radiator for a 318

poor rich · Post by **poor rich** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 12:07 pm

For those of you who have done the conversion to a 318, what did you use for your radiator? If you used the original radiator, how did you deal with the lower pipe out of the radiator? In order to connect between the radiator and the pump I need to create a 270 degree loop of hose or fittings, or modify one or both pump and radiator.
Any advice is appreciated.
Rich

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:11 pm

I sawed it off, flipped it over, and brazed it back on. Actually, let me rephrase that... I had a radiator shop do it, as, A. it's not for the faint of heart, and B. I didn't have a hot enough torch at the time.

You make it up to Adel to get those drivetrain parts?

Master Yota · Post by **Master Yota** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 8:45 am

Either do as Josh has done, and swap the lower outlet to the other side, or use the rad from a mid 70's dodge truck. It fits in the rad support, and should be available at the parts store as a new unit over the counter.

Most parts stores have a rad book with all the dimensions of the rads that they carry - usually takes about 30 minutes to find a rad of "similar" dimensions or closer to make work.

I'm doing this swap now for my build - pics should be up in a few days...

poor rich · Post by **poor rich** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:35 pm

Josh, yes I did get to the bone yard both the last saturdays I got the transmission then went back for the bell housing, also picked up an intake manifold and carburetor to rebuild to use in place of the fuel injection thats on my engine now, I left the transfer case, I already have 2 extras in storage.

Master Yoda, the truck I just got my trany out of ( 1974) I thought the radiator looked bigger, but I'll go back this saturday to look again, weather permitting.

I suppose I could have the outlet tube removed completely and a different outlet installed if nothing else.
Rich

Master Yota · Post by **Master Yota** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 8:58 pm

When I purchased my rad, the rad shop indicated it was the "most common rad used by Dodge and Chrysler" as it was infront of everything from the 318 to the 440.

The mods I'm doing at the moment to make it fit are these: the rad mounting flange is on the front of the unit, so I need to mark and drill the front of the rad support in 3 places on each side (no big deal to me...) With my 428 under the hood I would have 3/4" of clearance between the fan and cooling surface (not enough) so I'm going to fab up some 1-1/4" spacers to put under the rad mount to generate 2" of clearance - should be fine now. The top tank of the rad should still clear the hood latch. The bottom outlet for me needs to be swapped over to the other side of the tank to line up with the Ford pump inlet.

I had the rad recored a few years ago to a HD 3 core, it has more tubes and fins than the stock unit, but is about the same thickness. It should work well, along with the 16" flexalite nylon mechanical fan. I'll have pics up in a few days...