Fitting the radiator

[voucht]

Hello guys,
I'm fitting my water radiator (Mercedes 190)
When the radiator stands on the lower brackets I've welded to front frame lower tube FF1, the height of the original fitting holes of the radiator matches with the height of front frame upper tube FF4 (see pictures below)

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My plan (but I haven't done anything yet as I would like to collect your opinions about that before), is to weld two M8 nuts on the front face of FF4, and to fit the upper points of the radiator with long M8 bolts. The ends of these M8 bolts will be screwed into the welded nuts on FF4, and I will add the necessary lock-nuts to hold the radiator in place vertically.

Here is a picture of what I wan to do (with the threaded rod cut at the right length of course :eek: )

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Do you guys see anything wrong with this installation? It would be so much simpler for me to do that rather than cutting and welding another set of brackets.

All comments and opinion are welcome.
Thank you :)

[robo]

Not so sure about the solid mounting of the rad. It might pay to fit a long nut to the studding http://www.tvdisplaymount.com/search.htm?queryText=long+nut and use a cotton reel type rubber under the rad and on the end of the studding http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/390456086244?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla

Just thoughts

Bob

[Cyberbeej]

Seems reasonable but i'm sure there are reasons why they fit radiators on rubber mounts. Probably a vibration me thinks.

[voucht]

I think you guys have a good point there.
So I'll try to find a way to put rubber pads between the lower mounting (it is not bolts but round 20mm plastic bits) and my lower brackets, and I have to think about a way to mount it soft on the upper fitting points too :(
I keep you posted.
Thanks for the comments :)
Bye.

[voucht]

Hello,
Thanks to your advices, I made the final installation this week-end.

I padded the bottom bracket with 2 x 2mm rubber washers

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I fitted small rubber mounts on the top fixing points.

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The long nut welded on the chassis (on top of FF4) originally was an M6 nut, but I drilled it to a 6mm ID to get a "tube" rather than a threaded piece. The long bolt is slid in this tube, and is attached to the other long nut which makes a union with the rubber mount. A lock nut secures the whole thing (and allows vertical angle adjustment)


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Now that it is soft mounted, the radiator will need to be attached by a strap (hooked to a plastic bracket on the lower water collecting box and to FF1) so the radiator can not "jump" and leave its lower brackets.

Thanks again for the inspiration.

[baz-r]

as i have said before the side plates on my pattern 190e rad are crimped to the core fins only so not realy ideal for anything than fans or cowls in my opinion but yours looks like a genuine merc one so might be more sturdy? i have mine mounted the other way around (only to have the top hose on the same side as my zetec) lent it back to same angle as front frame and drilled 6mm holes in the top tabs on L brackets down to top of front frame.

[voucht]

I think that on my set-up, 99% of the radiator's weight is on the lower fittings (which are strong). The upper fitting points attached to the side plate just stop the radiator to move back and forth, but actually don't support any weight. It is not like the whole radiator was hanging just attached by the side plate's holes, if you see what I mean.
So I think it is OK, but I will have to confirm this when the car is running.
Thank you very much for the info anyway :)

[robo]

I cant see the revised system causing any problems. The rods and lower mounts are the same in principle as a bedford tk lorry used to have and they never had any issues. showing my age again:o

Bob

[Cyberbeej]

Looking Good Mate