adding a 72' Grill to a 71" for fan clearance-Lynn

My 68' never had much clearance between the fan and the radiator. The PO had installed a fiberglass tub and fenders on this jeep. maybe that change the dimensions from the original ones. It had a manual fan and an 8" electric manually switched fan inside the grill. I use this jeep for plowing and one day I hit a snow bank too hard, the motor and fan came forward and chewed into the radiator. Without much for thought I had the radiator rebuilt and with a dumb, spur of the moment decision based on the theory that more is better, I had them add an additional row of tubes. Well, needless to say, when it came time to install the fan, no way was it going to fit. On the road the three row radiator cooled the V6 great and the motor was quiet without the fan. If I got into traffic the temperature would go up but I would just flip the electric fan on and all was fine. Unfortunately, this is not the case when I'm plowing. The motor over heats. I have to find away to get the manual fan back on the motor.

Back in June we had a great discussion on fans. A member named Lynn mentioned that he had switched from a 71' grill to a 72' grill and got all the space he needed. He said he would try and post some pictures but I think the discussion petered out before he had a time to do so. Lynn, If you could posted those pictures I would appreciate it as well as any other details that you feel might be helpful in making the conversion. If anyone else has made this modification and would like to chime in that woulds be great. The cold weather is getting closer and this is the only plow vehicle I have with power steering.
Thanks.

 

Hey Bruce, I don't see that it would be a problem - just change the grilles. My buddy once had a newer CJ5 with radiator closer to the front than ours and it looked the same from the outside except the radiator was much closer to the vertical grille bars. Maybe find a newer CJ and take a few measurements before you buy one. I guess if I needed one I would post here in the classifieds or check at Collins Brothers.

I think you're going to have to build a fan shroud if you want to use the mechanical fan because the fan will be so far from the rad?

PS- I'm thinking Lynn sold his fiberglass bodied CJ and bought a newer style rig (TJ?), but he does hang out here sometimes.

Good Luck!

 

I put a 74 grill on my 65. It requires cutting/removing the front crossmember and adding a support for the 7/16 bolt that secures the center grill support. I ended up building a new crossmember and then just added a tab on the front for the grill mounting point. Spec it out very well prior to cutting and or moving the crossmember, depending on the type of steering conversion you have and type of radiator and hoses you really want to mock it up well prior to making the crossmember mods. Best thing about the mod is the availability of "modern" CJ radiators and the ability to mount aftermarket electric fans. I originally had a 4cyl grill that ate up a ton of underhood space to move the radiator closer to the engine so the conversion opened up the engine compartment alot. I ended up using a set of universal stainless radiator hoses from Summitt. They bend and hold any shape and one 48" kit took care of the upper and lower.