radiator support
Part numbers and upgrade information for the radiator support, aka "core support" for the 1980-1986 Ford trucks.
Note that there were early supports, from 1980 through 1984, and late supports - 1985 & 1986. The main difference is in the way the radiators attach. You can upgrade an early support to accept a later radiator by following the directions in the 85+ Radiator In Earlier Support tab.
Note that there were early supports, from 1980 through 1984, and late supports - 1985 & 1986. The main difference is in the way the radiators attach. You can upgrade an early support to accept a later radiator by following the directions in the 85+ Radiator In Earlier Support tab.
Part numbers for the radiator support for 1980 - 86 Ford trucks.
HOW TO: Modify a 1980-1984 Core Support to hold a 1985-1996 Radiator
By: Joey/1985 Bronco
1980-1996 core supports changed very little over the years, and this makes it very easy to mount a later radiator in an early core support. I mounted a 1984 front clip on my 1995, and wanted to use the 1995 radiator.
Here is the 1984 core support compared to the 1995. The center section is basically the same.
By: Joey/1985 Bronco
1980-1996 core supports changed very little over the years, and this makes it very easy to mount a later radiator in an early core support. I mounted a 1984 front clip on my 1995, and wanted to use the 1995 radiator.
Here is the 1984 core support compared to the 1995. The center section is basically the same.
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1980-1984 radiators rest on 2 rubber mounts at the bottom of the core support, and are held in place with 2 brackets that mount to the top of the core support, as shown in this picture:
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Here is the 1984 Radiator: |
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The 1985-1996 radiators look like this:
And they have 2 legs on the side of them that rest in 2 cups that are spot welded to the sides of the core support. Here is a picture of the cups removed from the 1995 core support and painted:
The top of the radiator is held in place with 2 bolts that mount to the core support with 2 clips. Here is a picture of the radiator mounted:
And here is a picture of the clip on each side:
To mount the 1995 radiator in the 1984 core support, all I did was drill out the spot welds on the cups. Removed them from the 1995 core support, measured where to remount them on the 1984 core support, and bolted them on:
Spot welding them on would have been better, because one of my bolts interfered with the battery tray mount.
Then I put the radiator in, marked where the top mounted, and used a hole saw and a drill bit to make the holes for the clips. I inserted the 1995 clips, and bolted the radiator in.
The following information and measurements are from Shaun/Salans7:
- Clips: N801731-S2
- Bolts: N606691-S (M8x1.25x38MM Hex w/washer)
- Lower Mounts: E5TZ-8052-A (Passenger) E5TZ-8052-B (Driver)
- Lower Pads: E5TZ-8125-A
- The distance between the center of a radiator mounting bolt and the center of the nearest A/C condenser mounting bolt is 5-3/8". It's the same measurement on both sides.
- The bottom edge (lip) of each lower radiator mount bracket is 18" from the top lip of the radiator support. One of the passenger side battery tray support bracket bolts goes through the radiator bracket and into the battery tray bracket, so this helps in aligning that bracket. The driver's side bracket has a large hole in the center that sort of lines up with a large hole in the radiator support. It's not perfectly aligned on any of the trucks I have viewed, but it is a good reference point to get you in a close area.
And here are a couple of pics Shaun took of where the brackets are on an 85 or later support.
