Another Bloody Radiator Fit Question - Need Your Expert Opinion!

[rowdy11]

Hey folks:

I'm in the midst of installing a new radiator with new mounts onto a new radiator support. I'm LS Swapping so this radiator is a DeWitts, but this question falls into a broader category of getting any replacement radiator to fit properly to the support, so I'm posting for all.

My question: how tightly should the radiator actually fit against the support itself? I've read a ton of threads on here about virtually everyone struggling over the years to get radiators to properly fit. I've done some initial trimming of my rubber mounts to get it to fit the way it is now...it just seems to be too far from the support still (about 5/8 inch away but the gap looks huge.

Should I trim the mounts further to move the radiator forward (closer to the support? I don't want to butcher the mounts so much that they don't support the radiator they way they were designed.

Thanks for the advice!

[robpp]

i trimmed the rubber from the bottom to match the ones I took out. About 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. I used an Xacto saw blade

maybe elongate the mounting holes so you can make it more vertical

[Richard]

The mounts do not fit the radiator well. Do you have 4 row mounts on a 3 row radiator?

[57larry]

top & bottom radiator mounts are a different size for 3 & 4 core radiators

[toolboxchev]

It appears the top mounts are too far outward. The bottom mounts are too far inward.

Are you sure the bottoms are 4 row? I know it is not sitting in there properly. This happened to me with new rubbers and bottom mounts.

[MDPotter]

As long as the radiator is solid with the top mounts tightened down, I don't see a problem. Does it look a little funny? Yes, but mine is the same way. I think GM designed it this way so the radiator was at the same angle as the engine so the fan and shroud would be at the right angle.

[rowdy11]

Thanks for all the comments so far. No this is not an HD radiator, and yes the mounts are HD mounts (top and bottom). I have a set of new standard mounts and they simply would not fit the radiator at all. These are a better fit but don't disagree that they don't fit as well as I would like. Question is, should I modify the rubber further on the mounts or drill the top mounts with a new set of mounting holes that would bring the radiator in closer at the top? Is anyone running their overflow bottle line across that part of the support just below the mounts? I was planning to do so, but re-drilling the radiator mounts and bringing it closer to the support would kill that idea.