67 Camaro radiator isolator mounts can Be COOL

Recently, I got together with my friend Dan Chaplin to install some 67 Camaro radiator isolator mounts. Dan owns a beautifully, restored 67 Camaro that over the years has received many upgrades. It has been in several publications (including Muscle Car Power, Surf City, and GM Performance Parts Catalog), been used as a test bed vehicle for Hotchkis Sport Suspension, and displayed at national venues (including GoodGuys and SEMA 2006) . Dan loves to drive his Camaro everywhere and is not afraid to put it to the test either.

Throughout the course of his many outings, he has always had an aluminum radiator. Unfortunately, he has gone through a couple of them from various manufactures! Needless to say, this gets VERY expensive and irritating.  This time around, Dan chose a polished Be Cool radiator. He consulted the tech guys at Be Cool about what may be the cause of his failing aluminum radiators prior to this installation. The guys at Be Cool said to make certain the radiator isolator mounts are installed. Dan has always had stock radiator isolator mounts installed, but still has had failing radiators. Check out our simple, yet aesthetically pleasing solution to Be Cool’s suggestion to prevent future radiator replacements.

67 Camaro Radiator isolator mounts
Rubber isolator mounts must be installed when mounting an aluminum radiator to keep the twisting and vibrations of everyday driving from work hardening the internal structure and ultimately cracking it.

The Be Cool polished radiator (part # 61009) is a direct fit for the 67 Camaro. It can be found quickly under the Be Cool product search page. Dan bought his and was ready to install it in his garage.

BE Cool 61009

In his 67 Camaro, the radiator mounts directly to the core support on the aft side.  There were 2 square nuts welded to the core support on the passenger side and 2 holes for isolators on the driver side that matched the radiator 90 degree brackets. Unfortunately, there is no provision for a tight-fitting, good-looking isolator on the passenger side. The solid connection to the passenger side of the core support is believed to be the culprit of Dan’s troubles.

Be Cool’s advice when bolting the radiator in, was to make certain it is isolated from the core support by some fashion or the twisting, vibrating, and torsional loads will work harden the aluminum radiator causing it to stress crack over time.  Our approach were 69 Camaro radiator isolator mounts at all four mounting points instead of the stock 2 locations.

Well NUTS!
The Lowes part is on the left, the Eckler’s part is on the right. Both will work.

Eckler’s sells the radiator mounts for the 69 Camaro with A/C under part # EP-33, but we found them at Lowes in the hardware section under Hillman well nuts 1/4″ – 20 pitch thread!

The 2 square nuts welded to the core support on the passenger side need to be removed before these well nuts/radiator isolator mounts can be installed. We up-sized drill bits several times, but ended up drilling 1/2″ holes  in the core support to fit the radiator isolator mounts.

1/2 holes
Carefully drilling out 1/2 inch holes in the core support to install the rubber isolators – it’s ok, it’s just paint and metal…

Once the 2 square nuts on the core support were drilled out to 1/2 inch , the radiator isolator mounts can be installed by simply pressing them into the core support.  Keep in mind, once you have a fresh, bare metal opening, it’s always a good idea to treat it to prevent corrosion. This was performed but not shown in the photos.

isolator/well nut
Out with the old, in with the new. In this view, the driver side isolators are being installed. Now that the square nuts on the core support are drilled out to 1/2 inch, the passenger side isolators will be installed in the exact same way.
4 corners
All 4 rubber isolators are installed at this point and will line up with the radiator from Be Cool for the 67 Camaro with zero problems.
tighten them down
Once the Be Cool radiator is in place, it is secured using the supplied hardware.
67 Camaro radiator isolator mount installation complete
Looking aft at the forward side of the core support with the radiator mounted through rubber isolator mounts, it is easy to see this is a secure, yet flexible installation. This small amount of vibration dampening will prolong the life of your aluminum radiator.

The goal of this installation was to not only install a great looking Be Cool radiator, but to make certain it lasts as long as possible. Keeping vibration down and reducing the torsional loads will prolong the life of Dan’s aluminum 67 Camaro radiator from Be Cool.   Using 4 rubber isolator mounts is just one way to accomplish this task. This technique of installing the radiator isolator mounts keeps the radiator tight to the core support to maximize airflow through the radiator. This technique also keeps the radiator isolators hidden from view, creating a visually clean and functional product.

As stated before, Dan’s 67 Camaro is a finished Hot Rod, but there is always something to change even on a finished car. In the future, I will show you how my friends took another simple hardware/home improvement store part and made something show car worthy. Its cheap, reliable, and cleans up the engine bay. Keep checking back for future plumbing ideas to this freshly installed Be Cool Radiator.

-Matt

Featured image credit: Dan Kahn at Kahn Media.

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