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1977 Corvette Radiator replacement

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Old 04-30-2014, 10:47 PM
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MakoJoe
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Default 1977 Corvette Radiator replacement

Started my Radiator replacement this evening This should be an interesting job to perform on a 1977 Corvette and Thinking I will do a step by step post on the progress since I have seen many posts asking how to replace a Radiator on the Corvettes Since I am old and Gray now and cannot do this in 3 hours anymore I will post the progress over a few evenings as I complete the job. I expect it will take me 6 or 7 hours at my age

The last time I performed replacement of a Radiator was on my 1992 Miata and that forum used my steps in their Tech Section so hopefully I write this one up as well as the last step by step I did on a forum


When working on a 37 year old car you almost always run into things you did not expect I am going to see if I can do this without removing the Hood on the Corvette. It is possible but removing the hood makes it a little easier.


So I pulled the Corvette up on Ramps when I got home this evening. and got the car up in the air. First thing I did is pull out a 5 gallon Bucket and a oil drain pan. The oil drain pan is for the Transmission Fluid that is going to leak when disconnecting the automatic transmission lines and the 5 gallon bucket is for the anti-freeze.


After pulling the car up on ramps I removed the Radiator cap.

I placed the 5 gallon bucket under the radiator drain plug than I removed the drain plug.

Next I removed the top Radiator hose and propped it up in the air so all the anti-freeze would drain out of the engine and hoses.

While it was Draining I removed the Air Intake Snorkel from the top of the radiator.

Than I proceeded to loosen the Alternator bolt from the Bracket so I could remove the alternator belt from the Fan Clutch Assembly.

I than removed the Fan Clutch Assembly from the Water Pump. You will need this extra room to remove the Radiator and move the Fan Shroud out of the Way. Ran into a little dilemma on this since someone before installed the water pump studs wrong. 3 out of the 4 studs came out with the nuts More work for me later when I go to reassemble the fan clutch back onto the water pump. I will have to remove the studs from the Fan Clutch Assembly and bolt them back into the water pump properly.

I removed the top two mounting bolts on the Fan Shroud assembly then moved it out of the way.

This is as far I got this evening after 2 hours of labor. Radiator and engine is completely drained. Fan shroud is loosened and alternator belt removed.

I will post again Thursday evening once I remove the lower Radiator hose and Transmission lines.

Last edited by MakoJoe; 04-30-2014 at 11:13 PM.
Old 05-01-2014, 06:50 AM
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rrent
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Looking forward to your future posts. I'm going to be doing the same (on my '77 ) soon.
I'm going to go ahead and do electric fans so reassembly will trail off at some point.

Thanks for the write up.
Old 05-01-2014, 08:08 AM
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looking forward to the posts!
Old 05-01-2014, 08:27 AM
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I am looking forward to reading more. I just completed this job, so I will add some variances that I experienced.

1) I did remove the hood. This was a two person job, but gave me lots of room to work. I was also replacing the radiator core support, so I felt like removing the hood was a necessity.
2) I had heard horror stories about radiator drain petcocks breaking off, so I used a small pump hooked up to a drill to pump the coolant out of the radiator. It worked well, made no mess, and was done in about a minute.
3) I removed the clutch fan from the waterpump pulley, leaving the pulley and belts intact. Like you, I had some studs that came out with the nuts and some nuts that came off the studs.

Everything else is the same as I had experienced.

John
Old 05-01-2014, 09:35 AM
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Old 05-01-2014, 08:28 PM
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MakoJoe
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Originally Posted by LudemJo
I am looking forward to reading more. I just completed this job, so I will add some variances that I experienced.

1) I did remove the hood. This was a two person job, but gave me lots of room to work. I was also replacing the radiator core support, so I felt like removing the hood was a necessity.
2) I had heard horror stories about radiator drain petcocks breaking off, so I used a small pump hooked up to a drill to pump the coolant out of the radiator. It worked well, made no mess, and was done in about a minute.
3) I removed the clutch fan from the waterpump pulley, leaving the pulley and belts intact. Like you, I had some studs that came out with the nuts and some nuts that came off the studs.

Everything else is the same as I had experienced.

John

Mine does not have a drain petcock and it is just a drain plug at the very bottom so once I removed the lower hose and tilted it from the Drivers Side I was able to get the rest of the fluid out of it without making too much of a mess.

I was not able to break the Transmission lines loose while it was in the car so I removed the rubber hoses and drained them down into a pan. The Steel Lines are frozen in as expected since they have been in there for 37 years. This is the original Radiator still in the car.


I was able to get all the hoses removed this evening and recruiting some help to remove the Radiator from the Car. If needed I can also pull the hood but looks like two of us can pull it straight up with the hood installed. So it will Friday evening or sometime Saturday before I can pull it out of the engine bay. It is definitely a 2 man job to pull the radiator out of the engine bay.

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-01-2014 at 08:33 PM.
Old 05-01-2014, 09:02 PM
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Originally Posted by rrent
Looking forward to your future posts. I'm going to be doing the same (on my '77 ) soon.
I'm going to go ahead and do electric fans so reassembly will trail off at some point.

Thanks for the write up.
If your going to replace the Fan Clutch assembly with Electric Fans on the new radiator then it might be easier to cut the old Fan Shroud out of the way before removing the Radiator unless you want to save it for some reason.

I have found out this evening you cannot easily remove the fan shroud without cutting it. It hangs up on the suspensions upper control arms and cannot be removed easily with the radiator still in the car. It only took me about 10 minutes to figure this one out
Old 05-02-2014, 06:51 PM
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Old 05-03-2014, 10:00 PM
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There is always a Critic LOL I was saving the pictures for reassembly because there is really not much to show on disassembly

A buddy of mine came over today and we were able to pull the Radiator out in about 10 minutes after a little wiggling to get it past the upper control arms and Fan Shroud.



This is an Old School Trick that some might use a pipe for when you have something Frozen and need the extra leverage. I like to link 2 wrenches together and needed to break loose the old Transmission Lines.



I lubed up the transmission lines with Copper Anti Seize compound after cleaning the rust that froze them in Place. I prefer the Copper Anti Seize compound over the Silver since it is High Heat.




I reinstalled the Transmission lines into the new Radiator



The Fan Clutch assembly studs were in such bad shape I stopped by the Local Parts Store and picked up a new set then put Blue Thread locker on the studs where they mount into the water pump and let it set up for about 15 minutes. After about an hour I could not remove these studs by hand they were locked in place. Never Use Red Thread Locker unless you never intend on removing them again without lots of heat. Blue will lock it in place but can be removed years later.



Than I installed them into the water pump. Notice I left the collar showing this is where the Fan Clutch Assembly will sit on the studs. While you can take them in deeper you want the collar showing.



I have a Transmission cooler that I installed last summer to help with keeping the Tranny Cool when on the Highway and running up and down mountain roads so I also installed it today on the new Radiator.



I cut this tabs off after install the Cooler on the Radiator and left about 1/4 of an inch on each one.



This is as far as I got today. When I removed the Radiator the Drivers Side Lower Rubber Mount was missing so I am online this evening purchasing a new complete rubber mounting kit along with the Seals all the way around the Radiator which were also shot. These are things you do not see until you pull Radiator completely out of the car. I will have to modify the rubber mounts with a Dremel Tool to fit the new 4 core Radiator. I will have to grind out the channel between 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer since the 4 Core Radiator is wider. I will show these modifications when I receive the new Rubber Mounts next weekend

Sorry Guys this project will not be completed until next Saturday

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-03-2014 at 11:53 PM.
Old 05-03-2014, 10:15 PM
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This is a picture of the clogged up old Radiator Core. While it did not overheat on surface streets once I got up past 65 to 70 miles per hour and sustained highway speeds or was taking a 5 % to 7% Grade climbing up into the Colorado Mountains the car would run up to between 200 to 210 degrees which to me is a little hot since I could hear the water boiling in the Radiator when I came to a stop. I like to keep my older engines between 170 and 190 degrees.

This type of stuff happens over many years when people use Tap Water mixed with coolant. IMO you should use a 50/50 mix of Anti Freeze and Distilled water. It is much cheaper than buying the 50/50 mix they sell on the shelves these days. They charge between 10.00 to 12.00 bucks for 50/50 mix and it is 16.00 bucks for a gallon of anti-freeze and a buck for a gallon of Distilled water. The cooling system holds between 2 to 2.5 gallons depending on how much you drain it. I am thinking my new 4 core Radiator will be around 3 gallons and I have some 50/50 mixed stuff left over from when I replaced all the fluids last summer after I bought the car.


Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-03-2014 at 10:58 PM.
Old 05-03-2014, 11:44 PM
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Originally Posted by rrent
Looking forward to your future posts. I'm going to be doing the same (on my '77 ) soon.
I'm going to go ahead and do electric fans so reassembly will trail off at some point.

Thanks for the write up.
I am buying all new Radiator to Frame Seals and you will have to do the same when installing a Aluminum Radiator and Electric Fans to fit the new wider Width of the Radiator on the rubber radiator mounts unless your kit comes with everything I expect you will have to modify some stuff also.

I will have to shave down the new Seals that run down each side of the Radiator Seal the same extra measurement that I will be using a Dremel Tool to fit in the wider Radiator. I will post pictures this week once I know how much I will have to cut away on these new parts If I order the parts this weekend I expect to have them by Thursday or Friday

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-03-2014 at 11:47 PM.
Old 05-06-2014, 09:23 PM
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Made some more progress this evening removing the old Radiator Gaskets and cleaning up the Glue that was left behind.

After removing the Gaskets on the Top of the Frame to Hood Gasket there is a Clip on both sides that I removed with Channel Locks. Watch where they go because these clips pop out pretty far away.





After I removed the clips I took a Scraper to remove the old gasket material. I removed the gaskets slowly with a 1 inch putty knife to reduce the amount of stuff left behind. Since they were 37 years old they came off really easily with the putty knife and pulling slowly on them.



Than I used a Medium Grit 120 Scotch Pad with some acetone on it to remove the excess glue. You could also use Denatured Alcohol to remove glue and it will be a little less harsh on the painted surfaces. Both will remove the paint if you scrub to hard. Try to keep to only the areas that the glue is present.



I am still waiting on the new Radiator Gasket Kit and when ordering the Rubber Mounts I ordered the Heavy Duty Radiator mounts upper and lower for a Corvette with the L82 engine package and Air conditioning even though my L48 does not have either. These rubber mounts should fit my new aftermarket 4 Core Radiator so hoping I do not need to modify them. I am not going to take pictures of removing all the gaskets around the Radiator since the procedure is the same for each area the gaskets are glued to the Radiator Frame.

I should have the new mounts and gaskets by Thursday or Friday

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-06-2014 at 10:49 PM.
Old 05-06-2014, 09:45 PM
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I have some bolts and screws that were rusted so I soaked them in a fairly new product from WD40. This stuff is great because it removes rust from screws and bolts like Navel Jelly does. Anyone remember Navel Jelly for cleaning up rust? I have not seen this stuff in years but remember using it many years ago to remove rust from stuff


Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-06-2014 at 10:32 PM.
Old 05-08-2014, 09:42 PM
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Received my parts in this evening so installed the new radiator mounts on the upper brackets and installed the lower frame mounts. Since I am installing a four core radiator I bought the L82 with A/C upper and lower mounts.



Installed the new mounts into the upper brackets. Pretty easy to do just give a light tug on the Tab with a set of pliers




Did the same thing for both lower radiator mounts.



Then I moved on to the Radiator Hood Seals while I did not get them installed this evening the Hood Seals needed some holes drilled in them. I used a 1/4 Drill bit to drill the holes after measuring them 2 or 3 times to make sure the hole was in the right place. Not something you can fix by doing it wrong. I lined the new hood seals up with the old ones then put a mark on the side where I thought I need to drill the hole. The old one broke off right where the pin was installed when I removed the old gasket and I was careful to make sure it did. I then lined up the mark I put on them with the Set Pin Holes and put them into the car. I was dead on the first time but still measured them 2 or 3 times to make sure on each side.




Then using my hand just used the drill bit to open the hole up



Then put the Set Pin in place and will be using this sealer to install them into the car.



The test fit photo did not come out very well then the batteries died in my camera so I will retake them so you can see how it all fits with the cold intake snorkel. Since I am no master mechanic I like to dry fit everything before setting it place permanently

This is as far as I got this evening since we had snow last night and I figure it is too cold in the garage and raining this evening to install anything that requires glue this evening. Hoping I will not have to scrape an inch of frozen ice/snow off my windshield again Friday Morning Hoping to do more Friday Evening since it is supposed to warm up again in the high 60s tomorrow thru Saturday. Than we have another chance of Snow on Sunday. Yup it is Colorado in the Spring and have seen snow all the way into Late June up in the High Country.

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-08-2014 at 10:47 PM.
Old 05-10-2014, 10:20 PM
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Alright Dudes finished installing my Radiator and all new radiator seals today

So going to finish up on the steps it took to complete. I only have few more details to perform on this project like finish installing my Transmission Cooler which is going to take some grinding with a Dremel Tool to get the lines from in front the radiator to the tranny lines. I going to do this on Sunday.

My buddy came over today after he was done watching the Football Picks for next year about 4:30 in the after noon and assisted me with installing the new radiator. Before dropping the radiator into the engine bay you have to reinstall the Fan Shroud because it will not go back into the car and hangs up on the upper control arms. I had to perform a little prying a lot of wiggling to get the new Four Radiator set into place. I proceeded to reinstall all the hoses from the Transmission Lines and Radiator hoses. Did not take any pictures of these since I figured you guys know how to do this.





After mounting the brackets and getting the radiator and Fan Shroud Bolted down I test fitted the Air Intake snorkel so I new where all the new Radiator Seals were going to fit in place.




I then installed the new Radiator Seal that fits up under the Air Intake Snorkel.




This picture is bad but I reinstalled the air intake



After the Cold Air Intake was reinstalled I then started on the other Radiator Seals and like to test fit them first with the cover over the double sided tape on there. Then I fit them in place after I know How to install them.



Since I am new at this made a simple mistake and placed Seal under the Air Intake a few inches off and went back to fix it before I moved on. But figured I would show you the mistake. It is fixed now




Moved on to the Drivers Side and Did the same thing test fitted first then Set the Seal in Place.







Than I installed the Seal along the Passenger Side of the car going down the side of the Radiator.



Another Crappy Picture that I did not Retake but installed the Fan Clutch back on the Water Pump.





Then I moved on the Hood Seals and used the 3M Weather Stripping Contact Cement. Use the contact cement on both surfaces Seal and Metal then let sit for about 3 minutes to become tacky



Than install the Seal on the car. I used the Handle side of the hammer and pounded in the Set Pin than hold it in place for a couple of minutes pressing down hard on all areas moving back and forth to get a good seal.



The Pictures I took of the drivers side did not come out real good but the Passengers side is repeated on the Drivers Side.

The only I have left to do is finish installing my Tranny Cooler and I will need to take a Dremel Tool to grind out the hole between the passenger side Lower Radiator mount and the Frame in front of the Radiator. The new 4 core Radiator did not leave me enough room to fit both the hoses where I previously had them installed thru so I am going have grind away at to open up at least another 1.5 inches in the lower corner. I will attempt to take the Before and After Pictures for this install.

Hope this has been informative and you guys learned something new. Since was the first time I ever replaced a Radiator into a 1977 Corvette I learned as I went along only made one mistake then fixed it before I completed the Job

I am so not looking forward to finishing the installation of the Transmission Cooler tomorrow since we are going to drop 40 Degrees in temps from today. Tomorrow we are getting hit with a Snow Storm that will dump between 6 to 12 inches of snow where I live by Monday Morning. Almost removed my Snow tires on my Daily Driver this morning but decided to leave them on for another week.

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-10-2014 at 11:58 PM.
Old 05-11-2014, 01:13 AM
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Hope you learned something new I know I did when performing the install. While I have done this before on many other cars the 1977 Corvette was a first for me


Filled the radiator with anti freeze and started her up this evening and let her warm up for about 20 minutes looking for leaks. Did not find any so if the weather holds out I will take her for a spin around the block tomorrow evening to get the new fluid good an warm.

Have a 185 mile cruise with my car club this Saturday so need to make sure I am not go blow fluids all over the place

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-13-2014 at 09:24 PM. Reason: Started car looking for leaks
Old 05-14-2014, 08:40 PM
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Took the Corvette out for a test drive this evening after letting it warm up for about 10 minutes than drove it for about 10 miles to the gas station and back home. Pulled it into the garage and looked for leaks.

Did not find any leaks so feel comfortable to drive about 185 Miles on Saturday with my Car Club ..... Vintage Cars of Castle Rock CO

Always got a put a plug in for my Clubs Show coming up on June 14th and just a month away You have a classic car and Live in Colorado last year our club had over 250 Cars Entered and hoping to get up to 300 cars this year. The Town of Castle Rock welcomes this car show every year because it brings in huge business for all the downtown shops and a portion of the money earned from the entry fee goes to local charities.

http://www.classicrockcruisein.com/

Last edited by MakoJoe; 05-14-2014 at 08:50 PM.

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Old 05-16-2014, 08:19 PM
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Took the car to work today to give the cooling system a longer workout and looked for leaks again. No leaks so I feel I can take the car just about anywhere now They canceled the Club Cruise on Saturday for good reasons. I was up in the area on Wednesday and ran into a fairly heavy Snow Storm between Woodland Park and Deckers Colorado. It is supposed to rain down here in town most of the day and snow up in the high country. Sunday I will take the Corvette up I25 where the speed limit is 75 MPH and give the new cooling system parts a run for the money
Old 05-16-2014, 09:07 PM
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Good work Mako ! How are the temps with the new rad.?
Old 05-16-2014, 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted by persuader
Good work Mako ! How are the temps with the new rad.?
Truthfully I will not know until I get her out on the Highway and run it up to 80 MPH and sustain that speed for 10 miles but I fully expect the engine and transmission to run cooler when I take her out on Sunday

Strange thing about Colorado this time of year we can have snow one day and 70 degrees the next. We may see snow flurries tomorrow morning but It will be up around 80 degrees on Sunday when I take the cruise up the highway so will be a good test on the new cooling system.


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