Hello my maverick friends! This is my first time creating a thread so bare with me lol. I have tried searching for information on the search bar but could not really find anything to help me out. I have a radiator problem with my 1973 daily driver. A few days ago my radiator started to leak from the top and made a coolant mess all over my engine bay. It has a 250 ci inline 6 1v with a c4 automatic transmission. A buddy of mine recommended to buy an aftermarket radiator from autokrafters. I recently bought a 3 row aluminum radiator that fits a 302 and 250 engines ( I plan of swapping to a 302 later on so my buddy recommended to buy that particular one). I took out my stock radiator which I struggled a bit since it was decaying and really rusty that transmission coolant lines just snapped out when I tried removing them.(by the way can anyone recommend some decent and affordable ones). Anyways the holes on the radiator align perfectly to the car, it is a perfect fit! The problem I have is that it is too thick and my belt driven fan makes contact with it. I would like to know what my options are or if someone can guide me to a plan to fix this. I really need my car so I would really appreciate the help. Even better if there is an option where I can fix it up without having to replace the parts or required to get a new setup later in the future for when I get my 302 in. I would like for it to be compatible for my 250 and 302. I was thinking of possibly switching my belt driven fan to an electric fan but my worry is I still would not have enough clearance in the end. Has anyone on here bought a radiator from autokrafters and what is your experience with them?
Might be able to use shorter fan spacer. The 6 cyl is two cylinders longer than a V8. Not much room for electric fan
AFA IK the 250 and 302 use same radiator... I bought a OEM style brass replacement from Oreilly's for my 302, fits just like orig... As already mentioned a shorter fan spacer or maybe none at all is your only choice... You can buy a "stick" of same size tubing(should be 5/16) with flares and fittings on each end... The new fittings won't do you any good but yo can cut the new line and reuse your orig fittings, couple the new ends to orig lines with hydraulic hose... I did same on one of my lines...
Thanks for the help! Going to see if maybe a spacer would do the trick and if not then I guess I will have to get a smaller radiator and save the aluminum one for later.
