55.2-59 1956 3100 LS swap radiator issue

[Mike_The_Grad]

Hey everyone, been helping out a buddy with his 56 truck ls swap. We bought ls swap radiator on ebay. It showed up yesterday and when I went to test fit it I seen that the radiator has the drivers side mounting bracket in the correct location which is towards the front of the truck. But the passengerside mounting bracket is towards the rear of the truck. Or closer to the engine side of thee radiator. What gives? Been looking at pictures all morning trying to see if there's some funky core support stuff ii don't know about. But I would think both mounting brackets should be on the same plane of the radiator. Meaning both on the forward leading edge or both on the rear edge of the radiator. Any insight? Thanks

[Hcb3200]

sounds like someone didn't move the passenger side forward for whatever reason. Post some pictures so we can clearly see what you are talking about.

[Mike_The_Grad]

It's kind of hard to tell from these pictures off ebay. I'm not at my buddies house right now. I asked him to send me some pictures that show the difference between the sides of the radiator mounting brackets. Basically they are opposite each other or offset from eachother.

[leegreen]

looks like someone messed up their engineering drawings, probably ended up with an entire production run of rads with right side bracket on both sides. These will probably be floating around on ebay for years to come

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by leegreen

looks like someone messed up their engineering drawings, probably ended up with an entire production run of rads with right side bracket on both sides. These will probably be floating around on ebay for years to come

I'd bet the guys in the factory in China that made it decided they could save money by only bending up one style of bracket and putting it on both sides.

Or they didn't tell the workers welding them up that it took two different brackets and there is a stack of brackets still sitting on a shelf in the factory.

[Mike_The_Grad]

I would have agreed with all of the opinions except the fan shroud mounting brackets are bent in the same matter to match the profile of the offset brackets. Welded tabs and bolted flanges all match up surprising well. I sure can say that the workmanship is pretty nice for something that is completely wrong.

So far what I've found after a lot of scrolling is that the aluminum replacement factory style radiators look and fit correctly. But if you want a LS swap radiator, you have to pay a lot of money for it to have the correct mounting brackets. Which is really hard to comprehend. It's like, why not just use the ls style tanks on the factory style cores with the correct mounting flanges? Oh wait, let's make something completely unusable and we will advertise it as direct fit even though there's no imaginable way to make it work without a ton of fabrication that basically defeats the purpose of a radiator available at a reasonable price point. That's a great idea. How about we make them wait a long time for it too. And we won't show any specific reference photos so they really don't know what they're getting into until they have it right in front of them. That's a money maker for sure! Oh I got one more, let's make the return process near impossible, complicated, provide no customer service to contact and make them so frustrated by it all they just decide to keep it and buy another radiator even though we make about 95% of all ls swap radiator priced in this range. Oh man that's the ticket. Maniacal laughter... ha ha ha.

[Hcb3200]

yea the only way i see that working is if you integrate that radiator into the core support itself centered. so one side is attached to outside surface of core support and other is attached on inside surface.

on mine and most i have seen it is flush mounted to core support on inside and attached to core support with both sides flush mounted brackets.

Now there are multiple radiator / core support combos for LS swaps.
Just have never seen that one installed.

BUT that does not mean it has not been done with that radiator style.
maybe one of the other guys can provide a better answer.

[Mike_The_Grad]

So, in no stock application for the 56 trucks would this radiator work? I was wondering if there was a major difference between the 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder core supports that I just didn't understand or missed somehow. And instead of trying to get crafty with it, probably just better to return it. Sucks for my buddy that has to deal with ebay return. It's not as easy as amazon. I had seen some advertised as looking correct and I thought that's what I had shown him. It is possible he ordered the wrong one. But oh well.

[Hcb3200]

Might be an easier to find an aluminum welder just flip the bracket or put a new one on.

[jweb]

Here's a pic of an LS swap radiator from Superior. You can see that the pass. side bracket on the radiator you have is wrong.

https://www.wwwsuperiorradiator.com/...60_chevy_truck

[Mike_The_Grad]

Heree are some actually pictures even though my friend didn't understand what kind of pictures I was asking him to take...

[Mike_The_Grad]

And a picture of his engine.

[jwhotrod]

i havent figured out yet why you dont use crossflow radiators and expand the size? in streetrod construction the average grill shell only allows for a 17" radiator, id kill for as much frontal area as these trucks have.

[Mike_The_Grad]

My part in this project, being that it's my buddies, was to finish what the shop didn't/couldn't do with the truck after having it for almost a year. Which was to get it running. When I came along the truck already had drivetrain, suspension, interior, harness, radiator, fuel tank, and brakes. All of these systems were at about 80% complete. Nothing was completely legitimately done. So I said I will help out and finish what I could. He had a deadline. Which has already came and passed. When I started looking at it, he decided he wanted things different. Instead of a flash pcm with drive by wire pedal, he wanted drive by cable so he could use the pedal he wanted, instead of a factory composite intake manifold he wanted a sheetmetal mean looking intake. So we decided on fitech for the 6.0 block with ls3 heads that was originally a turbo motor making 925 to the crank. So I overhauled induction and fuel injection gave him what he wanted, then we started running into more issues, front accesory drive interference, custom radiator hoses, fans, custome radiator mounting. Which the shop had performed and might I say they failed horribly. They literally screwed the fan shroud for the elctric fan into the radiator core. On both sides of the radiator. Basically turning the radiator into Swiss cheese. Leaks from everywhere. I couldn't tell you why. But it's the reason I was brought in to fix all kinds of mistakes and mickey mouse stuff this shop had done for my friend. It's been fighting me tooth and nail the entire time. I am constantly finding things wrong and just plain bad work done on this truck. So I'm not into the idea of reinventing the wheel with the truck at this point in time. And realistically looking for practical solutions in a reasonable timescale for a reasonable price. He's got money, but he's spent a lot so far. So my luck to have to shop around for solutions and be efficient with my time. It's a challenge for sure. But also not my only customer. So it is what it is. It'll be nice when it's done though that's for sure.

[dsraven]

can the rad be returned? if not cut that side panel off so a new part can be welded to the nub remaining or have a new side panel installed. if not that then buy a new one and send that one for scrap aluminum or whatever. cut your losses, and his.

[jweb]

The LS swap radiator from Superior is only $425 or $600 with fan & shroud. That’s a great price for a quality American made part. Especially considering the money already spent on that engine, it’s cheap insurance.

I’ve had my Superior radiator for almost 10 years, driven thousands of miles and it’s worked perfect.

[Mike_The_Grad]

My buddy got that engine for $2,500. Ha ha! Guy had it listed for selling the engine, but posted pictures of the turbo on the engine. He Had no bites on it. My buddy went out on a limb and called the guy. He said yeah it's just the engine for sale. My buddy said I'll be right there with the cash. Picked up the engine for $2,500. Guy told him it's all forged internals, head studs, upgraded valve train, had a big turbo making 925HP at the crank. My buddy said the guy looked like he needed the cash bad. Right place, right time. Under the valve covers looked practically brand new, which my buddy said the guy told him it only had dyno time to get it dialed in. It's got a 4l80e behind it and a Ford 9", POL tubular control arms with coil overs in the front. Leaf springs out back but it's getting a 4 link in a few weeks. Camaro front suspension with wilwood brakes, truck has been chopped and stretched.

He told me he ordered a champion cooling ls swap radiator from jegs yesterday. Should be here day after Christmas. We shall see what late Claus brings us.