it sorted, or tweak things to make it fit.

I would start by ovaling the holes in the bottom panel, if you move the left one back a bit and the right one forward a bit (assuming the rad is not up tight against the front panel) you should get enough movement without doing any cutting and welding.

I seem to recall doing this on one of my cars but can't remember which one, it was probably my 1st Stag when I fitted the much thicker 4 row rad, though I also ended up moving the rad on my project Stag half an inch sideways to make room for the oil cooler and that required quite a lot of filing to achieve.

Neil

[Jeff]

Elongate the holes?

[Staggard]

Looks awful close to the fan blades Tanya, even if you get it to fit. Can I ask a stupid question? the power steering belt in your picci looks like a toothed type belt with the teeth facing the wrong way. probably wrong, and I am gonna look like a plonker now

[michael]

If you play around with it they won't take it back send them photos , tell them it's not fit for purpose , you need your car asap and ask them to send another asap. And you will send yours back at the same time . Where did you get it , nobody likes bad feedback. Best of luck some firms actually pride themselves on putting things right when they have made a mistake . If you fit it and something goes wrong you will end up kicking yourself.
Michael.

[jleyton]

Bearing in mind international postagè and your wish to get the car up and running, and the fact that the right hand bracket doesn't look like it's a mile away fom the bolt hole, would a long bolt pull the rad into position ? Maybe not an ideal answer but it could be an expedient one.

I'd certainly be contacting tne supplier but, if you were to suggest this to them then, if it works, everybody's happy and, if it doesn't you could still return it I would have thought.

Good luck anyway Tanya.

Cheers

Julian

[Motorsport Micky]

Send it back, it's twisted. Alloy rads don't like being stressed and you won't get away with it like a copper rad, if it doesn't leak after opening out holes and fitting it will develop a leak probably about 2 months out of warranty !

Mick Richards

[elvimto]

Did you by it from the company up in Canada, Wizzard Cooling? or the UK. Wizzard have the specs for a Stag rad and one of the Stag owners up your way has used them he also said they make a great rad, last time I checked they were about 400 US and if you need any extra bits put in they will do that. Good luck

[Hughesy]

Is the front end straight? Any previous accident history? You may want to check this before taking with the supplier.

[Westfaling]

Tanya
As suggested run a straight edge over the rad and see if it's square. If it is then elongating a bottom hole might be enough to get the RH top bracket closer.
On a related topic It's been suggested on here before to rubber isolate the top mounts to avoid vibration /stress to the rad. top mounts. I put rubber washers between the rad brackets and the body.
Nick

[V Mad]

Tanya, its not much work to pop the rad out, and check for twist and measure how far out it might be. I would not expect more than about 3mm max. Even then, I would add a shim to take up any gap rather than pre-stress the lovely rad.

On another note, it looks like the fan blades are too close. They will bend forwards when running, and I would be nervous about them causing any damage. Is there room for the rad to go forwards a few mm if the brackets were bent flat?

[SaskStag]

Hi all,
I'm still waiting for the manufacturer's response. Is does look off by about 3-5mm. I'm wondering whether it's worth getting him to place the brackets further rearwards to allow the whole rad to go forwards - if it gets returned. I'm very unhappy about how close the rad is to the fan (one cardboard thickness right now).
I guess I now have time to sort out that power steering belt . Thanks Graham, not sure why I did that, it must have flipped over in the package and I thought that was the way it went on, doh!

[Staggard]

Hi all,
I'm still waiting for the manufacturer's response. Is does look off by about 3-5mm. I'm wondering whether it's worth getting him to place the brackets further rearwards to allow the whole rad to go forwards - if it gets returned. I'm very unhappy about how close the rad is to the fan (one cardboard thickness right now).
I guess I now have time to sort out that power steering belt . Thanks Graham, not sure why I did that, it must have flipped over in the package and I thought that was the way it went on, doh!

We all make mistakes as the dalek said as he got off the dustbin. The problem if their is any movement on the engine/gearbox mountings a little enthusiastic braking and the fan starts singing "my ching a ling

[Motorsport Micky]

If the fan is close to the rad core (mine won't allow a fan belt through) remember to secure a spare replacement fan belt from the front of the engine block and around the nose of the crank, then if a breakage of the fitted belt on the road, snip 4 or 5 tie wraps securing the spare belt and it is easily fitted in a couple of minutes.
Like most preventative methods, it has the benefit of making the part you are second guessing that might fail, then almost bomb proof, but for the cost of a belt it's a small insurance cost.

Micky

[SaskStag]

This seems like a long time ago, but it's been crazy at work.

I took the rad to one of our Brit car club project car restoration afternoons and the lads got the rad straightened out with instructions from the manufacturer. Nothing to it really, just a bit of gymnastics followed by a rubber hammer, but evidently I wasn't in the required weight range for this delicate procedure.
But the rad core is still too close to the fan for comfort.
I'm very tempted to get the top brackets re-welded rearwards by about 1cm or so so I can slide the top of the rad under the bulkhead (with a bit of minor persuasion). I'm sure this will work...any comments?

Best
Tanya