Thread: 1940 ford Radiator.

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I'm in need of some pictures of the way a radiator mounts on to the frame of a 1940 ford.. i'm not sure if i'm missing a bracket or not.. the radiator that was in the car was not a stock '40 radiator so i'm not sure if i'm missing something or not... it had a 280 small block in it and we're putting back a blown flathead and i need to make sure everything lines up.. thanks for any pictures you can share..

Well Wayne, my '41 pu went away last week so I can't take a pic of that for you, but I'll post up one of the '36 which is pretty much the same. It isn't rad specific, but it's the closest I can come. There should be a stepped bracket to get the mounts of the rad bottom close to the height of the bottom of the frame rail. Also, if you don't know already, make sure to get the brackets that go from the rad side frame to the fender inner panel for upper support (saves fatigue splitting of the upper tank seam).

There's a pair of brackets that bolt to the frame and stock crossmember to provide a flange that the radiator sits on, pictured and available here - Radiator Mounts, 1939 Deluxe -1940 Ford, Stock Crossmember - Chassis Engineering Inc. There may be a better place to buy, I was just looking for the picture.

Thanks Roger, my frame i'm working on has those brackets so maybe it's ok...

Bob thanks for the picture, what worry's me a little is that with the Mll front end and what the radiator shops are telling me is the radiator hangs down about 3/4" below the tab on the radiator.. i'm not sure how this will line up with the water pumps on the flat head... i'm sure i'll end up using some kind of lower hose like something in your picture.. just won't know until i get the motor sitting it there.. and yes the owner just called and said he ordered the brackets supports...

Okay Wayne, here are a couple more pics I found. I wasn't particularly clear on orientation so the pic of the bracket should clarify that, it's got a step in it that I'm not sure if the CE one does, but might give you inspiration for modification if needed. As for MII having anything to do with it, I would guess that depends on how it was installed. The second pic is of the rad installed, the setup is a stock frame with a Heidt's front suspension, the rad is a Walker. I'm trying to recall the stock rad (if that's what you're using), it might have a drop in the lower tank, but that should hang below the frame bracket line. As for making the transition from lower water pump nipples to rad if it's fairly tight and vertically misaligned there are short S shaped hoses and some cast aluminum S shaped that use very short straight hoses at each end that are typically used on '32s but might work for your particular need as well.

Thanks Bob, the bracket look real close to the one on the '40 maybe not as high... Walker told me that the radiator on the '40 would hang down about 4" below the tab on the side of the radiator where it bolts up to the frame... i see they do make an S hose for the '40 flat head from Bob Drake so something like that should work to get it over the power steering rack.. I'll know more once i get the motor mocked up..

This the frame as of Friday, the brackets look just like the one's from Bob's pictures.. need the flat head installed to see how everything will line up...

Nice work on the MII install. Sorry I couldn't help ya on pics of the radiator mounting. Mine had odd brackets bolted to the inner fenders and that is it.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Nice work on the MII install. Sorry I couldn't help ya on pics of the radiator mounting. Mine had odd brackets bolted to the inner fenders and that is it.

That's ok Ryan, when i got this one it had some kind of weird bracket bolted to the radiator and the inner fender too.. not stock at all.. I'm trying to put the radiator back as close to stock as i can..that's why i needed some pictures of what a stock set up looked like.. Bobs pictures helped a lot and i'm sure i'll see a stock '40 at a car show around here before i really have to get into it..