Clancy radiator problems with fit.

[oldfarmkid]

Thought I'd chime in on what my local radiator shop owner told me. He's been in business almost 50 years. I have not dealt with a radiator problem in my Cub, but have on my 1940-H and 1952-SM. Both had original copper radiators. The H was leaking and he told me he would just solider it and see if it stays fixed. Also said some times the old copper radiators, the copper gets brittle with age. You can even re-core it and the brittle copper will just crack in a new place. That was about five years ago and the H is still good. However, the SM radiator according to Gerald was a classic example of an old brittle copper radiator. After It sprung a new leak for the third time he said, Tim, it's time for a new one.

That's my experience. Just thought I'd pass it along. Guessing original Cub radiator is copper and sometimes the copper gets brittle with age, and trying to repair it may not be an option.

Take Care and Good Luck

[xrcr]

I bought a Clancy for my 50 did not have any fit issues. The puke tube outlet is tight in hood opening but I fabricated a line that works

[Stanton]

….I won’t really know until I attempt to install the radiator in June.

Lyle, be sure to give us a follow-up on what you discover.

[lyle11]

I made it to my place in Wisconsin and set the gasket, radiator and side supports in place. The issue with this Clancy radiator is that the top section is about 1/8” lower in the front than the back (fan side). So, the support fits under the top in the back but contacts it in the front.

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With regard to the hose alignment, it looks pretty good. Not perfect but should be fine.

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The other thing is that the fan comes real close to the top of the radiator. Slight difference in clearance between the blades ranging from 1/8 to about 3/16”. I oiled the fan since I have access. Fan seems real stable and I don’t think they wobble.
Is this a normal amount of clearance?
Should I bend the blade that is 1/8” away a little bit to get a little more clearance?

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I’m soured on Clancy too. But, I bought it 6 months ago from
A&I. Not sure if I can get anything better. I can grind away about 1/8” material from off forward facing top of the side supports and get it to fit. I haven’t set the hood in place yet to check the fit. I’m optimistic it’ll be okay based on the water pipe alignment. Other than my Lowboy with a re-cored IH radiator the top always seems to barely clear the hood. I don’t know why they don’t extend the cap opening up another 1/2”.

I haven’t installed anything yet. Interested in comments about the fan clearance and grinding the support a little bit so it will fit. A&I is the distributor. I could ask to return it but would then still be in need of a radiator and JP is the only place I’d trust to have something that fits. The one I removed was a cheap aluminum aftermarket version so fixing that is not an option.

Thanks

[radioguy41]

Better check how the hood fits before making any mods. The neck on mine didn't line up with the hole in the hood, it was rearward about 1/4" - 1/2". I removed the side supports and bent the rad forward to align it then reinstalled the side supports.

[lyle11]

Better check how the hood fits before making any mods. The neck on mine didn't line up with the hole in the hood, it was rearward about 1/4" - 1/2". I removed the side supports and bent the rad forward to align it then reinstalled the side supports.

Good advice. I have the exact same problem. It is not yet fastened down, just a few bolts to check the fit. I had to grind about 1/8” of material off the front of the hood supports to get them under the radiator top so I could get the hood in place.

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The hole in the hood isn’t so far off that the radiator cap extension doesn’t fit through it but it’s too far back to allow space to place a hose on the overflow.

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If I look at the way the radiator lines up in the hood supports, at the top of the cooling fins there is about 1/4” bigger gap so it leans back. So, my fan blades don’t contact the radiator but they are real close. And, there is no room in the little hood cutout area to attach the hose.

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I am wondering if I should just bolt the radiator down without the hood supports and push it forward like Radioguy41 did? Or, should I gently bend the hold down flange up in front and down in the rear with a large adjustable wrench to get it to lean forward? Seems like the copper flange should be pretty flexible but I’m concerned about breaking the cooling tubes soldered at the bottom.

[SamsFarm]

Unbelievable that a company can not make a proper radiator.
Double bad when their website boasts they make their own tooling in-house!
Even more crazy is that company being in Ireland!

I guess getting a good one is "the luck of the Irish"!

[goxu1]

Mine actually leant back so far it hit the fan
I eventually got a refund on the radiator and am now working on a refund for lost postage
Postage costs were twice as much as the radiator , so its substantial
I'll keep annoying them , emails are cheap
(Thanks Ron)

[radioguy41]

It took me a while to find it but I knew I had a photo of how far off the neck was from the hole. Once I had the side supports off and the rad bolted down it was easy to just pull it forward until it lined up. Then I took a piece of foam and cut holes for the rad neck and aircleaner to keep things aligned while I tightend everything down.

Click on image for a larger view.

[Stanton]

...If I look at the way the radiator lines up in the hood supports, at the top of the cooling fins there is about 1/4” bigger gap so it leans back. So, my fan blades don’t contact the radiator but they are real close. And, there is no room in the little hood cutout area to attach the hose.

I am wondering if I should just bolt the radiator down without the hood supports and push it forward like Radioguy41 did? Or, should I gently bend the hold down flange up in front and down in the rear with a large adjustable wrench to get it to lean forward? Seems like the copper flange should be pretty flexible but I’m concerned about breaking the cooling tubes soldered at the bottom.

Thanks for posting and documenting your findings, Lyle. Thanks also to radioguy41 and goxu1.

I'd love to take a trip to Ireland. And while there, stop in at Clancy, sit down with the manager or owner, pull up this thread to explain exactly what's going on and how they can go back to their former pattern.

[lyle11]

All they would have to do is buy 2 hood supports and cut the right size opening in a flat surface and set the radiator in it for a QA check to make sure everything lines up before they ship anything.

I have bought 2 Clancy radiators and they come well packaged in a shipping box so I’m sure TM or A&I is just putting a label on it and shipping it. I didn’t buy either of mine from TM because they were out of stock. The only way I’d buy another one is from TM only after Ron removes it from the box and checks it.

I hate the fact that I’m accepting a poorly assembled radiator but don’t think I have much choice since I bought it 6 months ago. I will let A&I know there is a quality problem. Since I didn’t buy from TM, I’m not really in a position to contact Ron about it. But it would be nice if he could remove everyone he has in stock from it’s box and set it between two hood supports. Send them back to Ireland at Clancy’s expense or ask for his money back if they aren’t straight. The issue wasn’t obvious when putting a square next to mine after Paul’s experience, but it’s real clear when set in the hood supports.

As I mentioned before, JP told me they sell a new radiator that is a good fit. He couldn’t tell me where it was manufactured so I went with Clancy based on their past reputation.

[goxu1]

I'll dig out an email when I get to work and you should send the guy at Clancy your findings.
When I first emailed them they were going to remake me a radiator to the dimensions I got off my original IH item.
But funilly enough , they don't answer emails anymore.

[Don McCombs]

When I first emailed them they were going to remake me a radiator to the dimensions I got off my original IH item.

Hmmmmm… Shouldn’t every radiator they make conform to those dimensions?

[lyle11]

It took me a while to find it but I knew I had a photo of how far off the neck was from the hole. Once I had the side supports off and the rad bolted down it was easy to just pull it forward until it lined up. Then I took a piece of foam and cut holes for the rad neck and aircleaner to keep things aligned while I tightend everything down.

Click on image for a larger view.
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Thanks for posting your photos and procedure. Mine, with regard to the radiator cap opening aligning with the hood, isn’t near as bad as yours. I bolted it down in front and back with the hold down plates leaving the side supports off. Pushed it forward until it looked good with the hood supports set in place. I didn’t have a piece of styrofoam so I just bolted it down. It’s better than it was but reverted back to a rearward lean just not quite as bad.

This is my backup Cub. I so much prefer to mow with my Lowboy (much stronger engine) that I only plan to use it enough to keep it running and freed up so it’s available as a backup if the Lowboy needs repair.

It now looks like I have about 1/4” space between the fan blades and the radiator. I’m thinking about bending the overflow pipe down a little bit to clear the hood without breaking where it’s connected.

I

[lyle11]

I inserted the shank end of a drill bit and bent the overflow pipe down slightly. Pushed a clear drain tube on it and it goes under the hood without making contact.

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I pushed the hood back as far as I could and tightened the support bracket bolts. I do like the fact that the fill pipe comes up through the hood with plenty of room and the cap no longer scrapes it like with the old aftermarket radiator.

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The fan blades have about 1/4”-5/16” clearance at the top of the radiator. So, I don’t think I’m going to get it much better than this. I wasn’t planning to run the tractor yet since I have other stuff to work on, but I added about 1.3 gallons of hot water to the radiator and there are no leaks at this point.

It was 96° yesterday when I fastened the radiator down. I am a fan of Indianhead gasket shellac but I didn’t have any so I used Permatex gasket cement. Probably should have waited for a cooler day because my gasket seemed to be getting squeezed out faster than normal. I won’t know for sure if I have a good seal until I run it.

So, it looks like I’m going to be okay with this Clancy radiator but, I shouldn’t have to do what I did in order to get it to fit. I’ll repeat what I said before. If you want to buy a Clancy, buy from
TM but insist that the radiator is first removed from the shipping box and checked.