Hey Adam, Scott/Subarubrat mentioned in a post that your Brat's radiator setup for the EJ27 is different from his. I couldn't find any pictures on your site that show the engine bay. How did you set up the radiator? I have a 1984 3" lifted wagon I'm thinking of swapping an EJ27 into, but don't want to re-lift it to 6", just mod the frame rails. Any way to stick a rad up front, like in place of the grill? Willing to go the custom-radiator route.

 

Thanks,

Tom

I'm actually useing a radiator out of a 90 something jeep cherokee, 4.0L. My front end is also extended out a little bit, not a whole lot, the front bumper still sits about the same spot though. Here's a couple pics of it.

 

 

It does sit a little high for most people, this in mainly cause of the fact that my slide off front end uses 1/4 C channel that is slid into the frame rails, so I couldn't really notch it out to drop the rad down lower. ALthough if I had done that, I would have my lower rad hose sitting a little lower, and may not have had to make up the funny S hose that's in there. It doesn't over heat though, sometimes it's a little too cold. I got the radiator from a wrecking yard for like 40 bucks. Hope this helps.

Excellent, just what I needed. Thanks.

By the way, did you get that motor in there by lifting it over 4", like Scott did?

 

Any way it will fit within the frame rails, or do I really need to lift it more or mod the frame rails? Without modding the frame rails how much space is there between the valve cover and the frame?

 

Has anyone done the framerail-modding bit, and if so who? I would like to know their experiences.

It fits REAL tight Tom. Your hill holder will have to be moved, and your master cylinder may be an issue as well. Adams is higher in the bay than mine so he will have encountered those fitment issues.

Bump

Sorry, was away for the weekend. My motor sits up where it would be if it wasn't lifted. You do have to clearence the frame rails a little, but nothing real serious, you don't have to cut anything. I beat mine down with a BFH. Also my motor sits further back in the engine compartment too, so I had to do a little more beating than you'll prolly have to do. You do have to remove the hill holder. The master cylinder isn't really a problem but the brake lines are, you will have to move the brake lines around, rebend them and stuff to clear the distributor. I used some t's and 8" straight pieces, I put the straight piece into the MC and bent them around the dizzy, then put the T's on the end's of those, and plugged the brake lines into the T's. Jes gotta take your time with it is all, I spent a bit of time putting the motor in, and taking it out, over and over. A stock Brat might be alittle more difficult cause you have the radiator supports and all the front sheet metal in the way to take it in and out alot. But I think you'll end up clearencing about 3/4 of inch on each side, or close to that.

Thanks for the info, Adam. Now I've got all sorts of things to think about over the winter (no garage to work in).

 

Tom