Core Support Fitment Question

[myrl883]

Does anyone know what the difference is in early and late Bullnose core supports? Catalog lists E4TZ-16138-C for 1980-1984, and E5TZ-16138-C for 1985-1986.

My '81 F100 needs one, and I found a complete '86 Bronco parts truck for $400. It has a lot of parts that I could use, like a 4WD conversion for the '86 flareside… lol

 

[Gary Lewis]

I'm pretty sure that the radiators changed shapes/sizes at the same time. Notice on the radiator page that there are 1980 - 84 radiators and 1985 - 86 radiators.

So you also need to get the radiator if you want it to fit right in. I don't know what it would take to fit an earlier radiator to a late support or vice versa.

[myrl883]

I'm pretty sure that the radiators changed shapes/sizes at the same time. Notice on the radiator page that there are 1980 - 84 radiators and 1985 - 86 radiators.

So you also need to get the radiator if you want it to fit right in. I don't know what it would take to fit an earlier radiator to a late support or vice versa.

That was my first thought, but I didn't go to the radiator section to check. I have no problem running a later plastic/aluminum radiator, so it sounds like a go!

Anybody need bullnose Bronco parts??

[Gary Lewis]

That was my first thought, but I didn't go to the radiator section to check. I have no problem running a later plastic/aluminum radiator, so it sounds like a go!

Anybody need bullnose Bronco parts??

I’ve heard that he who dies with the most Bullnose parts wins. Ask the guys - you need to buy a lot of them to beat me. 😎

[1985 Bronco]

I’ve heard that he who dies with the most Bullnose parts wins. Ask the guys - you need to buy a lot of them to beat me. 😎

85-96 radiators mount differently than the earlier style. The bottom has 2 pegs that rest in mounts, and the top has 2 ears that bolt to the core support. Check out my build thread, I adapted an 84 core support to worker with the later radiator.

https://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/57-78-96-build-forum-builds-only/440090-four-door-bronco-build-thread-3.html

Gary, feel free to use my pictures if you want to document any of this.

[Gary Lewis]

85-96 radiators mount differently than the earlier style. The bottom has 2 pegs that rest in mounts, and the top has 2 ears that bolt to the core support. Check out my build thread, I adapted an 84 core support to worker with the later radiator.

https://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/57-78-96-build-forum-builds-only/440090-four-door-bronco-build-thread-3.html

Gary, feel free to use my pictures if you want to document any of this.

Thanks! But would you want to do a write-up on it? I can create the page and add your words and pics.

[1985 Bronco]

Thanks! But would you want to do a write-up on it? I can create the page and add your words and pics.

Sure Gary!

HOW TO: Modify a 1980-1984 Core Support to hold a 1985-1996 Radiator

1980-1996 core supports changed very little over the years, and this makes it very easy to mount a later radiator in an early core support. I mounted a 1984 front clip on my 1995, and wanted to use the 1995 radiator. Here is the 1984 compared to the 1995. The center section is basically the same.

1980-1984 radiators rest on 2 rubber mounts at the bottom of the core support, and held in place with 2 brackets that mount to the top of the core support. You can see the brackets in this picture:

Here is the 1984 Radiator:

The 1985-1996 radiators look like this:

And they have 2 legs on the side of them that rest in 2 cups that are spot welded to the sides of the core support. Here is a picture of the cups removed from the 1995 core support and painted:

The top of the radiator is held in place with 2 bolts that mount to the core support with 2 clips. Here is a picture of the radiator mounted:

And here is a picture of the clip on each side:

To mount the 1995 radiator in the 1984 core support, all I did was drill out the spot welds on the cups. Removed them from the 1995 core support, measured where to remount them on the 1984 core support, and bolted them on:

Spot welding them on would have been better, because one of my bolts interfered with the battery tray mount.

Then I put the radiator in, marked where the top mounted, and used a hole saw and a drill bit to make the holes for the clips. I inserted the 1995 clips, and bolted the radiator in.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Sure Gary!

HOW TO: Modify a 1980-1984 Core Support to hold a 1985-1996 Radiator

1980-1996 core supports changed very little over the years, and this makes it very easy to mount a later radiator in an early core support. I mounted a 1984 front clip on my 1995, and wanted to use the 1995 radiator. Here is the 1984 compared to the 1995. The center section is basically the same.

1980-1984 radiators rest on 2 rubber mounts at the bottom of the core support, and held in place with 2 brackets that mount to the top of the core support. You can see the brackets in this picture:

Here is the 1984 Radiator:

The 1985-1996 radiators look like this:

And they have 2 legs on the side of them that rest in 2 cups that are spot welded to the sides of the core support. Here is a picture of the cups removed from the 1995 core support and painted:

The top of the radiator is held in place with 2 bolts that mount to the core support with 2 clips. Here is a picture of the radiator mounted:

And here is a picture of the clip on each side:

To mount the 1995 radiator in the 1984 core support, all I did was drill out the spot welds on the cups. Removed them from the 1995 core support, measured where to remount them on the 1984 core support, and bolted them on:

Spot welding them on would have been better, because one of my bolts interfered with the battery tray mount.

Then I put the radiator in, marked where the top mounted, and used a hole saw and a drill bit to make the holes for the clips. I inserted the 1995 clips, and bolted the radiator in.

Good job! Let me figure out where to put it and get it drafted/mocked up. Then I'll let you review it to see what changes you want me to make.

Thanks!

[Gary Lewis]

Good job! Let me figure out where to put it and get it drafted/mocked up. Then I'll let you review it to see what changes you want me to make.

Thanks!

Ok, I put your information in a tab on the original radiator support page here: Cooling Systems/Radiator Supports. Please see what you think and let me know as we can easily change things.

You'll notice that I cropped many of your pics to include the subject and not a lot more. If you'd rather have the full pic I can put them back easily. Or crop them more/less/differently.

Also, I put red circles around the top brackets in the pic of the early support. But I can remove them as well.

And, I put the explanation text along side the pics in most cases to make it easier to follow and have less distance to scroll. However, that can change as well.

It is yours, so tell me how you'd like it to look. And, I'd add your first name - if I knew it.

[1985 Bronco]

Ok, I put your information in a tab on the original radiator support page here: Cooling Systems/Radiator Supports. Please see what you think and let me know as we can easily change things.

You'll notice that I cropped many of your pics to include the subject and not a lot more. If you'd rather have the full pic I can put them back easily. Or crop them more/less/differently.

Also, I put red circles around the top brackets in the pic of the early support. But I can remove them as well.

And, I put the explanation text along side the pics in most cases to make it easier to follow and have less distance to scroll. However, that can change as well.

It is yours, so tell me how you'd like it to look. And, I'd add your first name - if I knew it.

Gary everything looks good! If you have better pictures of the top radiator brackets, or a better picture of the 85+ radiator I would use them. I sold the 84 radiator and mounts, and did not have any decent pictures. My name is Joey