what the radiator?!

northtxfink · Aug 16, 2012

Just picked up this really odd rad for my bucket I'm building (build thread coming)
What the heck I've never seen one like this. Any ideas? I just thought it looked cool

Dr Crankenstein · Aug 16, 2012

Double inlets/outlets. It's for a flathead Ford. My guess is '39 - '41 Ford/Merc car.

Welcome to RRR, start that build thread and do an introduction. (It's the polite thing to do).

YBeNormal · Aug 17, 2012

That does look really cool.

donsrods · Aug 17, 2012

I'm wondering if it is from some tractor that had a flathead V8 in it. I've never seen one for a car that has two seperated cores like that one.

Don

HOT40ROD · Aug 17, 2012

My 1941 Ford tudor had a radiator just like that one. I ran it with a 351 with only an electric fan and the car and it ran cool all the time.

donsrods · Aug 17, 2012

HOT40ROD said:
My 1941 Ford tudor had a radiator just like that one. I ran it with a 351 with only an electric fan and the car and it ran cool all the time.

So what was the deal behind the two cores ? Is that some aftermarket thing or what ?

Don

Dr Crankenstein · Aug 17, 2012

donsrods said:
So what was the deal behind the two cores ? Is that some aftermarket thing or what ?

Don

I'm an expert on nothing, but a good friend owned a radiator shop for 20+ years so I've seen "split cores" before. I suspect it's missing a piece of sheetmetal to hide the void between the halves.

northtxfink · Aug 18, 2012

I showed it to an old timer yesterday. He said it was from a 40s ford and it was split for the starter crank to go through.

donsrods · Aug 18, 2012

Ok, that makes perfect sense. I know Fords had crank slots in the grille area up until about 48 for a hand crank to go through, so the radiator would have had to be empty in the center for the crank to go through it.

I always thought the hand throttle knob on early Fords was for warm up, but now that I think about it they were there so you could set the idle speed up and then crank the motor by hand and it would keep running.

Don

HOT40ROD · Aug 18, 2012

donsrods said:
So what was the deal behind the two cores ? Is that some aftermarket thing or what ?

Don

I was told that some of the early 1941 used the 1940 rad and the split was for the crank handle. Not sure if it was true tho

what the radiator?!

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

northtxfink

Member

Dr Crankenstein

Rocket Surgeon

YBeNormal

Well-known member

donsrods

Well-known member

HOT40ROD

Well-known member

donsrods

Well-known member

Dr Crankenstein

Rocket Surgeon

northtxfink

Member

donsrods

Well-known member

HOT40ROD

Well-known member

Similar threads

Latest posts

what the radiator?!

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

Member

Rocket Surgeon

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Rocket Surgeon

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!