74 Brave Radiator Removal

[SR66]

 

Our recently purchased 1974 Winnebago Brave with a 440-3 engine kept running hot. After replacing the thermostat with the proper one, flushing the system every which way possible and installing a new water pump it still ran hot.


I pulled the extension hose from the front of the radiator and got a good look inside. Not good.





A new radiator will need to be installed. After much online research I could not find any detailed information on how to remove the original radiator.


The Dodge 69-73 chassis service manual was basically no help -





This illustration shows how its bolted to the frame.





I got the general idea despite no real instructions.


To get started the top and bottom grilles will need to be removed. Then the horn bar, coolant tank and wiper fluid tank have to be taken out. As well as disconnecting the hoses.


There are some hidden bolts to get at to remove the oil filler tube bracket and dipstick tube bracket.








Once all those items are out of the way the bolts in the frame came be removed.





At this point the radiator will be freed up but it will not come out thru the top opening.


Those bracket flanges block it from passing thru and they can not be removed from the radiator because they are spot welded to the sides.





This was one thing that baffled me about removing the radiator because I couldn’t figure out how the brackets were attached.
I kept thinking I was going to find they were bolted on somehow. Once I got it loosened up I saw how it was done.


So at this point the only way it was coming out was to cut each corner brace with a Dremel tool cut off wheel.





Each corner was cut thru starting with the bottom ones then the top. Once that was done the radiator was free of the brackets and could be pulled out thru the top opening. No doubt it is heavy.





A closer look at the cut corner braces.





I am not sure if this is the proper method to get the original radiator out but it was the only way I could get it removed.


There is no point in trying re core or salvage the radiator. Its corroded and seen better days.


Here are the metal brackets once they have been separated from the radiator side braces.





They came apart fairly easy with a chisel and sledge hammer. The brackets are going to be reused for the new aluminum radiator I will be installing.


That will be another post.

[yellowrecve]

My rad was mounted the same way. It would only come out the bottom after removing the water pump. My rad & engine sit too far forward to come out the top.  I drilled out the spot welds and now bolt the mounts to the rad. Now I can slide the rad out from between the mounts. It's worked for 10Yrs. and I've had it out 4 times.

[Rickf1985]

Since I do not have it in front of me it is tough to guess at the removal but I can tell you that the heavy side bracket that is bolted to the frame is not part f the radiator. Therefore it will come off of the radiator somehow. I would fist look into removing the water pump ad twisting the radiator on an angle and dropping it out the bottom but if that will not work then I would break the spot welds between the heavy mount and the radiator side brace. Once the brace is loose from the frame then all you need to do is get a heavy putty knife between the two and hammer it down against on the welds and they will break. They make tools just for this but I have found heavy putty knives with the metal that goes all the way up through the handle and they work great. You doe have to resharpen them occasionally. They are thick and don't flex like the usual putty knife.

http://www.hydetools.com/products/1-14-extra-heavy-duty-stiff-hardwood-handle-chisel-putty-knife