Now that I have the bottom of the VW bug’s radiator and condenser assembly bolted to the body/frame, I need to support the top of the unit. I am constructing a couple of brackets made from 2″ wide flat steel strapping. I built a poster-board template to fit and then cut the steel.
With the condenser mounted to the VW bug radiator, I can now mount the assembly into the front of the car. There are 6 screws holding the condenser to the radiator with the 3/4″ aluminum channel in between. I will now need to make a few more brackets to hold everything in place.
With the VW bug radiator mount figured out, I need to finish up the front end steel work. I have bolted the front angle piece on with all the bolts and have also attached the angle to the frame. Once I remove the VW bug body again I will finish welding the mount tabs on.
I can now mount the radiator into the front nose of the VW bug. I left a small amount of the original sheet-metal in place along the lower edge of the front compartment. I am using this small strip to mount the bottom of the radiator to the chassis. 6 10-24 screws will hold it in place. So far all of the clearances look good.
Before I mount the radiator into the front of the VW bug nose area, I am going to mount the AC condensor to the radiator. I spaced the two units out by 3/4″ to allow for good air flow through both. I used a 1/2″ x 3/4″ aluminum extrusion to accomplish this. Next up mount the units into the car.
I now have everything to complete the radiator assembly. I am using a 3400+ CFM fan to cool the 3SGTE stroker down. I will mount the fan to the radiator using long slender screws and rubber bumpers.
In order to get the radiator to fit into the VW bug front end, I will need to remove a bit more of the original sheetmetal. Removal of this sheetmetal will require that I add additional bracing to strengthen the front of the body. Once this bracing is in I can remove the required steel and fit the radiator.
I have finally received the radiator. This is a replacement radiator for a pontiac fiero V6. The size is perfect for my application. It appears that I will have to remove just a bit more of the VW bug’s front sheet-metal to get it to fit nicely.
While I am still waiting on the radiator to arrive, I have gone ahead and hard mounted the gas pedal. The gas pedal bolts on with 2 bolts through the firewall.
While I am waiting on my radiator, I have decided to finish up the clutch pedal mounts and start mounting the gas pedal. I had to modify the clutch pedal mounting bracket to get it to bolt to the fire-wall.