1969 24" Radiator

[M4Madness 1]

Should the insulators fit tight on the tanks, or is the clamping force of the mounts enough? Mine have gaps between the sides and the tanks:

 

 

 

[Ridge Runner 1,113]

they fit tight on the brass radiator ,the aluminum radiator must be a bit narrower .you could probably re bend the bracket .

[JayEstes 172]

And so begins the issues with non-stock parts.  Hoses may not emanate from the right place either, perhaps you need an electric fan, so new harness work (or worse yet cut into a good harness to make it work).  Some of these "new, better" items just drive you nuts with integration details.  My only advice is to make a new bracket for the alum radiator - don't ruin your originals…  you're probably better off adding some "shims" of some sort to take up the extra room in the radiator support bracket.  Re-bending the bracket will ruin it, and I'd bet money the rubber insulator won't fit well at all when the dimensions are changed.  Good luck.

[mustangstofear 608]

The first thing I did when desiging our radiator, was send my manufactrer the upper and lower brackets to make sure they would fit.

 

http://www.mustangstofear.com/page.php?page=parts_catalog&yr=69-70&cat=cooling∏=aluminum_radiator_w_fans

[M4Madness 1]

The mounts are Scott Drake repros, so no worries of modifying them. The radiator is a American Eagle (Champion) 2-core. I bought it because it has 1" tubes and was highly recommended in my online research.

 

My car has AC, so it had a 24" radiator from the factory, but someone in the past swapped it out for a 20". I'm just trying to get it back to where it was intended to be. I bought two sets of insulators in an effort to get ones that would fit. The non-pictured set is shorter, and while they fit the radiator, they will not fit the mounts.

 

So, if I need them to be tight front to back, I guess I could cut the shorter set into small sections and glue them in as spacers between the other insulators and radiator. Does that make sense?

[1969_Mach1 333]

So, if I need them to be tight front to back, I guess I could cut the shorter set into small sections and glue them in as spacers between the other insulators and radiator. Does that make sense?

That would be my first method of fixing the issue.  I don't know why they couldn't make a radiator that fits.  Champion wasn't around when I bought mine so I ended up with a Griffin radiator.  It fit snug in the saddles.

[RPM 1,190]

The first thing I did when desiging our radiator, was send my manufactrer the upper and lower brackets to make sure they would fit.

 

http://www.mustangstofear.com/page.php?page=parts_catalog&yr=69-70&cat=cooling∏=aluminum_radiator_w_fans

 

Experience. And that's the benefit for doing this work every day for years and years. Most of us flunkies have done one Mustang in our lives, and the learning curve is quite steep.

[Ridge Runner 1,113]

The mounts are Scott Drake repros, so no worries of modifying them. The radiator is a American Eagle (Champion) 2-core. I bought it because it has 1" tubes and was highly recommended in my online research.

 

My car has AC, so it had a 24" radiator from the factory, but someone in the past swapped it out for a 20". I'm just trying to get it back to where it was intended to be. I bought two sets of insulators in an effort to get ones that would fit. The non-pictured set is shorter, and while they fit the radiator, they will not fit the mounts.

 

So, if I need them to be tight front to back, I guess I could cut the shorter set into small sections and glue them in as spacers between the other insulators and radiator. Does that make sense?

I would be worried about the pieces coming loose and falling out although weatherstrip glue would probably keep them in place .I am still for bending the brackets ,you can make a tight fit that way and not worry about pieces falling out .Brackets are much cheaper than a radiator .

I can't remember for sure but i think Champion made the radiator for my 35 ford pick up ,i had to add the lower mounting tabs that didnt get put on the radiator .I had to weld them on and that was scary .

[M4Madness 1]

Yeah, my thought is to use some sort of adhesive to secure rubber spacers. I don't know if I could bend the lower bracket tabs that far, and I certainly couldn't bend the upper saddle mount. I went with the American Eagle division of Champion because they are made in the USA and have larger tubes than the Chinese Champions.

 

I also spent over $100 for a billet aluminum coolant filter from Australia that can be cleaned without draining the system.

[mustangstofear 608]

In your case I would just cut the brackets down and you shoulf be OK. The one ich tubes are better, but I went with 1 1/4  tubes with our radiators.