Radiator mounting: Stock vs Sears vs Bratton's?

gilitos

gilitos

Senior Member
I bought the two-row radiator I've been using in my 30 Tudor from my local Sears in about 1976. (How cool that you could still buy parts at the local Sears parts counter?) Occasional overheating lead me to buy a 3 row from Bratton's a few years ago. I'm just now installing it now while giving the car a frame-off freshening.


Both Sears and Bratton's radiators have mounting hole spacing about 1/2" narrower than the crossmember hole spacing. Maybe the crossmember holes were altered at some point. It was repaired sometime in the past. Can someone tell me the correct center-center distance for the mounting holes in the crossmember?
 

Attachments

  • 28644.jpg
    28644.jpg
    73.6 KB · Views: 102
  • 28642.jpg
    28642.jpg
    74.6 KB · Views: 107
I'd say yours was welded up and redrilled to fit your radiator. I have an A chassis sitting under me in the cellar,and just went down to measure it.First,the holes are slotted,side to side,not just drilled holes.Center to center,in the slots,mine measures 19-1/2. I tried to walk out to my shop and get the camera,but there's a bear wandering around between me and the shop.100 feet is a long way when there is a bear snuffling around the shop.
 
Those chamfered allen head machine screws were very common in old manufacturing machinery.Around here we had the navy yard,some big machine shops,and lots of shoe shops.Every barn and shed had a can of those hanging around.They're grade 8,and were commonly used to do jobs like that.When I blasted the frame in my 28 open cab about 20 years ago I found them in the front crossmember.They were tight,been there for probably 30 years before that,so I left them alone.
 
Yes, that appears to be a 28/29 front cross member that was inserted and bolted into the frame using flat head machine screws. Whether the 28/29 and 29/30 cross members differ in the width of the radiator mounting bolt holes I don’t know, it’s been too long since I worked on a 28/29 frame. But at least for the 30/31 frames, those mounting locations are slots in the frame, not holes.

So fitting a new 30/31 radiator onto a 28/29 cross member that may have had the mounting holes modified - not completely surprising things don’t immediately line up. More importantly, does the radiator sit too high (the 30/31 front cross member has depressed flats to account for the taller radiator) and mess up the hood alignment?

In direct answer to your question - if you are going to use this radiator and cross member then the proper distance between holes is whatever matches your radiator mounting brackets. Whether you modify the frame or the radiator is sort of secondary. But since you have the frame off, this might be an opportune moment to find the proper front cross member and install it. The proper cross member with the slotted holes may be your ticket to a better night’s sleep.
 
Wow this is great information. Now I know why I could never get the hood alignment right! I pulled the body off specifically to check for frame sag because of the hood alignment issues, but frame was almost perfectly straight. Time to source a new front cross member!!
 
I’d be willing to bet that someone here has a front cross member they can supply. Sorry, I don’t.
 
Comparison picture of '30-'31 (left) and '28-'29 (right) front crossmembers.
 

Attachments

  • front crossmember 1929 vs 1930.jpg
    front crossmember 1929 vs 1930.jpg
    41.1 KB · Views: 60
Last edited:
ModelA29 said:
Brassworks has a couple great pages on the 28-31 radiator fitment.


https://www.thebrassworks.net/blogs...formation/a-timeline-of-model-a-frame-changes


https://www.thebrassworks.net/blogs...what-helpful-information/model-a-fitment-woes
Click to expand...
Speaking of Brassworks - I ordered a radiator early in March, and at that time they quoted me 11 weeks delivery (which would have been mid-May). They are now showing 17 weeks delivery for Model A radiators. So if you want one, get your order in!

On another note - yesterday I picked up a transmission and an overdrive from Steve Mitchell at his shop in Colusa, CA. To the best of my memory I ordered them around March of last year. So they're over a year wait time. Again, get your orders in! (But he and Cindy are still as nice as can be. He gave me a free lesson on transmission tower rebuilding while I was there.)
 
I am now officially in the market for a usable 30-31 cross member. If anyone has a lead on one please PM me. Thanks everyone!
 
JayJay said:
On another note - yesterday I picked up a transmission and an overdrive from Steve Mitchell at his shop in Colusa, CA. To the best of my memory I ordered them around March of last year. So they're over a year wait time. Again, get your orders in! (But he and Cindy are still as nice as can be. He gave me a free lesson on transmission tower rebuilding while I was there.)
Click to expand...

That's encouraging, I ordered a Synchro Transmission about the same time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top