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Happy holidays, everyone! Digging into a slew small, persistent leaks in my Ultramatic-equipped model 2302 with the 327. One of those is the radiator, out for leaks for the fourth time in the past three years. It's definitely time for a recore, but while I'm getting a plan for that, I wanted ask about the radiator's mounting.

So this radiator setup is (I think) the weird one, where the radiator mounts behind the cradle, rather than in front of it. Makes removing the radiator very simple - just disconnect the hoses, six screws, and remove the fan and it just come straight out. I switched to the dealer-installed transmission oil cooler a while ago, so no fussing with those lines.

One of the main areas that has leaked is the bottom tank, I think it happens because it rests on the stabilizer assembly rod (circled). Any bump in the road ends up taking some toll on the bottom of the radiator, and eventually, another pinhole appears. I can't really tell from the parts book, but the word "cushion" is used to describe parts of the cradle assembly.

So I'm curious, beyond the cradle tie rods (I've replaced those grommets under 11.0114), was there any other cushioning used to help isolate the radiator? Thanks, all!

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There should be an arrangement similar to this illustration between the bottom of cradle and the support bracket under the bar with the two holes extending forward from the frame.




On the top side of the bracket the center bolt in bottom of cradle has a rubber cushion next to the frame bracket plus a washer and some metal shims between the rubber and the cradle bottom. Below the bracket is another rubber cushion and another washer. The purpose of the rubber is to help absorb frame shocks from jarring the cradle and radiator and the metal shims are to adjust the height of the cradle as needed to control the gap width at the cowl between the top and bottom of fenders.

If the rubber cushion and shims are in the correct thickness range and the brackets holding the stabilizer bar to the frame have the proper shape and bushings the radiator should not be touching the bar. On the diagonal brace rods to the frame at either side of the cradle there should be adjustments either in mounting bolt slots on the brackets or the length of the threaded area on the rods where those rubber cushions are placed to permit some up and down adjustment of the cradle.

Thanks so much, Howard. Sharing what my insulator looks like - probably in need of replacing. Going to ask Merritt about some new insulators.

For the up/down adjustment on the cradle, I'm assuming I can just loosen the two nuts on the side of bracket and use a jack to push the cradle up?

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In addition to what Howard said, there should also be rubber washers between the radiator brackets and the brackets. Many years ago, I found toilet bolt rubber washers were the perfect size, and cheap.