Which Grill?

I plan on putting a V8 in my '64 cj5. I want to go with a later model grill to give myself room for the motor. As you know, the early 5 grills take up a lot of room under the hood. I want a later model grill that will mount the radiator right up againt the grill openeing to give me as much room as possible. Up to what year grill will work with my '64 hood and fenders? Thanks

 

my buddy is just did the same thing, he used a 74 grille

 

i found a grill from an '82 cj7. will this work on my '64 cj5?

 

Why not just re-fab yours? I can send you pics of mine tonight if you want. po just cut the excess off and re-used the original. Works good.

 

I'd definitely be interested in seeing that. What size motor are you running and what radiator are you using to cool it? I figured I'd use a later style grill that would accept a 3 core radiator from a factory 304 v8. If it can cool a 304, it shouldn't have any problems cooling the buick 215 v8 i plan on installing. Please post pics when you get a chance.
I'm still considering an '82 cj7 grill.... anyone know if it'll fit?

 

I used a later model grille shell (77 or78) on my CJ5 because I didn't want to cut up my origional grille shell at the time, Think I used a commando radiator with it if I remember correctly. Did this when I converted the steering and had cut the front crossmember and made a new one and mounted the shell to it and fenders worked fine.

 

I've seen a SB350 used in a '71 and not only the grille was cut but the housing for the headlights was cut as well.

Seems like I also saw that done on here,...not for sure though.

 

I run a 350 chevy. It's an old chevy radiator that I had recored, but I don't know what it came out of. It fits perfectly,though. I'll snap some pics for you tonight when I get home.

 

I use the later grille in mine too. Don't know what year though. Even have room for the clutch fan. Of course i'm only running the 4.3 V6 too.

 

There's not a clutch fan on mine. Just a direct bolt on. I don't think anything was cut out around the headlights, either.

 

Used a flex fan on mine, 17" if memory serves. worked well.

 

After looking at mine I would say that if I were running a V8 I definitely wouldn't be able to run the clutch fan.

 

Here are some photos of my set-up. You will notice that a radiator bracket was fabbed-up out of angle iron.








Hope this helps

 

I have about the same setup as SpeedBuggy, with angle iron to hold the rad, but the PO cut the whole box off. I have a 19"h x 22"w x 2" thick aluminum radiator in mine. The radiator fits between the headlight rings and I could fit a long water pump on my 383 ci SBC in there if I have to. As for the fan I have a 17" steel race fan. It's a fixed pitch and does not flatten out at high rpm. With flex fans if you rev the engine but, crawl up a hill the fan flattens and provides no cooling effect. I have run the course on cooling a V8 for 3 years, and the aluminum radiator is the way to go. The scary part is that my radiator only cost about $150.00 with shipping. A lot less that have a custom radiator made. I got mine from http://www.speedwaymotors.com . Look for they Tru-Kool line its also what we've run in the race car for 5 years without a problem.(of course it is a larger size 19" x 31").

Jim