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Has anyone with a Ford kit had an issue with not having enough room in the engine bay, once the side cowls are installed, for the radiator. I bought a direct replacement Pinto radiator and it is several inches too wide to fit. If some has a picture of their engine bay and radiator it would be much appreciated.
Guess I may need to find a narrower radiator. Ugh.
Flip that’s the one thing on my car that’s definitely not from the Pinto donor car. So far I haven’t figured out what it’s off of. I had to have it repaired last summer. I wanted to replace it with a better larger or thicker one, mostly because she runs a little warm 200*. Even with the addition of a electric fan.
If I ever have to have it re-cored I’ll go for one thicker I guess, not much room for any thing bigger. It roughly measures 16×16 (kinda tough to get at it right now I had a stainless steel cover made for the top) I think there’s a picture of it in my pic. What really makes mine different than everything I looked at, is the size of the hoses and the fact that both the top and the bottom hoses are on the passengers side. If I remember right all the aluminum high flow replacements, there was no choices for hoses set up like mine. Of course you can always have a custom one made if you got the $$$$$$.
Cut off the wide flanges for the factory mounting off and use the small flange that was used for the factory fan shroud to mount the radiator. Check out the manual on the left for instructions.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"I followed the manual instructions including cutting the front flange off but even with that the radiator is still several inches too wide. The radiator I purchased is a 1979 Pinto direct replacement and the width is 20 1/4. I maybe have 17 or18 inches at the most. Perhaps there were two different Pinto radiators but all I found was this wide one.
I will look at the Honda civic suggested below. Anyone need a new Pinto radiator missing the front flange?
Flip
Pinto radiator…Spectra part #CU428…W/17-1/4″…H/16-3/8″
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Unbelievable. I now see that I purchased the heavy duty radiator which is 4 inches wider than the one you referenced below. When I check at Orielly’s both come up for the later years Pinto. I didn’t notice the different dimensions when I purchased the first one thinking more cooling would be better here in Florida. I really appreciate you solving this for me.
Think I will try to sell the wider one on fordpinto.com.
Thanks again
How did you mount your Honda Civic radiator? Looks like its size would be a good fit for the small space. A picture would be great as I expect I will need to fabricate mounts.
Thanks
The radiator has 3 mounting points, 2 on the bottom and 1 at top center
I mounted a lower radiator support from 1 in square tubing with 2 cups sized for rubber bushings for the pins of the radiator. A frame of 3/4 inch tubing surrounds the outside front of the radiator, also welded to the lower support. This frame also support the fenders through the headlight mount. The top part of the frame has a removable mounting bracket that has a grommet for the center pin of the radiator.
Also check the Subaru build, same radiator but different mounting method.
The radiator/fan/shroud is an aftermarket Mishimoto, however others are available from ebay.
I looked up that radiator, It is not like mine. Unfortunately I have no clue what CMC used on my car. It is about the same size, but both top and bottom radiator hoses are on the passengers side on mine.
Very helpful, thanks. Did you use connect the lower support to the frame using the threaded holes in the frame as suggested in the manual or weld directly to the frame?.
I am planning on getting a Mishimoto Honda Civic radiator because of the size and this mounting method should work for me. For now am planning on keeping the belt driven fan. Do you think this will be a cooling issue?
If you have a picture of how you tied in the upper mount to the headlight brackets that would be great
The lower support is bolted to the frame. I fabricated the frame from tubing.
Cooling would be ok I would think, with a shroud maybe.
photo will show the frame mounting to the head light piece
my apologies for the side ways photos. forgot to rotate in the editor
Here’s mine. The lower mounts are just steel L bracket bolted to the body mounts that bolt to the top of the beam. My fan is the larger of the two stock Subaru fans.
Hey to fairwindsnc, Could you tell me what year that Honda Civic radiator cam from? I bought a new radiator for my donor, 78 Pinto, and did not measure the width of the radiator. So I’ve got a brand new 20 inch wide radiator, aka a paper weight. Some experiences cost more than others. JohnnyB Meridian, MS
92 to 95 Mine is a Mishimoto aftermarket, from Summit Racing, plenty listed on ebay. Also a matching
fan shroud.
Fairwindsnc, Thanks for the quick response. If anyone needs a large paper weight in the form of a heavy duty radiator for a 1078 2.3L Ford Pinto let me know. JohnnyB
You had mentioned that you could make the wider radiators fit by modifying the frame brackets. Your TD message said to see the manual on the left. Couldn’t find it.
FiberFab FM1674 with Ford 302 V8. Denver CO looking for local club with events.
https://tdreplica.com/wp-content/uploads/FiberFab_Ford_Assembly_Manual.pdf
Page 28
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"
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