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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.

Happy New Year, everyone! Want to circle back with a couple quick questions. I did figure out that yes, to raise/lower the height of the cradle, loosen cradle tie rod bracket nuts and the 1/2-20 nut on the bottom of the cradle, and a regular floor jack can be used to raise the height of the cradle. So that part's good to go.

That said, all of those insulators are shot. I started trying to guess which parts were what in the arrangement, and I think I'm missing some things, and maybe making some wrong assumptions.

1. What should the width eventually be between the frame bracket and cradle?

2. Am I missing the upper insulator hardware (358150 - washer, upper, insulating) and (367180, washer, upper, insulator)?

3. Am I correct in assuming the "358110 - insulator, to frame bolt" is that chunky piece of rubber?

I don't mean to be a pedant, just want it to be correct. Thanks!

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If it similar to the 37 center radiator bolt, then there is a large washer on top, then a insulator which is about 1/2" thick, then the cross member. Then a larger thick washer and the nut underneath.

The hole in the cross-member is much larger that bolt. This allows for side to side and front to back adjustment of the core placement to get all the front sheetmetal aligned. That in addition to the height of core that can be adjusted via shims on the center bolt.

Alrighty, came up with a solution. I ended up just buying a universal body mount kit off the shelf at Auto Zone. The kits come with several chunky rubber discs that are designed to be stacked. I used half of one of the mounts, cut the center bushing down to size, and used two of the large washers (luckily, the ID of all these parts is 1/2", a perfect fit for the carriage bolt). For the insulating washers, I just cut a couple of discs out of masticated rubber I had lying around, matched them to the metal washers, and put it together. The cradle's about 1/4" higher than it was.

Thanks, all, for the help with the project. Radiator comes back from the shop tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll have it buttoned for a bit longer.

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I would look at replacing that carriage bolt if you haven't already.

On your initial problem of radiator hitting the stabilizer bar, before calling the new cradle mounting a cure also check the bar and its mounting brackets. In such a convenient easy to reach location many have used the bar or a bracket as a pull point rather than reaching farther back to attach a tow strap to the cross member. Not only does this usually damage the bar but often bends or pulls the side brackets that support the bar at the frame out of position. Something amiss in that area could allow the bar to be too far forward or too high and abnormally close to the radiator. If someone had a damage issue and replaced factory brackets with something inappropriate in an aftermarket bracket that could also be an issue.

My car is a 47 Clipper and while the 50 is built off the Clipper chassis, even though they share a lot of common parts I don't know how much the cradle, its mounting, or the stabilizer bar assy actually changed. With that caveat in mind here are a few photos of my car. The 47 bar is well below the radiator and in fact is actually under the cradle bracket so no idea how different your car is for the radiator or lower tank to be hitting the bar. Perhaps another owner of a 23rd series could post a photo or two of their setup in case a previous owner of your car changed something which is now causing the problem.

Joe, I am a bit perplexed by your swaybar setup, where the end links attach almost looks like a pre-war setup, when they still used trailing arms.

Can you compare that to Howard's pictures and the part plates? I'm just wondering if someone used a different swaybar setup on your car for some reason?

Can you post some additional photos of it?