1976 Palm Beach

TZE166V100710

 

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NEW ALUMINUM RADIATOR

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I always felt that my GMC ran hot.  During camping season the coolant temperature would always creep up over 210 when ever I drove over 60 on 80+ degree days.  So I would have to slow down. I never liked that. I had already replaced the fan clutch which lowered my temperatures a bit but not as much as I would like. So when I found out that new radiators were available I decided to order one.  I decided to go with a new one rather than have my existing radiator recored, because if I did go with a rebuild, I would still have an old radiator.  I think my first mistake was getting a version 1.0 radiator (from what I was told at the time was among the first radiators manufactured for GMC motorhomes by Griffin).  I never buy version 1.0 software because of potential bugs and lack of documentation.  The same thing could be said of mechanical things.  It is always better for me to let someone else work out the bugs with something new, but I was in hurry to solve my overheating problems, so I went ahead and ordered one.  I was impressed when it arrived at how nice it looked compared to the old one.  The 2nd, and biggest,  mistake was allowing only two days for the job the week before a planned camping trip.  This project ended up taking almost three weeks to complete.  Obviously I didn't go on that camping trip. I did make it to a Great Laker's rally at Camp Dearborn.   Below is a summary of what happened and what I did starting September 5, 2005. The sentences in green are fit issues which I assume have been resolved in subsequent manufacturing runs.

I also am not faulting MOTORHOME ENHANCEMENTS in anyway for the problems I had. Instead, I commend them for making it possible to obtain a modern radiator for our antique vehicles in the first place.  Plus they could not possibly know all the differences in the way these classic vehicles were built over the years.

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I had to split the bottom of the radiator support to get the old radiator out.  There was no other way to get it out! I know others have been able to do a radiator R&R with little effort, but that was simply not the case with me.

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Fabricated angle iron brackets to reconnect the bottom of the radiator support to the side pieces.

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Removed the radiator support completely to repair several cracks and repaired by welding and then cleaned, primed and painted it black.

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Removed, repaired with fiberglass and reinforced with aluminum bar stock the fan shroud. I had to do this because part of the fiberglass shroud was missing completely and there were numerous cracks in other areas.  A couple of evenings spent rebuilding the fiberglass was required.

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Split the fan shroud for easier access and modified it to allow removal of the ring and assorted brackets and rubber connector. I split and repaired the shroud myself because I couldn't get the recommended Curtis split shroud in time because the Curtis's were at a rally.

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Removed as surplus the hardware associated with the old “horse collar” configuration of the fan shroud.

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Replaced the transmission cooler lines because the old ones were impossible to remove intact from the radiator and transmission. These had to be re-bent to fit even though they were purchased from Cinnabar as supposedly being fabricated to be a perfect fit on the 455.

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Replaced the water pump because it was accessible and it would never be easier.

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Replaced the fuel pump because it was accessible and it would never be easier.

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Replaced the 4 year old fan clutch because it was accessible and it would never be easier. It turned out that I thought the new fan clutch was bad because of vibration when the engine was running about 700-1000 RPM. In September 2006 I found out that the vibration was caused by HEI distributor cap causing one of the spark plugs to not fire. I will keep the "new" fan clutch as a spare.

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Replaced the fuel pump to carburetor steel gas line because I had one and it would never be easier.  Also fittings on the gas line were pretty messed up.  Someone must have used a vice grip on them in an earlier time.

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Didn't replace any of the belts because they were all less than 2 years old.

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Replaced the in-line fuel filter because I had one and it would never be easier.

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Replaced the low coolant sensor with a new from Cinnabar.  I had to buy new brass fittings to allow the new sensor to fit in the hole provided in the new radiator. The old sensor was damaged beyond repair when I removed it from the old radiator.  Persons unknown had brazed it to the radiator. The low coolant sensor doesn't seem to work now. I know the old one worked.

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Replaced the alternator because a tapped hole in its body was stripped and it was accessible and it would never be easier. Bought a new remanufactured 100AMP alternator from AutoZone with a lifetime warranty.

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Replaced all radiator hoses because they were accessible and it would never be easier. I had to use New Old Stock hoses I had in the pod from the previous owner because both of the new Gates hoses I purchased would not fit. The old hoses had a slightly larger ID than the new hoses.  I found out during the GMCMI rally in Berrien Springs in 2006 that Griffin didn't build my radiator to fit my coach. Paul Bartz had one of my vintage and he had it  shipped it back to Griffin for rework.  Someone  at Griffin apparently didn't weld the correct size fittings to the radiator during that run (version 1.0 to be avoided).  It is too late for me because my radiator is installed and there is no way I’m going to R&R it now. I wonder though what I will do when I need to replace the hoses in the future.

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Replaced all the hose clamps with all stainless steel clamps because I was in there.

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Replaced the old 185 degree thermostat with a Robert Shaw 195 degree that I got from Denny Allen because I changed everything else out.

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Replaced the rubber support pads with new ones because they were accessible and it would never be easier. I had to run all over town to get a full set from GM dealers.

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I had to cut and bend the top of the radiator support bracket in order to accommodate the location of the fill cap in the new radiator.

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Replaced the engine oil cooler lines because the old radiator didn't have the male adapter fittings required for the new radiator. You are supposed to use the old fittings on the new radiator. I was unable to locate from any source those reverse flair to pipe thread fittings. I had to convert to another type of flair fitting so that I could get the job done.  This resulted in my having new hoses fabricated at a local hydraulics shop.  Between my day job and running around this took three days.

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Refilled with Prestone premixed 50-50 antifreeze

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Took a short weekend trip with the GMC.

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So far no leaks!!

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It does seem to run cooler.
 

GMC is running cooler now and oil pressure is up. Fan clutch is running more than before. Actually as of Fall 2006, before replacing the radiator etc., the fan clutch had never worked. At least I never head it run.  After installing the new radiator, I finally heard the infamous, "sounds like a 747 taking off", noise for the first time. Which means for about 8 years the fan clutch might have never really engaged.

Would I do it over again?  Sure, it is a worthwhile upgrade, but I would allow more time.  But then again, I only seem to get optional things (like work on my motorhome) done when I'm faced with a deadline. That year the deadline was the Camp Dearborn rally that I had already paid for and really did want to attend.  Otherwise, I could have easily procrastinated the radiator installation until the following year.


AND THE REST OF THE STORY INVOLVES MY HEI IGNITION AND WHY I THOUGHT MY PREVIOUS FAN CLUTCH WAS BAD.

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NOTES FROM J&H
Missing is 1/2" pipe thread male to female 1/2" reversed flair "Male Connector"

He gave me a number 202 by 8 by 8 as a Weatherhead catalog number for this item

Replaced the fitting with a "JIC Fitting"

from my GMC spreadsheet:

Engine: replaced fuel pump purchased from Cinnabar their #6471742 $51.23 including tax + $7.17 Shipping & Handling
Engine: replaced pump to carburetor fuel line purchased from Golby.
Engine: replaced the inline fuel filter in the carburetor (this was in stock in my spares kit)
Engine: replaced water pump AC#251-628 $56.22 from RockAuto.com and small 3/4" hoses from water pump
Engine: replaced thermostat (was 180 degree) with 195 degree purchased from Denny Allen for 
Engine: replaced fan clutch AC #15-4644 $75.46  from AC-Direct.com
Engine: repaired and reinforced fan shroud with fiberglass & aluminum bar stock
Engine: split the fan shroud and eliminated 25# of miscellaneous hardware
Engine: split the lower radiator support bracket, welded several cracks and reattached by welding corner tabs by the radiator cap and painted entire support black.
Engine: replaced 80 amp alternator with 100 amp AutoZone DL7157 remanufactured with lifetime warranty $81.29, old one had a stripped bolt hole and would not start outputting current on startup unless rev the engine up to 1500 or so.
Engine: replaced transmission cooler with new lines from Cinnabar $83.73 -I had to bend these a bit to make them fit!
Engine: replaced low coolant sensor from Cinnabar $7.73 but it does not work???
Engine: Replaced radiator with Griffin aluminum radiator. (engraved on bottom "TH-1, 7-19-05, 95182, Weld edsavn, 7-20-05" label  with bar code "9D-17627-01  00095182" another label "Griffin Tested by Rocky 7-21-05"
Engine: replaced upper and lower radiator hoses with NOS I had from the PO, the new ones I bought would not fit because I couldn't get the new lower Gates to fit on the radiator nipple.. The upper was too long and would have had a kink in it if I installed it GATES 26612 $13.35 and GATES 20598 $16.61 from RockAuto.com
Engine: replaced both engine oil cooler rubber hoses because I couldn't get a male coupler that would the 1/2" reversed flare fitting…converted to RPC from local hydraulics store…
Engine: filled with Prestone coolant…3 gallons of premixed and half gallon or so not premixed…used Prestone water

 

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