HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM

Ford Ranger/ Explorer HD radiator. Well, I'll tell you this- the stock Ranger radiator just won't cut it. It isn't thick enough to cool even a mild V8. This is a project that I am trying to keep on a tight budget. That means no high dollar aluminum race radiator is going in this truck. What to do then? Fortunately there is something called the heavy duty cooling radiator. This is a factory option on some trucks and alot of Explorers. They are alot thicker than the stock 5 speed radiators and are constructed of aluminum. You can get them off Ebay for about $150, or you can do like I did and go to the junkyard and yank one from an Explorer for $30. These HD radiators bolt right in and fit great. That is, unless you're using my combination of parts. I am using the Mustang front accessory drive instead of the one off a V8 Explorer. The picture shows the brackets to attach the radiator to the core support. I removed them with a Dremel tool in order to gain some more clearance at the front of the engine. The upper hose neck was VERY close (within 1/16") to the alternator pulley. With these brackets removed, and with some downward pressure, I got the radiator to fit just under the lip of the core support. This gave me the extra clearance I needed. If I had used the Explorer front dress, I wouldn't have had to modify the radiator at all. For the hoses, I am using stock Fox Mustang radiator hoses that are cut down. Seem to work well and the fact that I had them already was good stuff.

Update: I got the truck running. The trimmed Fox upper hose works awesome, but the lower hose is a different story. Tried, the Fox one- big no go. Then I tried using a flex hose but because of the way the lower fitting on the radiator is angled, the hose would kink, reducing flow greatly. Well, the solution that seems to be working is this- a '92 Explorer lower hose with a 45* angle piece from a the water pump side of a Fox Mustang lower. I've got a piece of copper inside the two pieces with hose clamps holding it. Also, I cut the vertical support from the core support for clearance reasons. The pusher fan has plenty of room now and the front of the radiator is wide open which should help in cooling even more.