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Has anyone moved the radiator FORWARD?

dbreid

dbreid

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All,
I see lots of threads on moving the radiator to the bed, or moving the motor, etc. However, I am interested in moving the radiator in my K30 forward about 2.5 inches.

Why?

Well, I want to switch to a dual electric fan setup. I bought the super nice Flex-a-lite one, and it is a beautiful setup. It fits my radiator perfectly, but is slightly too thick....

The water pump and its pulleys stick out too much, and on the 7.4L, getting the short water pump and correct pulley setup is not working for me. I can get the short water pump, but the pulley setup is provinf to be a huge hassle to track down.

I only need a little spare space, so I am considering moving the radiator forward slightly to accomodate.

Anyone had any experiences with this?

Thanks, Dan
 
maybe you could mount them on the front of the rad and use them as pushers. less efficient, but might still work.

if you don't have an a/c condenser coil to mess with, then moving the radiator forward could be retty easy. the tranny cooler, if you have one, can be moved out of the way pretty easily, thanks to its size. i mounted mine with all-thread about 2" in front of the radiator, after i pulled my trashed a/c coil. looks like there would be ample relocation space if you were willing to chop or bend things a bit.
 
Do the pump/pulleys hit the shroud, or just the motors? Possible to move the fan setup a hair one way or another to get them to clear, if it is the motors?
 
vortec said:
maybe you could mount them on the front of the rad and use them as pushers. less efficient, but might still work.
Click to expand...

These fans are set up as pullers now, and with the shroud, I'm not sure they'd fit in front anyhow.

vortec said:
if you don't have an a/c condenser coil to mess with, then moving the radiator forward could be retty easy. the tranny cooler, if you have one, can be moved out of the way pretty easily, thanks to its size..
Click to expand...

Truck is a stick, so no tranny cooler. I already removed the A/C condenser, so I have that space. The issue will be the core support itself, I think.
 
dyeager535 said:
Do the pump/pulleys hit the shroud, or just the motors? Possible to move the fan setup a hair one way or another to get them to clear, if it is the motors?
Click to expand...

It is a dual fan setup, and the water pump pulleys hit dead center (which is part of both fans (where they intersect) as well as shroud. :(
 
flx-295.jpg


Here is a stolen picture from summit. This doesn't show all the wiring, but shows the flaps for vents, as well as the fan configuration. The water pump hits basically dead center.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/flx-295.jpg
 
Did you remove your stock fan? summit said there only 4" thick so i dont see how anything would hit?
 
ive done it on a v8 s10, im guessing the blazer situation would be the same, just put it where the condensor was. your gonna have to cut up the core support where the radiator cap goes. or they sell radiators that are made for this aplication that will have the neck bend backwards. i hate electric fans and had to do this to run the machanical fan.

241361.jpg
 
That's weird because usually the electric fan has more clearance than the mechanical setup. Are you sure it's all the way forward against the radiator?

You could gain a little clearance by removing the fan studs from the water pump pulley and replacing them with hex head bolts. Then with no A/C condensor, it seems like you could modify the mounting to move the rad forward at least an inch.

Maybe it's easiest to just exchange the fan unit for something else?
 
Blue85 said:
That's weird because usually the electric fan has more clearance than the mechanical setup. Are you sure it's all the way forward against the radiator?

You could gain a little clearance by removing the fan studs from the water pump pulley and replacing them with hex head bolts. Then with no A/C condensor, it seems like you could modify the mounting to move the rad forward at least an inch.
Click to expand...

This is my plan. Move the rad forward a little, and swap to hex bolts. THe issue is that with the long water pump on the Big Blocks and the A/C pulleys, that stuff sticks out a LOT.

Maybe it's easiest to just exchange the fan unit for something else?
Click to expand...

This fits the radiator perfectly, and is the highest CFM dual fan I could find. I'd like to keep this one if at all possible.
 
got a quick pic, I can't imagine those fans being thicker than a big block and the factory fan setup.
 
I will try to get one this weekend (truck is in storage during the week), but the fan shroud, etc is a little more than 4 inches thick. The clutch fan is definitely not 4 inches thick, and it fits inside the stock shroud. Plus, I need more than an inch or so of clearance between the water pump and the back of the electric fan setup. If I flexed the truck and things bent a little and they hit... all bad.

:)
 
You dont need the factory fan shroud on. you should have plenty of room if you remove the factory fan which on big blocks is nearly 5" plus it sticks out from the water pump. was this motor always in this truck? i know the factory bb had plenty of room between the fan and the blades. you could acctualy install electric fans on the radiator with the factory fan still in place. sry it just confuses me way you are having problems.
 
slyguy_22 said:
You dont need the factory fan shroud on. you should have plenty of room if you remove the factory fan which on big blocks is nearly 5" plus it sticks out from the water pump. was this motor always in this truck? i know the factory bb had plenty of room between the fan and the blades. you could acctualy install electric fans on the radiator with the factory fan still in place. sry it just confuses me way you are having problems.
Click to expand...

This is a factory K30, and as far as I know, the motor is original.

I am (obviously) removing the factory shroud, and I took off all of the following:

clutch fan
Fan shroud
water pump bolts

and the dual electric fan did not fit in between the radiator and the water pump flange (where the studs for the clutch fan go).

I know it seems weird (believe me, I was flabbergasted when the dual fan didn't just slide right in), but it just doesn't quite fit.

I am going to slide the radiator forward (looks like there is plenty of room for a couple inches) and see if that gives me enough room to feel comfortable.

Thanks for all the advice!

-Dan
 
Can you take a picture or two or few of your setup?

Thinking about it, I too am finding it hard to believe that you are having this hard of a problem getting it to fit. I'm not doubting you, obviously you have really gotten into this, I just can't visualize where the problem is.

What's the "thickness" of the fan setup you bought? Thinking about the clutch fan alone, if GM removed all the length possible out of it, JUST the clutch and fan alone have to be at least 4" thick, with at least 1/4" of clearance to the radiator.

If we can see what your setup looks like now, we should be able to compare to other BB trucks, which would show where the difference(s) are. Pics with the radiator top support on, and a pic with the top support off but with the radiator in the stock location should do it I think.

The "thickness" of your stock clutch/fan setup compared to the same measurement for the electric fans should tell most of the story of course.
 
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