Radiator upgrade to a Volvo cross flow:
This was a fairly easy upgrade and should ensure it won't overheat
in slow traffic. The radiator has a thicker core and tanks so the
stock engine driven fan was very close. I decided to try running without
the engine driven fan, relying on the aux electric fan for cooling when
stopped or moving very slowly. So far it seems to work well, I sat
idling at the local Arbys drive-in in 95 deg. heat and the aux fan kept
the temp to just over the center mark. You can see a splice in the center of the
upper hose (Dayco #71267), I soldered a fitting in a 1" (1.25" od) copper
tubing coupling to mount a thermostatic switch (Standard #TS87, from an
early '80s Chrysler). The lower hose is stock with one elbow cut off.
The upper mounts were made with aluminum and padded with rubber. The
lower mount is made with some angle steel and bolted to the stock lower mounts
on the body after a little trimming. Volvo uses some nice rubber pads
that fit the ridges in the tanks for mounting so I made the lower mount to
fit a pair of those pads. I heard the Aux fan will bolt in after the
A/C condenser is removed if you rotate it 90 deg. My radiator support
had been cut by a PO so I had to fab some brackets out of aluminum. Volvo
radiators do not have a fill opening and you must use a Volvo reservoir
and fill hose, you can see the hose attachment at the lower right of the
picture. I mounted the reservoir to the right of the radiator on the radiator
support sheet metal. It must be mounted as high as possible but not
so high that the hood hits it when closed. I saw 2 different shape
reservoir in the junk yard, a flat rectangular reservoir and a round , horizontal
cylinder shaped reservoir. I chose the round shape but I don't think
it really matters, pick the one you think will fit your engine compartment
and location best.
Another view of the installation
Aux. electric fan mounting: The object is to get it as close to
the radiator as possible so the air must go through the radiator instead
of around it. A 1/2" gap will greatly reduce the air flow through
the radiator. If you need more air, the e30 or e28 aux. electric fan
is larger.
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