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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Removing rad from '36

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Removing rad from '36 -- page: 1 2 3     Grant 05-10-2014 @ 5:06 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 The radiator in our '36 is going to have to be serviced. Are there any potential problems to watch out for in removing the rad from a 1936 passenger car? Or is this a relatively simple procedure requiring only basic skills? ken ct. 05-10-2014 @ 7:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1513 Joined: Jan 2010 They come out easy. Make a mental not which holes at the chassie it is mounted.Pass cars use one set of them and trucks use the other set.There about 2" apart. ken ct. JM 05-10-2014 @ 8:20 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 822 Joined: Oct 2009 I don't know about '36, but on my '35 I was told I needed to remove the grille before the radiator could be taken out, so that is what I did the first time I removed the radiator. That was a royal pita taking the grille out and getting it back in aligned properly. The next time I had to remove the radiator I came up with a method that did not require removing the grille. John tommorookian 05-11-2014 @ 3:09 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 62 Joined: Oct 2009 2 bolts on the lower end with the springy things. 2 bolts attach the grill to the top of the radiator. Remove the fan/gen or you'll dent the fins. 2 man job to carefully lift it out. Re-installing it is easier if you put the lower hoses on before attaching the bottom bolts. Grant 05-11-2014 @ 5:12 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks, guys. Do appreciate your help. flatheadfan 05-12-2014 @ 2:32 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 450 Joined: Oct 2009 Grant- I am in the process of finishing-up the radiator replacement on my '36. I can't speak for others but I didn't find it particularly easy. Before you do anything take some pictures of the hood gaps. You will need to remove the hood and the radiator rods and pictures make things easier when you reinstall things. To remove the radiator I had to tilt it on a slight backwards angle to gain clearance for the radiator platform (measures 22.5 inches, the opening is 21 3/4"). I also found it necessary to remove the water pumps, generator, intake manifold end stud and the distributor in order to achieve the needed withdrawal angle. Be sure to use cardboard between the engine block and the radiator However, I did find that I could remove the radiator by myself. Once everything is back in place you will need to re-align the grill and hood relationship. This I found time consuming. The radiator hood ornament is the key to the fitting. For what it is worth... I also have a '35 and I found the removal and replacement of a '35's radiator much easier than a '36. Hope this helps. Tom fenbach 05-14-2014 @ 7:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 227 Joined: Dec 2009 grant, if you can get the radiator out of your '36 with less work than tom [flatheadfan] please let us all know how you did it! or maybe ken ct can describe his easy method?? thanks. Grant 05-15-2014 @ 5:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks again to everyone who has responded. Yesterday I drained about 1/3 of a gallon of Prestone out of the rad, and drove the car + - 20 miles. There is obvious minor leakage occurring at the top right hand corner of the rad, as viewed from the passenger's side when the hood is open........dribbling down onto the fins. It looks to me like the tank seam has split open a little bit up high on that side. The engine runs so nicely, with no visible leakage at the water pumps, and zero ignition problems, that I am thinking it should not be disturbed in any way. And the charging system works well, so an amateur like me removing the generator is likely not a good plan. If possible I currently intend to try to do the extraction by removing body parts.......hood, hood ornament, grille, and if necessary one of the little front panels into which the circular horn cover is mounted. That should provide plenty of room. Yes, I will let you know how the job works out. ken ct. 05-15-2014 @ 7:57 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1513 Joined: Jan 2010 Sorry if my statement was misleading,if I remember right the hood,fan,and dist were already off the car. So it was fairly easy but still used thin cardboard on both sides of the rad. coming out and going in. ken ct. P.S. I use fat "O" rings [rubber] under any thing that attaches to the rad with bolts. Stops some of the movement of the body to the rad.including both ends of the attaching rods. They all seem to leak at the top corner mine was at the left corner. "JB" weld fixed that good.This was on a recore and a new fabricated top tank bottom. ken ct. flatheadfan 05-15-2014 @ 10:10 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 450 Joined: Oct 2009 Grant- Let me add (for what it is worth!!), a couple or more pointers. The '36 grille is held to the body by five bolts on each side. The bolt nuts point outward to the fenders. Counting from the top, bolts, #1, #4 and #5 are easy to get at. Bolts #2 can be had from a narrow opening on the top between the fender and radiator. Number #3 must be addressed from the bottom. In both cases it is going to take a creative combination of a thin wall socket and flex-extension to get the job done. Where the problem really develops is if the nut is rusted to the bolt and the entire assembly turns as a unit. Due to the grille fins I found it was difficult to get an open-end wrench on the bolt head to prevent it from turning while attempting to remove the nut. For me the only option was to remove the radiator first before attempting to remove the grille. When I reassembled everything I put a screwdriver slot (via hacksaw) in each bolt head. You could possibly use a machine screw but I found the hex head bolt a better attachment. This will help if I ever need to remove a grille bolt/nut assembly again and things don't want to cooperate. Your approach may have some merit. If it works PLEASE let us know. I know my approach leaves a lot to be desired. Tom

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