The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Radiator Frame's Been Cut

The frame which stretches horizontally in front of the radiator has been cut twice (welded back together one of those times). Was this necessary in the past to remove the engine?

No, not unless you are an idiot.

The only thing I can figure is that someone figured it was easier to cut out the top piece of the radiator frame rather than take it out :mad:

Wally / Montana,

When I visited an Advance Design truck "museum" maintained by Bob Adler in Stephentown, NY, most of his radiator supports were cut. I recall that the reason was that when a car engine was installed as a replacement for the truck engine, this adaptation to the radiator support allowed placement of the radiator such that the car engine's longer-shaft water pump was able to fit in place.

Has anyone else heard that story?

Tim

I haven't heard that story, but I have seen it in many of the AD trucks around here. Typically the radiator mounting flanges are inside the radiator U-Channel instead of on the back side of the rearward flange. When I run across an un-cut radiator frame, I snap it up!

I talked to my ol' timer mechanic. He said everyone used to cut that frame on both sides of the radiator to pull an engine. They would weld in back in place but that wasn't done the second time on mine. That seems like a lot more work than just undoing the bolts. I'll go to the wrecking yard and take a poll of the AD's there to see how many were cut. (Tim, I do have a '53 235 from a car in my '48.)

He also said that he and another fellow would completely overhaul a stovebolt in one day and charge $99. He's still working but, unfortunately, doesn't look as fondly at my truck as I do.

Wally,

Maybe it was just the '55-'62 235s and 261s that had the longer waterpump shaft (cars and trucks?).

Tim

I often wondered about that cut radiator frame on my truck. Glad to see I'm not alone and other's have shed some light. I do know that it has a later (58-62) 235. Dave

I went to the local repository of AD's and took a poll of their radiator frames. Out of the 33, 16 had everything gone. 11 had cut radiator frames, some badly cut up in very different ways. 6 had never been cut but those included some big trucks and busses. I think there was only one which would fit my '48.

I'll be pulling my 235 soon and I'm kind of glad that a previous mechanic didn't weld the most recent cut. I'll be getting another 1 1/2 inches of wiggle room.

that's an interesting bit of history. I checked my 41 and it too has been cut on both sides and welded back together. It has a 235 from around 1958 in it. The cuts are on the top so it appears that the only reason they cut it was to pull the radiator so they could have enough room to swing the motor out. Although now that I think about it the radiator frame is kind of strange looking like the channels overlap. maybe it has been moved forward also. How can I tell if I have the "longer" water pump?

The long water pump has a pulley with a nose cone that sticks out about 4". The shorty has a much shorter shaft.

DOH! I WAS WRONG! originally I said "ok I checked and I definitely have the shorter pump ..."

I must have not had my contacts in or something I took another closer look with a light this time and the radiator has definitely been moved foward. They made some little angle brackets and mounted the radiator to the front of the stock channel. So I guess I DO have the longer waterpump because there is no way the fan would clear the radiator in the stock location.

oh well I am still learning

My '40 is also cut. It has a 235 and used to have a long water pump. The radiator was moved forward with spacers to give the water pump enough room. I read the short water pump was the smart way to go so got one and moved the radiator back to original. This also meant raising it since it was lowered. Crap! Now the lower radiator hits the fan. Lower the radiator again. If I would have known about the lower hose, I would have just left it there. Oh well. By the way, I secured the cut brace with a piece of threaded rod with 4 nuts so I could tighten it without pinching into the radiator. I've got maybe 12,000 on it and it seems fine.

We pulled the 235. I don't think we could have removed the engine with 4-speed attached with that part of the radiator frame and the panel which has the hood latch still in place. If you don't cut the frame, you have to remove the piece by undoing several bolts up under the fenders. The old timers just cut that frame. I'm glad they didn't weld it back in my case. My '48 will always be an old farm truck and I'll have another story to tell.

Oh fer cryin' out loud! Now you guys got me wondering, I hafta get up, get dressed and go outside and check mine, cuz the curiosity will keep me up!

Mine's not cut! Musta got lucky on this one

Not like that 67 Mustang we had where some bonehead cut holes in the shock towers to grease the upper fittings.