Hi! New to the forum here and glad I found it! I drive a 1956 MErcury station wagon as a daily driver. I had a new custom radiator made and it's a 3 core. It fit in fine BUT the original fan only leaves me like 1/8th of an inch of space between the closest fan blade and the core of the new radiator!! OH OH! It looks like I can't remove the spacer from that fan or the fan will hit the power steering pulley. I don't really want to put an electric fan in front of the radiator because I have heard they are not that effecient at cooling the 312 Y block. I would like to have a fan behind the radiator if at all possible, I thought of mounting an electric fan to the radiator somehow and removing the orginal one. I need another inch of space between that radiator and the original fan if I keep that one. I am stuck and not sure what to do! HELP!   

Something must have gone wrong in measuring the radiator. There should be about an inch between the fan and the radiator. The radiator is bolted where it belongs, but it might be possible to put it into the radiator surround and drill some holes and bolt it from the front. Or you can possibly get the radiator shop to move the bracket about an inch. Who built the radiator? Did you give them dimensions or did they have dimensions. According to the Hollander, 55 and 56 Merc uses either a std or or extra cooling radiator, but does not fit 55 or 56 Ford.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Hi Kenneth! Thanks for replying! 1-800-Radiator did the radiator for me. They are just down the street from where I work at the repair shop I work at. They had a guy come out and measure the core and tank. I noticed the core seems a little thicker (for lack of a better word!) than the old radiator. And the old radiator was something that the previous owner had specially made and it never worked that well. This is a 3 row radiator. And yes, I think all I need is an inch more and I would be safe!

I moved my radiator in front of the radiator support. Looking at the picture can you slide the radiator down on the other side of the support? It's slotted at the top. Then the only problem is getting the bolts in. I went in from the front of the radiator guard with mine. Into the existing blind nuts. Was fairly simple and gave me plenty of room. I not sure if 1/8" is really bad to start with but could the fan flex into the radiator at RPM? Chuck in NH

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Why move the radiator ??? Looks like you have a spacer between the pulley and the fan . Why not remove the spacer first ??? That may give you the room you need ???  You may have to use shorter bolts as well ?? Hope ths helps .

Lon

yblocksdownunder

As Lon said, remove the spacer and if the fan dose'nt hit anything which it shouldn't being a little closer to the engine then you're good to go. I've done this more than once to get more clearance and it worked out great.

-Gary Burnette-

The fan will hit the power steering and alternator pulleys, otheriwise, I would TOTALLY do that! Wish I could! I tried removing the spacer once to put another fan on, and yep, it hit the pulleys! RATS! I will try moving the radiator to the other side of the posts. I think that will do it! Thanks for the help!!

Could you take a look at how your motor mounts along side the engine are installed is the U facing open to front of car or facing open to rear of the car. If placed reverse the engine will be more forward than stock.

marv

Also, Ford 6 cylinder mounts have different offset than V-8, but look very much the same.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Not sure on the motor mounts, I would have to get under the eagon on my driveway! it's a pain to not have a garage to do this in! I do have new mounts sitting in a package, might be a good time to install those anyway! What I am now thinking is towing the Merc to the shop that rebuilt it and the guy is a Y-Block expert. HE can install the new mounts, so the engine sits back more, AND he can deal with the radiator (I am afraid of smashing the fins!) Thanks for all the help!!