The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 Radiator Clearence

I have a 235 being installed in my 48 3100. It all fit together when I drove it home, but I am having an issue with the radiator clearance upon reassembly. The engine was rebuild while apart, and was reassmebled using the same type of long neck waterpump as when I got it. I know I can replace the long pump with a short neck for around $160, but saw a couple of references to "creatively mounting the radiator to the support" to get the clearence. I suspect this is what the PO did, but don't recall how (it has been in pieces for 10 years)....Can anyone tell me about these creative mount techniques or provide pics of how it was done?

Thanks!!

I moved my radiator forward in the mounting but only at the top to get the clearance I needed. At the bottom I left it in the stock location so it is slightly tilted but no-one has ever noticed it. My fan has about 3/4" clearance and is from a 56' V8 car. Works great.

Thanks for the response...the truck looks great!! I hope mine comes out looking a good as yours!! When you say you moved the radiator forward in the mounting, how did you do this? It looks like I might be able to slide the radiator supports inside the mount versus on the engine side to gain some clearance or remove the mounting bracket from the radiator and move the whole radiator forward in the bracket. I can't tell yet how much I could move the top forward since the body shop is just fitting the sheet metal together....they just called and said "we have a problem" and asked me to find a solution...Thanks!!!

Something to consider.....when installing a later model 235 in a 3100 you will run into some fan/rad clearance issues as well as having the fan mounted low on the radiator and restrictions on the type and diameter of fan you can run.
I went the "short pump" route and although it gave me some additional clearance it did nothing to improve engine cooling. I found that using an ADAPTOR PLATE and using the early style pump solved all the issues. I've got some pics in my webshots album.

The adaptor plate, which sells for $40.00 on ebay or from one of the Stovebolters:

1. Allows you to mount your radiator as it was meant to be mounted.
2. Gives you adequate fan/rad clearance.
3. Moves the fan position up higher on the radiator where it can more efficiently cool you engine.
4. Eliminates V-belt/pulley/harmonic balancer clearance issues.
5. Uses the old style waterpump which is available in either 3/8 or 5/8" belt widths from your local parts houses. No pricey, special mail-order pump!
6. Allows you to use an aftermarket 6 blade 15" fan for additional air flow.
7. The early pump has the correct pulley diameter for the correct pump rotation speed. The "short pump" has you digging through junkyards trying to find a pulley off 40 year old Ford trucks. Good luck with that!!!

The "adaptor plate" installation is by no means rocket science. You do have to drill and tap two holes in the front of the block. The directions are clear and the adaptor plate itself centers the bolt holes. You don't go anywhere's near the water jacket and the cast block drills easily with a hand held battery powered drill.

Of course it's your truck and your call on which route you go. I'm sure some others will add their comments. Don't know of anybody who has used the adaptor plate who hasn't been totally satisfied with the end result.

Dave

Look up pre68dave, he sells the adapter plate. Thats the one I've got.

I took Dave's advice when I was building my 235 and it was pretty straightforward. One caveat, the instructions say to drill the block 3/4" deep and tap for the mounting bolts - two I believe.

Just so you understand, using a regulat tap in a blind hold 3/4" deep is not going to give you sufficient threads. Be sure your threads are deep enough so that at least 3/4" of the bolt is in threads either by using a bottoming tap or drill the holes deeper, but not much.

Don't panic if you drill through, the worse is a water passage so if you do drill through you can seal the hole simply by installing the adaptor.

Also, if you do happen to drill the holes at an angle, you can use a stud bent to accommodate the off-angle.

I have a clearance problem too. I was wandering If it can be fixed without the adapter plate. I already have the short water pump and pulley from patrick's. The new radiator is from jim carter. it is a 53 3100 truck and a 62 235 motor. The only clearance problem is at the bottom hose. The fan is too low that it hits it. If I could some how mount the 216 fan on, then it would work, but the fan has a different bolt alignment. Any suggestions?

In my experience without the adapter plate the fan is too low. A shroud helped but after switching to the higher mounted water pump using the plate the cooling ability of the system was much better as the truck could idle in hot weather and not warm up like before. I believe the left hole for the adapter plate intersects the bottom of a head bolt hole and not into the jacket if drilled a bit deep. That mod is a no brainer due to the reasons Dave mentioned and hat’s off to the inventor of that one.

Without the adapter plate here's where the fan sits:

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1377765981023244788uDinRU

The passenger side hole will break through into the bottom of a head bolt hole.
The drivers side will break through into the water jacket if drilled to deep.

Czechman, I am speaking to you from experience as I am the designer of the water pump adapter.

In regards to your concern about there not being enough threads to hold the bolt, 1/2" of threads is a normal amount of threads for a 3/8" bolt in cast iron. The bolts on a stock 216 water pump screw into the block 1/2".

I wouldn't recommend drilling the hole more than 3/4" deep as you could run the risk of drilling into the water jacket.

If you did break through into the water jacket a person could use Permatex sealant on the threads to prevent leaking.

I want to give a Thank you to all of you who have used my adapter and spoken so highly about it on this forum.

Dave