Beck TD, Part 5: Rectifying the Radiator

In Part 2 of this saga, I left things in a bit of a mess, and then teased you with two subsequent posts that didn't even mention the problem. To remind you, after assembling the engine side of the cooling system and installing the radiator, I was left with a significant mismatch in the outlets, and a clearance problem between cooling fan and the lower radiator outlet. Here's that photo again:

Right after posting that, I left town for nearly a month. Upon returning, I tried a couple of dozen times to make it fit (after all, the car used to run with this configuration of parts), but it just wouldn't go. One problem was the cockamamie setup the builder used to marry the 1" diameter water pump outlet to the 1.25" diameter radiator outlet. He just "squished" a 1.25" hose down onto the water pump, and used a plumbing elbow to make the curve. I'm surprised it didn't leak like a sieve:

Charlie Baldwin saw that picture, and recommended that I use the stock Volvo PV544 hose instead. It's designed to marry the 1" outlet to the 1.25" radiator. He even found me the right part number on RockAuto.com. For the record, it's ÜRO Parts 273191, and I cut a bit off the 1" end.

It actually fit well, but I still had the clearance problem. The fan just grazed the hose as it rotated:

I had bought some different motor mounts, and decided to try them to see if they would raise the engine a bit. I borrowed a heavy lift from Phil Oles:

I cobbled up a way to lift the engine from a handy threaded hole on the front of the head:

That allowed me to remove the motor mount on the passenger side, and I found a very significant mismatch between the P1800 mounts I bought used (on the left) and the shorter mounts on the right:

The replacement mounts were just too tall - they lifted the engine to the point that it rubbed on the firewall. I went back to the old mounts, and tried an idea that Charlie came up with: make some "horseshoe" washers that could slip under the mount to raise it a bit. I used fender washers, drilled them out and then cut the slot on a metal cutting bandsaw. Worked great!

Predictably, that small lift didn't buy me enough clearance. So, I took Charlie's other major bit of advice, to have that radiator outlet moved. He recommended the shop that did his, West York Radiator. The sole proprietor, a man named Harry, had done the same work on Charlie's radiator. 

I took my radiator over, and he did just great, and at a very reasonable price. In addition to moving the outlet (he actually installed a new one), he found and fixed a small leak in the tank seam, and fabricated and soldered on a missing mount for the grill shell. Here's a side view of the outlet, showing that in addition to moving it, he angled it down and outside. That will buy some clearance too.

This shot compares the old outlet to the left, and the new one to the right. It is moved as far as it will go!

I set it in place and it looks like it will clear. My first inclination was to put it together enough to try it, but then I reasoned that I've done all I can do with the radiator. I'm going to fully assemble it with the grill and everything, and install it for (I hope) the final time. I've read that it's very fussy to get it placed so that the hood top and sides fit correctly, and I'm going to get all that straight and see where I stand. If I have clearance, all good. Otherwise, it's time to trim the fan blades a bit.

UPDATE: Once the car was together, everything fit perfectly with this setup, and it runs very cool (160-170 degrees F) with the stock non-pressurized TD system. 

END UPDATE

Continue on to Part 6...