Caution: long winded post.
I’ve been telling Husker about my new radiator experience for my ‘61 1/2 ton. I figured I’d post since it might help others.
Basically, my original radiator was toasted. I looked for a new one but couldn’t find one. I went to a radiator shop and the guy quoted me over $300 to redo mine. Then he found one in a catalog that had the same size core as mine. That’s important because it needs to slip down between the frame rails a few inches to be somewhat centered on the fan.
The 6001 is a replacement for a Chrysler (don’t know what year or model, but I think it might be a 77-79 Jeep Cherokee), made by Go-Dan. The radiator guy (Rich at Munson Radiator in Ohio) says he sells that one to people building hot rods, running 350’s with A/C and it works great for them. It’s a three row and has the transmission fluid cooler.
What’s different about it is: the mounting brackets are narrower than on the original. What this means is you have to figure out a way to lengthen those. I cobbed some 16 gauge steel strips on both sides and re-used the original holes on the radiator support.
Also, the inlet is on the driver’s side instead of the center and the drain plug is on the driver’s side engine side.
So you need different upper and lower hoses. I got mine from Advance Auto Parts and they are both flex hoses to deal with the angles. The upper one is a Drive-Rite 1220/81181 (1.5" X 19 7/8") and fits perfectly. There’s plenty of room for it to make the curve around the oil filler without interfering with that or being too long. For the lower one I’m currently using #1313/81321T (1.75” X 13.25” long) It really needs to be an inch or two longer, so take your tape measure to the parts store and get one that’s maybe closer to 14.25” or 15”. No longer than that or you’ll be rubbing your gas lines on a 283. Both of these hoses are about $10 each. The radiator was $175.
One last issue is a fan spacer, if you have one. I have a big one, and with the new radiator the top fan blade was less than 1” from the radiator core. I finagled the radiator support until the blades were about 1 1/8” away.
So, there’s some work involved here, but you’ll end up with a new radiator that fits pretty nice.
