How critical is the lower fan shroud bracket on a 1956 Thunderbird ?

[zuburg]

My bird is just a driver, not an all original show car.

I replaced the radiator with an aftermarket aluminum one that was billed to fit 1955-57 Thunderbird to fix an overheating problem (so far looks like it has fixed the problem).

The previous owner fabricated a strange piece of metal that attaches to the lower fan shroud bracket and the bottom of the radiator support. It doesn’t quite fit after installing a new aftermarket aluminum radiator that was advertised to fit 1955-57 Thunderbirds. While it did bolt right on where the old one was, there are some differences elsewhere.

I was wondering how the shroud bracket attached to the original radiator and how critical is the bracket? The lower shroud seems very solid just attached to the upper shroud. Should I add a rubber bumper on the lower shroud to ensure there is no rubbing or vibration when driving?

[55blacktie]

You can buy the correct bracket from one of the Tbird suppliers and have a radiator shop solder it on. In my case, I will take in the original, rotted-out radiator as well, so the shop will be able to see exactly where the bracket should be placed on the new radiator.

[zuburg]

I have the bracket. The extra fabricated piece by the previous owner, attached to the bracket. Then the bracket was screwed to the bottom of the shroud. And the fabricated piece went under the radiator and screwed to the bottom of the radiator frame.

So the shroud bracket is soldered to the radiator? Where on the radiator is it soldered?

[paul2748]

It is soldered in line with the hole in the shroud - attach the upper part and lower part of the shroud to the radiator and line up the bracket with the hole in the shroud. Mark spot on radiator.

Originally Posted by zuburg

So the shroud bracket is soldered to the radiator? Where on the radiator is it soldered?

[Alaska Jim]

I am not sure, but I do not think you can solder it to an aluminum radiator

[55blacktie]

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Yes, steel can be soldered to aluminum using a "super alloy," but your local shop might not be able to do it. I guess that's a plus for going with a copper & brass radiator.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by zuburg

. . . .
The previous owner fabricated a strange piece of metal that attaches to the lower fan shroud bracket and the bottom of the radiator support. It doesn’t quite fit after installing a new aftermarket aluminum radiator that was advertised to fit 1955-57 Thunderbirds. While it did bolt right on where the old one was, there are some differences elsewhere.

I was wondering how the shroud bracket attached to the original radiator and how critical is the bracket? The lower shroud seems very solid just attached to the upper shroud. Should I add a rubber bumper on the lower shroud to ensure there is no rubbing or vibration when driving?

How critical??? Neither the '55 or '57 I have came to me with that lower bracket still in place. As you mentioned, the small lower shroud seems well attached in spite the missing part.
I'd imagine long term vibration could cause the sheetmetal to split near the bolts that fasten the upper and lower halves together, but I see no evidence of that on these two. The '57 odometer shows just over 100k miles and the '55 shows approx 60k. (assuming that's original mileage)
I don't see a big problem with using the U shaped radiator support to attach a small bracket (instead of the radiator) if done in a reasonable manner. Or leave the bracket off and add it later if needed.
As long as the small lower half of the shroud isn't rubbing on the radiator or fan blade it shouldn't be a problem.
.

[zuburg]

I was just thinking of that, and was going to research it. It looks to me like the bracket would fit. I wonder if some kind of epoxy or liquid steel type product would work?

[paul2748]

What is the heat range of some of the super glues ?

Originally Posted by zuburg

I was just thinking of that, and was going to research it. It looks to me like the bracket would fit. I wonder if some kind of epoxy or liquid steel type product would work?

[cokefirst]

I have owned a 1955 Thunderbird since 1969 and that part was missing from mine when I bought it. When I repaired the radiator I put it on and had it soldered to the radiator since I want to keep my car as original as possible. If you are changing to an aluminum radiator and making other modifications, you probably are not too interested in keeping your car original so I would just forget about going to he trouble of reinstalling that piece.

I am also unsure why aluminum radiators are all the rage. They are lighter than the copper/brass units but their cooling may be due to the fact that they are new rather than them being aluminum. The radiator is supposed to dissipate heat and here is the difference I fount: The thermal conductivity or heat transfer rate of copper is 92% versus aluminum which is approximately 49% Perhaps someone who has some engineering background in this area can tell us why the aluminum is better.

[zuburg]

I have read similar reports (or opinions) going both ways. The radiator I bought has 2 rows of 1” tubes which is supposed to cool better than 3 or 4 rows of smaller tubes. It appears it has solved my overheating problem, but for all I know my old one was junk as I didn’t know the history of it.

I’ll attach photos of my final results. While the aftermarket rad I bought bolted right on with no problem, I was not aware the shroud would not fit because the top tank did not overhang the rest of the radiator, so I had to modify the shroud by welding about a 1” spacer to bridge the gap.

I made staples out of stainless steel wire to attach the rubber seal. That wasn’t that bad to do so I may use staples if I decide to attach the fender skirt seals again as the adhesive was a pain and I wasn’t happy with the results.

[cokefirst]

It is not easy to make the staples look like the factory. I suspect that they used an air powered stapler designed to attach the rubber to the metal. I struggle with all the stapled rubber. I wind up taking a small drill and drilling the rubber and slightly opening the hole in the metal and then using the staples sold by the vintage car suppliers, hand fitting them in and folding them over. They work and you can't see the bottom in most cases so it is a reasonable fix. I wish I had some way of making them look and fit like the factory ones. Your radiator looks good.