ckuske

Wow, I had no idea such a thing existed. Cool! As much as I want to keep everything in the truck "1984", this is pretty tempting. I get spoiled by my Accord's rear camera these days, and the Bluetooth would be nice as well for phone calls.

The 84 F-150 is listed as compatible on Dormans site. The 800-753 is listed as being compatible with the C6 transmission. No specific compatibility is listed on the 800-609, so I figured since only the C6 was specifically listed on the 800-753, the -609 was a safer bet??

Thanks all. I ordered two Dorman 800-609 from Amazon, will be here in a couple days. I’ll update the thread with hopefully good news. You all have a good rest of the weekend!

Like this? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EAF9XE0

Thanks ratdude, I may take you up in that if I can’t find any. Does this seem like it would work? https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/51997/10002/-1 It seeems I would need an o-ring though per the MPC screenshot above? I stumped the guys at the local hardware store already. I guess I don’t feel as silly anymore. I don’t remember thee being adapters on the old radiator but there must have been?

Sent this on my phone, sorry for the rotation

Sorry for the confusion guys. I think part of my issue was reading that NPT is 18 threads per inch, while the Ford description mentioned 20 threads per inch with is not NPT. I probably just read things wrong last night. Anyway, here are the pictures of the radiator and fitting. I tried to hand thread the connector into the radiator, and it would stop threading. If I tried to apply some forward force into the radiator (push connector in while turning it), same behavior. I may go to the plumbing store and buy a NPT coupler to try and screw in and verify the threads are ok in the radiator.

Looks great, good progress!

Hi Everyone, Hopefully I'm not asking a stupid question here, but I *think* I may have a situation... I got my radiator installed - the Champion CC561. It has threads in the radiator to hook the transmission cooling lines into. The threads in the radiator are reported to be 1/4-18 NPT per Champion's site. I tried to hook the lines up this evening, and the threads wouldn't bite. I didn't force the issue given that the radiator is aluminum. So, I started digging in all the documentation here (thanks as usual, Gary!). This page seems to indicate that the fittings on the line are 1/4-20. (https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Transmission-line-connector-E2TZ-7D273-A-NOS-tp69589.html) Has anyone else run into this issue? What would you do, change the fittings on the lines, or use some kind of adapter? (none jumped out at me in a quick search) How involved would changing the fittings be? It seems I would need to trim the end of the line off and re-flare once the new fittings are on? I've never done that but I guess I'm excited by the opportunity?

Very much so!

Thanks for that!

I’ll still look local, but these seem to meet all the criteria: https://www.jegs.com/i/Wheel-Vintiques/939/62-5655334/10002/-1# The only thing I’m not sure about is the backspacing? I’m not sure how much the original wheels have.

I’ll give you the fact that I haven’t tried yet locally - it’s a valid point. I kind of assumed they wouldn’t in the back corner of the store gathering dust at this point, but I could be wrong! All you tend to see is 20” chrome wheels around here for cars of questionable taste. 15” plain white steel wheels aren’t in high demand.

Hi All, I was wondering if anyone knew of a good source for stock Type 1 wheels (15x6 with 5.5” bolt hole circle)… I know the junkyard is a possibility but I’d like to buy some that have been reconditioned, tested, etc I am looking for white steel wheels that the dog-dish hubcaps go over. The part number is E7TZ-1015-C I’ve looked online and stumbled on a few, but the shipping is more than the wheels themselves. I realize I’m probably pushing myself to go to the junkyard, but am looking for any suggestions out there on a vendor to buy from. Thanks!

Resolution achieved with a razor blade: https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Champion-radiator-install-tp104218.html

Thanks all. It was a simple fix but I didn't want to do that until I had a sanity check from you all. I think the jury is still out hahaha.

Hi Guys, Hope you are all having fun today! I’d like to meet you all some day, although half way cross-country in my truck is another year out at least. Props to Gary for putting this on, it’s great to have this forum and all the members within.

Ok, so I took the insulators and just cut the feet off them that insert into the "keyed" holes. I had already torn some of the feet off trying to force them into the holes from above using a screwdriver... But, I think I've achieved success (just skip to the bottom pictures if you like) using the real insulators! Here are the "keyed holes" I was referring to: Here are the corresponding keyed holes on the bottom of the insulators: Some pictures of the bottom of the radiator: Showing the extra play, and how the "fins" on the bottom of the radiator sit on the insulators... After mounting the radiator (but before cinching the hold-downs and mounting fan shroud to radiator)

At first I was thinking the same thing but ....... The radiator tanks are cut back at the core area so the raised part of the rubber would fit to the inside of the tanks and keep it from moving side to side. Not a Champ radiator bottom but his should be the same if it is made for our trucks. How high dose the radiator sit on them mounts? I want to say mine did sit a little high but not to the point I was worried. Are you sure the raised parts of the rubber is to the inside of the tanks and the tanks not sitting on them? Any way to get a picture of the radiator in the bottom mounts and at the top on high it is sitting? 4 years plus 2 now since paint I am still holding on to old parts "just in case"! Never throw anything out till the car / truck is on the road for at least 1 year. Dave ---- Thanks for the reply Dave, I'll send pictures a little later today. Hopefully it'll help everybody tell me that they don't know what the heck my problem is, and the correct way to do it. And, you're right! The radiator was literally the first thing I took off. I've certainly learned my lesson since then!

Yep! You're right, they are and I didn't really try them that way. I'll show in the pictures I'll send shortly, but the feet on the insulators push into keyed holes in the support. The only way the feet went into the correctly oriented holes in the support was the way in the picture (backwards)...

Sure, here's the link to the supports for good shots of the insulators themselves. I've tried to orient them different ways, and have tried to ensure the radiator sits "in the valley" of the insulators, but still doesn't seem to fit right. I've also noticed that the radiator is slightly offset to the passenger side, even when the rubber grooves in the hold down are aligned with the "fins" on the radiator that the hold downs fit onto (see previous link to the radiator on JEGS site) And, here's the picture from my thread:

Thanks, I'll fool around with it more this weekend. I took 5/8" inch heater hose and make six pieces about 1" long, and cut them lengthways. I then made a "U" on each side of the radiator with three pieces of hose, it had it nice give to it. With the insulators on, the top lip of the radiator is flush with the top of the radiator support, so when you try to put the holddowns on, there is a whole lot of compression needed to make the holddowns perpendicular to the rest of the truck. But, I agree on trying again for the isolators. At least I have a backup plan. I'm glad to hear yours lined up well.

Right, I was wondering what others did. I try to keep to the project thread so that everything is in one place, but when asking a question on the main board, I will have to transplant the answer. There's nothing wrong with that... As for the inner tube, that's a good idea. I have some left over heater hose that I could split open and run along the first few inches of the front and rear rails of each side of the radiator? The fact that I don't remember anyone reporting this just made me suspicious that I was being "unique" and doing something dumb. I'll wait a bit more for more feedback before I do anything rash.

Hey guys, a quick question. I tried to put my new 3-row Champion radiator into my truck yesterday. I bought new insulators for the radiator to sit on. It seems with the insulators on, the radiator sits a little too high for the hold downs on the top of the support. With the insulators off, it's just a tad too low but much better than with the insulators installed. I bought the new insulators from Dennis Carpenter. The old radiator and insulators are long gone (wish I could tell my two years ago self to hang onto some stuff!) to compare with. I'm considering laying something under the radiator to have it not sit (yuck, don't want my shiny new radiator metal to metal) on the metal radiator support and provide some vibration dampening (that is thinner than a 1" chunk of rubber). Has anyone else ditched the insulators and used something thinner? I posted this originally to my project thread but I think it doesn't always get as much visibility there. While I'm on that subject, what's your guys opinion on posting questions to the "root" of the board and not in the project thread? Is it a no no in your eyes? I don't want to be rude but I think things get seen more on the top page of the board.

You can do a lot to make them better, but still going to have noises not present in a new car. I have a speedo cable clicking that sounds like a valve. From when I bought truck in March til now it has apparently moved down the cable, from the instrument panel end to now it's down at the trans. I'm kinda afraid to look much for fear of messing something up that is working, just noisy. No reason not to try to make it as nice as possible. When you take care of one source of noise, seems like there is some other noise that appears, just to keep you on your toes. As Gary says, there are many layers to the onion!