"El Mongrel" '65 Formula S Restomod

Part 6
As I had mentioned before the cars stock HP 273 A/C radiator looked to be in good shape but to be sure I had it pressure checked and cleaned. It was given a good bill of health by the radiator shop and was bolted back into the core support. I was a little concerned about its ability to cool anything bigger than the 318 so I wanted to do what I could to help it out for that future stroker kit. The stock 4 bladed fan was removed and thrown in the corner. Priority #1 was to locate a clutch fan that would fit in the old fan’s space. As I was staring at the radiator kicking around some ideas for a shroud it dawned on me that the 273 radiator’s inlet was on the driver’s side. What the $^&*#$@ is going on here? I glanced over to the 318 sitting on the engine stand and sure enough the water pump inlet was on the passenger side. Well that looks expensive! I sure didn’t want to have to modify the radiator or buy a new one. Time for a beer and some research. A quick search on FABO resulted in the info and solution I was looking for. The early A’s had a cast iron water pump with the inlet on the driver’s side and later aluminum water pumps switched the intake to the passenger side. The solution was too easy as the early version would indeed bolt right onto any LA series block. A trip to the local parts store and the proper hoses and an A/C spec pump were ordered up. One small issue cropped up trying to hook the bypass hose (smaller ID than latter hoses) to the LD340 intake. Some digging through the bins at the hardware store finally produced a useable brass adapter.
With that problem solved it was time to head to the Pick-n-Pull to find a clutch fan and see if a workable radiator shroud could be located. With all the measurements written down in my note book and tool bag packed I headed out. A suitable clutch fan was quickly located in the Chrysler section on Jeep Cherokee models with the straight six engine. After inventorying what was available a unit was found in good working condition with an unbent fan. On to the shroud. After searching row after row of demolished cars it was looking like a suitable shroud wasn’t going to be located. Everything was too big on the Detroit Iron and nothing in the foreign stuff had workable dimensions. With the sun getting low on the horizon I strolled over to the Chevy section on my way out. Concentrating on the smaller vehicles I soon struck gold. The shroud on a Blazer II had just the right sized radiator. Although the shroud looked pretty deep I broke out the wrenches and quickly had it on the ground. I checked my measurements and with a big smile on my face headed for the exit gate. I quickly determined the stock mounting flanges on the shroud wouldn’t work and cut them off. This had the added benefit of shortening the depth issue by several inches. Four simple L brackets made from slices of 2” aluminum angle mounted the plastic shroud utilizing the stock shroud mounts on the sides of the radiator. An added benefit of the shroud is that it is split in half horizontally so that the top half can easily be removed to gain access to the entire front of the motor. The clutch fan fit the opening of the shroud like they were designed together. There is right at ¾” clearance between the fan and the radiator core which is about right. The fan does sit further into the shroud than is optimal but still pulls a ton of air, plenty even for a stroked “Teen”. The top radiator tank had a funny little bulge that interfered with the shroud but was easily reshaped with the rounded side of a length of 1.5” pipe gently tapped with a heavy hammer.