How to align the hood with a new radiator ?

Have you done criss-cross measurements between points on the cowl and radiator to make sure they’re square to each other and the radiator is centered? Are your gaps wide on one side and narrow on the other or are they off from top to bottom? Top to bottom means your radiator is slanted forward or back or too high or low.
 
I installed a new Brassworks radiator a few months ago and the gap at the top was really wide and would not adjust correctly and I found this on their web site:


[FONT=&quot]Use of aftermarket stay rods (often in chrome or stainless) will cause your radiator to tilt forward and result in hood-to-shell separation.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Maybe this will help you.[/FONT]
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When doing your measurements, you need to find points that will definitely be symmetrical. That’s not easy with a smooth radiator shell. The best you can do is put a couple pieces of masking tape at the top corners of the shell and put a mark that is equal distance from center on both sides. Then you can criss-cross measure to the center of the support rod brackets. As long as the length between the cowl and shell are equal front to back between the two points and equal between the criss-cross points, she’s square. Using a measuring tape for these types of measurements is a pain and it’s easy to skew your measurements. You can make your own tram gauge with a couple screwdrivers taped to the ends of two sticks of wood and clamp them at the length you want with vice grips. Some pictures of the gaps might help.
 
Also how accurate is the repro radiator to original, every time I get involved with repro parts,always some issues come to play. Was At Snyders the other day, had new radiator on table was returned fit to holes not lined up for shell mounting .
 
This is the crux of the issue. With the careful study, assistance and experience of a Model A mechanical engineer friend we found multiple problems with my new Brassworks radiator, being mostly incorrect measurements and sloppy assembly, which required much reworking to fit properly. My friend built a template based on an original radiator which allowed us to identify the problems with the new radiator, and which we will pass on to Brassworks to inform them of the problems and hopefully to assist in their improving their dimensional accuracy. Repro parts always need making right, it seems.
 
Follow Up —- My friend and I made several adjustments to the new radiator which, when carefully compared to a good original, revealed a number of problems (too much to go into here in this post) We also concluded we were fighting frame sag near the motormounts. But applying all the suggestions over the last month we got the hood into a serviceable location and called it good. Not great, but acceptable for now. I plan to write a review of this project with photos and send it to Brassworks. If I live long enough to do that, I’ll try to load it up here.
 
Glad to hear you got it lined up. I can definitely see frame sag giving you fits with hood alignment. Even modern trucks have a decent amount of droop to the frame if you jack them up under the frame kickup rather than sitting on the wheels. GM trucks were the last houldout to use the old style fender assemblies to tie the radiator support to the cab and the only way to get the gap correct to the doors is to jack them up behind the wheels. With the loose mounted hood on the A, all you can do is shim the body mounts.
 
I am one of those that the hood is NOT ALIGNED properly ! I have read many questions like 700RPM asked . Looking at the hood yesterday I NOTICED that the REAR (Repro) Bracket which holds the hood in place is too long toward the front of the car making the gap too large.
 
Can you guys point out the major issues you found with your BW radiator? Just got one and would like to be aware of what to look for. thanks!
 
Paul Shinn has a video in which he goes through the steps of replacing a radiator and aligning the hood. The trick is to have the radiator hoses off when aligning the hood.
 
Employing myriad suggestions and much reading my friend and I finally got the hood in an acceptable fit. Not perfect, but acceptable.We determined that we were fighting an unseen sag in the frame near the rear motor mounts, which we were not willing to tackle. I can live with acceptable. This has never been a show car. Thanks to all who shared their ideas.
 
RPM, My radiator fit is good. I got it from Berts before he quit. But I was thinking I had the frame sag too. I lifted the frame about 3 inches to remove the front fenders for painting and while I was at it examined the frame and rubber pads. The frame was OK but the rubber pads had long ago flattened to paper thin in places and were brittle. I replaced the pads, and after trial fit, put additional pads in the front. That aligned the doors and made the fit of the hood at the cowl much better.

Bottom line: Your frame may be OK and the fault may lie with the rubber pads between the body and frame.
 
We tried that, Bob. The hoses weren’t the problem in our case. Paul’s video is good, but the radiator he’s using in a recored original, which he says is always what he uses.
 
As I said above, if I get the time I’ll write about it. I took several pix of the troubles.
 
Nkaminar —I may yet try that. I suggested it to my partner at the time, but he had a plan and we went with that. I have a couple extra pads I can use.
 
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