P500 P500 Radiator relocate mod pics

[Bastardchild]

So i came out this morning with full intentions of cutting farther back into my frame and finishing my frame mod to clear the bigger tires and i got side tracked. I have been thinking of moving the p500 radiator back from the stock location to the next crossbar behind it. So i jumped in. I took off the hoses, drained the radiator, separated the radiator from the fan and shroud guard. I took this opportunity to clean the radiator fins out real good and then bolted the fan back on. Moved it to the crossbar farther back under the hood and eyeballed the best location. I drilled and tapped holes in the rear crossbar and made a new bracket coming off of the metal firewall to suppory the bottom of the radiator. I used the rubber gromets from the stock radiator lower mount in the new radiator rubber mount. Welded new radiator lower mount to firewall and painted it black. Installed gromets and mounted radiator in new location. The top radiator hose just needs to be extended about 6" and the bottom hose needs to be rerouted all together. Im going to have to take a hole saw and cut a hole between the gas and brake pedal in the firewall and run the lower radiator hose through the firewall, between the gas and brake pedals, down the inside of the firewall and through the floor. Of course the hose will get a metal protective cover and will not interfere with the pedals or my feet at all. I may actually end up cutting a piece of pipe in half lengthwise and using half of it for the cover and welding little tabs on the side of the pipe so i can rivet or bolt it to the wall behind the pedals. Im done messing with it for today. I will get back on it tomorrow morning and post more pics and explain what i did. So far ive got about 2 or 3 hours messing with this little mod so far. There is a before and after mount pics and a few of the lower bracket. There is about an inch or so clearance under the hood to the radiator cap. This mod moves the radiator back about 8 1/2" and up about 6". Kinda making it less vulnerable to sticks and stuff, and i can see it will definetly make it easier to clean mud out of the fins, but then again, maybe there will be less to clean out now anyway now that its a little higher. Hope you enjoy.

 

[Admin]

 

[Bastardchild]

Ok update. I kinda cleared my head and thought of a different way to route the lower hose. I decided to leave the top of the radiator bolted to the crossbar that i drilled and tapped and just pull the bottom of the radiator forward a couple of inches. There is enough flex in the rubber bushings in top of the radiator fan bracket where i have it bolted to the new crossbar to let me do this. This means the bracket i made to support the bottom of the radiator needed to be extended a few inches. I cut the bracket off of the metal firewall and welded in a 2.5" extension piece. This enabled me to use a 1" brass 90° coupling i got from Lowes in the plumbing section. Basically i come right off of the lower radiator port with the 90° brass elbow and angle the hose away from the steering shaft towards the passenger side a little, then come down and forward with the new piece of hose and connect it to the stock lower radiator hose with another 90° elbow and i zip tied it to the frame to keep it from bouncing around and have the hose rub on the steering shaft. The lower stock radiator hose is still in its stock location. I just kinda turned the end of it towards the passenger side and put the 90° elbow in the end that used to plug on the lower radiator port, then added about a foot of hose to the other side of the 90° elbow and ran that up to the other 90° elbow that comes out of the bottom of the radiator now. As far as the top radiator hose goes, i just cut it in half about 4" from the end and added an 8" piece of 3/4" aluminum tube that i got from lowes also. I stuffed the tube in the ends of each side of the radiator hose i cut and hose clamped them. The overflow reservoir is not going to end up where it is in the pic, that was just a nice little cubby hole to put it in temporary. Ive refilled the radiator and reservoir and im letting it sit there and run while i write this. I can hear the cooling fan kicking on now and then like it should. So, i really just gotta get a few more hose clamps and mount the reservoir and this little mod is done. I might even do like the ratrod guys do and get a liquor bottle for the overflow reservoir hehe. We'll see. So far ive got $20 in this mod and about 6 hours give or take. Anyway, i know yall read these for the pics just like i do so here ya go.

 

[Bastardchild]

Also, the gap left where the radiator used to be will probably be filled in with a sheet of aluminum i cut to fit in. I will probably take the plasma cutter and cut some kind of design in it to allow air flow, even though im sure it will get plenty of air if i didnt. When i do that i will make another thread or add to this one. Enjoy!

 

[Eltobgi]

@Bastardchild So after thorough testing on the new location what are your thoughts? Any issues with the radiator plugging? Any other Issues?

 

[Bastardchild]

@Bastardchild So after thorough testing on the new location what are your thoughts? Any issues with the radiator plugging? Any other Issues?

 

[Bastardchild]

@Bastardchild So after thorough testing on the new location what are your thoughts? Any issues with the radiator plugging? Any other Issues?

Ok Im sorry. Having signal issues. I havent had any internal clogs in the radiator, or air pockets associated with moving it to its new location. I have gotten air in my cooling system before, but that was due to a blown head gasket that I just recently replaced along with a top end job. The fins still get clogged with mud from time to time. Its easy to get to though for cleaning by popping the hood and spraying it out. It is definetly out of the way of sticks and stuff that could poke it. Im sure if I mounted the radiator in the bed behind the cab it would stay cleaner, but theres something about having a boiling hot radiator by my head that I dont like. I am actually kicking around the idea of getting a bigger radiator for under the hood. Something roughly the same shape, but maybe has an extra cooling row built in. Ive seen them on ebay for about $100 or so. The Honda ricer guys use them. The guys that soup up the Honda Accords with the big wings on the back and the loud exhaust lol.

 

[Eltobgi]

While watching your video I noticed and thought this may be a mod I’d pursue to better protect it and prevent it from clogging. I wouldn’t feel comfortable mounting the radiator behind the cab either without a protective barrier of some sort! Nice work! Once it warms up I may look more closely into this mod!

 

[Bastardchild]

While watching your video I noticed and thought this may be a mod I’d pursue to better protect it and prevent it from clogging. I wouldn’t feel comfortable mounting the radiator behind the cab either without a protective barrier of some sort! Nice work! Once it warms up I may look more closely into this mod!

Thank you Sir.

 

[Mudder]

Interesting mod. Had mud clogged radiator and got 12v sprayer, but just wondering about this Metal peg board as a shield, stick stopper for $10, maybe drilling larger holes if needed.

 

[Bastardchild]

Interesting mod. Had mud clogged radiator and got 12v sprayer, but just wondering about this Home Depot black peg board as a shield, stick stopper, maybe drilling larger holes if needed.
Everbilt 16 in. x 16 in. Plastic Pegboard in Black-17961 - The Home Depot

View attachment 105111 View attachment 105112

Hey thats neat stuff there! I didnt know they made plastic pegboard. You might be onto something there @Mudder I can think of other projects with that also. I wonder how it would act if you tried to heat it up with a heat gun and tried to bend it? I can picture an aluminum framed bed with this pegboard for the floors and walls for water drainage...

 

[Mudder]

Yep, just found the metal one on Lowes website, may be better than the plastic Home Depot one, and the metal one has mounting tabs, black paint. Edited above post.