not sure of the best way...

theres a metal channel thing welded to the chassis where the radiator goes, and some tabs for bolting at the top. i'm happy enough with what to do at the top.


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radiator has mounting lugs on it

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but they are wider than the channel. the channel is about the same width as the core of the radiator

so, do i put some neoprene or other kind of soft rubber in the channel and have the radiator push into the rubber for anti vibration etc and bolted to the top with a ali mounting

or, do i make up a ali frame that fits the channel, is wide enough for the lugs in the radiator,

or, as above, but also goes up the side and connects into the top mount

[Edited on 2/9/09 by blakep82]

I'd get a bit of ali bar that fits the channel but just sikaflex it into the channel and then bolt it onto the rad. Don't forget when the radiator is full of water it'll be quite heavy so the weight will keep the rad in place, fore/aft movement of the base under breaking will be prevented by the walls of the channel.

Or it looks like the top and the bottom of the radiators have small holes running along them. You could just use quite a few bolts to attach it to the front face of the channel.... Depends what those holes in the rad core are drilled into and what the rad is made from, if it was alloy I wouldn't trust it.

The bottom lugs for would have just pushed onto rubber bushes in it's original fittment and then secured with bolts at the top. Are there holes for grommets/bushes to fit or pegs to push into bushes at the bottom? If so it should be OK sitting onto rubber. I wouldn't mount it by the holes in the top edge though. They're there to mount the fan/cowl, not take the weight of the rad.

I would want to pop a couple of bolts though those botton lugs and use some sort of rubber spacer. The ali rads are actually pretty light even when full, unlike the old brass ones
On my car I used a golf rad, and that was held in position by 4 short fat self tappers into the plastic bosses that were meant for a fan or something, and rested on two rubber bushes. Hoses did the rest
All that stayed intact after I rolled the car, but sadly the core got a bit bent and fractured.

I had a similar issue on the Tiger. There was a channel in place for the Tiger rad, but when I replaced it with a Polo item the channel was not the right size. I cut the channel out and mounted the rad using ali brackets bought from Wickes. Seems fine, and as above, weight is low and once pipes and nosecone are in place it's going nowhere.

Old versus new!

http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=95290220&photo_id=1583989809

http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=95290220&photo_id=2083350658

good stuff lads, so some sort of plastic or aluminium piece along the bottom to fit snugly in the channel, PU'd in, with the radiator bolted in (with cotton reel bushes?) and a seperate bracket for the top?

need to incoporate a fan mounting too, but i've not got the fan(s) yet

I would try a pair of cotton reel rubbers at the bottom, should space it up enough to clear the u channel? keep it as simple as possible!

the lugs are wider than the channel
hang on, i'll get another photo

you can see on this one its quite a bit wider


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quote:

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Originally posted by adithorp
The bottom lugs for would have just pushed onto rubber bushes in it's original fittment and then secured with bolts at the top. Are there holes for grommets/bushes to fit or pegs to push into bushes at the bottom? If so it should be OK sitting onto rubber. I wouldn't mount it by the holes in the top edge though. They're there to mount the fan/cowl, not take the weight of the rad.

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Ah, sorry, thought they weretoo wide to fit into the channel, if you see what I mean, rather than the rad is wider....
Ideally weld a new channel/brackets in place, otherwise it is nuts and bolts or PU. Nuts/bolts would be my preferance, easier to change in the future.....

well, here's what i'm thinking now


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the wood will be something like nylon, and have the original size ford holes drilled in to allow the ford rubbers to be used.

a single bolt can go through the plastic and into the tray if need be, but it shouldn't need it

not really keen on welding stuff to the chassis. in case i ruin it by blowing a hole through it or something lol

I wouldn't use plastic to be honest, it tends to droop with age and heat if loaded in bending as it would be here.

An alloy (or steel) strip bolted/riveted/bonded to the tray on the chassis would be better IMO.

ok, aluminium it is then.

what sort of thickness would i look at so it doesn't flex, but isn't too thick that its expensive

Flat bar is not too clever really. You want something with a fold in it, some channel, angle or even box. Then 2mm should be plenty. Flat bar....maybe double that if ally. Or why not a bit of steel box section? A table leg ( I work in a school) or similar to be gound in a skip near you maybe 40mmx15mm and 1mm thick or so. Not too heavy, cheap, easy to use/fix/drill and strong. And no issues with electrolytic corrosion.

or nylon with some angle steel round the front and back and underneath to stop it sagging?

Why nylon? its expensive and not really suited to this sort of application. Unless you have a supply of the stuff.
Metal is the stuff!