OK...short of sounding like an idiot, how in the h*ll do you install the rubber insulators for the voltage regulator? My V.R. was bolted metal to metal when I bought the car and not even sure that it's in the right spot.

I think I figured it out. Correct me if I'm wrong please. The insulator goes between the back of the V.R. mounting holes and sandwiches to the radiator support. If that is correct then I have to weld up the "GIGANTIC" holes in the rad support from the "BIG" bolts used, re-drill for the smaller screws.

The rubber goes through the hole, and the regulator is place on the collar. Then the bolt goes through everything, and screws into the nut molded into the rubber. As you tighten, the rubber bulges up and tightens the regulator.

Thanks unreal...I'm currently using a 4 core 23" big block radiator in my 69 Z so I'm not so sure the regulator is in the correct spot. Would you mind e-mailing me a pic? If not, anybody that has a correct set up could help me.


Oh yeah...rubber goes thru what hole? It definately doesn't fit thru the V.R. mounting hole. And what collar are you talking about?

The rubber insulators are called "well" nuts (the radiator is also attached on the driver side using this type nut). There are 3 holes about 7/16" dia. that align with the regulator mounting flange. Slide the well nuts through these holes from the engine side, and then bolt the regulator to them. The well nuts will expand and tighten up in the holes. The size of the radiator doesn't matter.

John...you have mail.

Gary
From the picture that you sent, the regulator is mounted in the correct location. However, the core support is not drilled for the use of well nuts. It appears that sheetmetal screws were used (just guessing from the picture). Is it possible that it is an aftermarket core support? Another possibility is that the mounting technique changed in 69. I'm more into 67-68, and they both use the well nut method. Perhaps somebody with a 69, or even a 69 AIM can check to see if well nuts were still used in 69.

As a side note: There is a hole drilled in the top of the core support just above the top left hole that you have marked in the picture. What was this hole used for?

John,


As far as I can tell it's still the original radiator support. The odometer was reading 80950 miles when I bought it. It was also used as a race car for many years and the hole you see in the pic was for hood pins.


Maybe JohnZ can shed some light on this V.R. mounting. I hope he is reading this post.

My GM core support that was purchased in the early ninties had the small holes drilled for the regulator I had to drill out the holes to accept the insulators

My Dec. 68 built 69Z has small self tap screw holes. I'm sure it's an original rad support. I remember reading or hearing from somewhere that they were having ground problems in the earlier well nut mounted VR's and changed them. Don't know where I read that or heard it. graemlins/clonk.gif But mine are small holes.
Jim

69's didn't use the well-nut insulators; the regulator was hard-mounted directly to the rad support with self-tapping 3/8" hex-head screws, which also provided the ground for the regulator; if you rubber-mount the regulator and don't use a separate external ground wire, the regulator won't work. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks JohnZ for the info.