C15A radiator mount and conversion

[harrygrey382]

well I guess it's still on topic if I show some progress. I fitted the cruiser radiator last week but only just got a chance to take some photos (sorry, poor quality due to only having a webcam as my wife's away with the camera!).

It all went pretty well. The shround fitted perfectly to the cruiser rad, but I had to make an opening for the top hose and alter the bottom brace on it to sit it in the right position and not have the fan rub. It was also rusted round there so needed some treatment anyway. It was so thin I welded with oxy rather than risk blowing it away with mig.

Bottom hose was bang on, top hose will need some attention later on, at the moment it's two 90s joined in the middle with a 1" pipe to clamp against. For the bottom mount I used some 75x75 RHS, bolted it to the original mount holes in the chassis then sat the cruiser rad mount frame to that. I used polyurethane washes in between for some cushioning. For the top mounts I used the cruiser style bracing but had to do some bending of the rods, the worst one being the offside to allow for the clutch pedal.

I fitted an NOS holden gauge (screwed right into the head no dramas) and she's only making 50*C sitting at idle absolutely no more. Driving it about it went down to about 40. So I definitely need a thermostat before running it more. Also, this is the first time I've tried to get the cooling system water tight and it's shown me the water pump leaks. I see I can get $140 ones from the US but it'll be sitting for a long time before I have that, does anyone know of a rebuild kit for one? Or if you can fix the leak? I'm half handy on a lathe... Also where would I go about getting a thermostat in this country?

Photos