2001 rad , 2003 intercooler .... warning pic heavy for 56k

[burnt_servo]

ok finally got my truck on the frame machine at the body shop , and i find out , no frame damage at all , it hit the moose high enough that the cab just shifted over .

anyway here are a few pics on how i fit a 2001 rad and a 2003 intercooler into the rad support of my 1993 , in no particular order .



























































i may have to cut / dimple the inside hood bracing for clearance of the rad cap .

i shortened the rad suport bushings about 1/16 of a inch and made the round and roughly 1/4" smaller in diameter so they didn't touch the rad .

i'm pretty sure i still have room for the ac cooler , but it will be a very tight fit .
the tranny cooler will have to be moved to a location i have yet to determine ..... (and i may be able to get my hands on a 6 speed out of a 2002 , so it may not even matter ) .

the valance below the grill will need to be cut and tweaked to fit the extension on the intercooler .

i also need to build a bolt on strap to go over the intercooler extension to strengthen the area where i cut the rad support frame .

i still need to make the brackets / mounts for the intercooler .

[ellis93]

man that's a lot of work your putting in. Should be really nice to have all that in there too. Cool temps all the way around for it. Nice job.

[Richie O]

Lots of time on your hands I see. Cool, no pun intended.

[KTA]

Looks like with a 3rd gen radiator and a body lift you could make that stuff fit a lot better/cleaner, no need for the offset. Will you cut out the 1/4 of the core support that is blocking the radiator now so that it can get air like it should?

[burnt_servo]

Looks like with a 3rd gen radiator and a body lift you could make that stuff fit a lot better/cleaner, no need for the offset. Will you cut out the 1/4 of the core support that is blocking the radiator now so that it can get air like it should?

the intercooler is made to fit inside the rad soport , so if a body lift is used the bottom of the rad suport will nee to be cut back .

the section cut off is like 5 or 6 inches ( i don't have it on hand to measure it right now ) , so i'm thinkng that even with a 3 inch body lift the intercooler still might be too tall .

with the extra section of rad , i'm thinking of a few well placed holes , and a electric fan / shroud over that section , with the stock fan / shroud on the otherside .



lots of work .....it has been about 40 hours so far ( including doing the kdp mods and welding up the power steering pump mount )

[PToombs]

Well, I can see I'm not putting a 3rd gen IC in my truck! I don't have enough free time to do all that work!
Looks good so far, keep us updated.

[burnt_servo]

if you slice 9 rows off the bottom of a 3rd gen intercooler , then have the bottom welded up it is very close to a direct bolt on ( meaning you will still have to make mounts but it should fit inside the rad support without any other changes )

the end caps of the 3rd gen intercooler go from 3/8's of a inch thick to 1/2 inch thick .... meaning it is very solid and has lots of material to weld too .

i ended up slicing 8 rows off , and yesterday when i went to fit the hood , i just realised the hood latch hits the intercooler like it does on the 7.3 intercoolers .

finally got the innerfenders / rad support painted and things back together and parked it out side for awhle while i work on the box .

more pics in the next few days .

btw still trying to figure out how i'm going to fit the ac coils ....... i have to reroute the hoses / make them longer and make more room under the grill . ...... the other possiblity it to add a hood scoop and put the ac stuff in the hood scoop with some electic fans .


i should also add there is about 1/2 inch of clearance between the hood and the rad cap , without having to resort to cutting up the inner hood bracing .