what is the ‘brace’ refered to in the cooling article?

[Owain Lloyd]

i was re reading the article on cooling on the TEAE website (https://www.teae.org/cars/cooling/cooling_article.html) and i’m wondering what they mean by the ‘brace’ that covers 3 rows of the radiator.

is this the entire lower portion of the rectangular opening that the radiator bolts up to? its wider at one end than the other.

is it ok to just cut the entire piece out?

[Duke Samouce]

quote odl21:

is this the entire lower portion of the rectangular opening that the radiator bolts up to? its wider at one end than the other.

I believe so. I did just about everything in the article except cut this out. A PO did drill many, many holes in it though.

All I have left to do is add an electric fan. Will not do this until I see that it is necessary. My car is running between 170-190. I’ll be watching this summer to see how it is doing.

I have a 2008 GMC Acadia with a 3.6L V6, it runs at 210 all the time. I assume it is for emissions that the newer engines run hotter.

[George and Beverly and Beverly Coleman]

Just a note , if you look at the old school small block rebuild books the Ford 260 289 likes 210 to 215 F temps, they run better in this range 8)
The brace that needs to be cut is the piece of metal that is in front of the radiator and just behind were the oil cooler slot would be on a Alpine, this removal of metal lets you install a thicker radiator!

[Owain Lloyd]

a picture would really help here i think. i’m still not 100% sure. i’ll try and get a photo of what i think you mean tonight.

[Owain Lloyd]

is it this section with the red line drawn around it?

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[George and Beverly and Beverly Coleman]

Thats what I was talking about! I remover the one on my Tiger so the 4row copper brass rad. would go in, but these days I am running a 2 row Alum. Rad in my car and it cools very well, I also use a push electric fan in the front of the Rad.

[Owain Lloyd]

ok, maybe i’ll cut it out then. it doesn’t seem to serve much purpose.

thanks.

[Jeff Nichols]

I don’t think it is a good idea to cut the whole section out. It seems to me you will loose support in that area if you remove that section.

My car is a stock 260 with original fan, shroud, water pump, recored radiator and has never overheated. The only thing I did to help the cooling was to make the side block off plates and stuff pipe insulation between the x-member and radiator.

When I first bought my car it did overheat. The cause was a plugged up radiator caused by a collision repair. Once the radiator was recored with original type core, no more overheating.

Unless you run a 302 the stock set up should work fine.

[Owain Lloyd]

i’m not sure provides much if any support. maybe replacing it with a length of steel rod would be best. this would cut the area and still offer the same rigidity to the side pieces. mine is a fairly meaty 302 which is currently out so now is the time if i’m going to do anything with this.

i have to admit that i don’t suffer from cooling issues once i’m moving but it overheats in traffic. i don’t have a fan or shroud and haven’t blocked the horn holes yet though so its fairly obviously going to overheat with no airflow!

[Duke Samouce]

I am running the stock 260, F4B and a 4 barrel.

I have a three core with stock tank radiator, OEM shroud, flex fan, smaller pulley, blocked horn holes and sealed bottom of rad to crossmember.

The temp (verified with infrared meter) does not go above 180 idling or at speed. I may need to go with a higher temp thermostat. Will know after this summer.

Anyway, the lower brace is still in place. It has many holes drilled in it though. I do not think it is necessary to remove it.

[Bud & Donna Elliott]

My two cents worth:

I would not consider cutting the body until I had done all of the other cooling improvements noted in previous posts and articles. I also have a 302 that does not like traffic but cutting this brace is not anywhere on my to do list. Ain’t gonna happen, not now-not ever.

Also, I disagree that these motors like higher temps. Mine is happiest at about 170. I have lived with three Tigers and five motors and none of them were happier at higher temps.

[Bob Hokanson]

quote dude234:

I don’t think it is a good idea to cut the whole section out. It seems to me you will loose support in that area if you remove that section.

If you’re not squeamish about cutting you can put in an aluminum "Nascar" type rad and never worry about overheating. And if it somehow gets damaged you can buy another for $170.
But you will need to use electric fans.
Did this about 15 years ago and apparently the structure hasn’t been compromised enough to cause problems.

[Jeff Nichols]

Looking at the photo I see the passenger side sheet metal is lower than the driver side sheet metal. It runs at a angle. Any one know why Rootes would have made it that way? There must be a Alpine reason for this.

[Mike Schreiner]

I used a knockout to cut 2 inch holes in that brace, cut as many as you can, it allows air in but still leaves the support of the brace. …mike

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