Fan shroud hitting hood on 70 Lemans with GTO hood
 

My radiator fan shroud is hitting the hood at the hood brace on my lemans. I am looking to lower the radiator fan shroud top to create enough clearance. By looking the only solution I see is to cut the fan shroud and remove two small pieces and plastic weld together. Here are the facts of my problem. I could post a more pictures but it does not show the issue well and the description may be better. Picture is of place I would cut and reweld and also where it is rubbing.

Factory fan shroud with original radiator tanks with a higher capacity core, all factory mounting
Clearance from bottom of shroud to fan is 1/2"
Clearance from top of fan shroud to fan is 2 1/2"
Fan shroud bolts to top of radiator support and more or less sets the height of the round part of the shroud.
I did contact Ames and the tech department did an outstanding job helping me confirm that I have the "correct" fan shroud with some pictures with measurements

Thanks for any solutions or different shroud that may help my problem.
Paul

What year of GTO did the hood come from? The 68 hood IIRC has bracing in the area of the fan shroud that the 69/70 doesn't.

Aftermarket from The Parts Place. I do not know the manufacture. The interference will not allow the hood to close all the way. Will a 68 fan shroud bolt in and look / work decent?

The issue is with the hood, not the fan shroud. As OG68 says, the 68 hood has a full brace where the 69/70 hoods look almost the same but that brace area is angled away to clear the plastic rad shroud on the 69/70.

The reproduction hoods sold as "68-70" are actually correct only for 68...the fix is to cut out the brace from a 69/70 hood and graft into the repro hood.

To install a 68 rad shroud plate may require a 68 rad and I think you would also have to cut the top lip off your rad support to make it fit.

The '68 shroud and radiator surround is completely different. The lower fan surround and finger guard upper are made to go together so you'd have to change a lot of parts. Even the core support gets involved.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1616677780

Thanks for the great information and the WHY.
Car is painted and running so I think I am better off trying to modify the existing shroud since I have 2 1/2" above the fan and no cooling issues at all. I will be dropping it likely 1 1/4" and seeing if I can make it look like it belongs.
Paul

Sharp looking LeMans.^^

Going to take some doing to lower that shroud that much and make it look like it belongs,,,but hope you can do it! Or get rid of the whole shroud,,make some custom radiator brackets and a electric fan/s.

I've never examined the difference in the '68 hood bracing but I've heard of it many times. What would it take to modify the hood bracing? Isn't it just a matter of notching one of the underhood braces? Maybe easier and less obvious to the observer?
The plastic welding I've seen is strictly functional. Works great to stop a leak but looks like crap.

I'll dig out some pics, I think I have some to show the differences.

Might be a better overall remedy to heat and remold the top area.
Sort of flatten it out more on top and oblong-oval it towards outer regions.
a Semi-D shape to it
:2cents:

First pic shows how the 68 ("68-70" repro hood) has a flat brace near the front. Rest of pics show how I cut that section out and butt welded in the same section taken from a 70 hood. The last pics really shows how the 69/70 brace area has an angled relief to clear the rad shroud.

I tend to agree. Unless you want to cut and weld under your painted hood, (and finding the donor brace area may be difficult), BVZ's suggestion may be easiest solution.

I will be cutting about 1 1/4" out on each side and a transition pie cut to make the whole top come down. I have done a decent amount of plastic welding and with the correct filler and heat I can get it pretty close and hopefully not have to paint by doing all the weld on the inside of the shroud. Will post how it went and pictures hopefully this weekend.

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I have completed the modification and the radiator shroud to was lowered 1 1/8". I cut a 7/8" at the inboard circle and brought back with a straight edge and pulled it together and welded it back. I am very happy with how it turned out. Appreciate the help from others explaining the issue with the hood bracing so I knew what I should do to resolve the issue.
Paul

Nice job! What kind of plastic welder did you use?

Yeah, hardly noticeable.

Polyvance 5700HT Mini Weld Model 7 Airless Plastic Welder
I used the fiberflex inside and filled the gap on the outside with
K Tool International Q Bond Adhesive Kit, Repairs And Reinforces, Plastics, Metals KTI90002
A little harder, If it cracks on the outside only I will use a dremel and take it out on the outside and use the fiber flex in the slot. but do not think it will be needed.
The fiberflex on the inside is a permanent repair and I only used the powder and glue system on the outside to hide it as much as possible. If I need to use the fiberflex likely only a small strip that will be hard to notice.
Paul

Very nice work!