Hi.
After reading a couple of recent posts about the inability to open the hood by dead battery, unable to enter vehicle or broken hood cable, decided to invest a little in headache insurance:

Looped a #18 galvanized wire on the latch trigger by loosening the two screws securing the latch.
--->http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps1c7bb03b.jpg

Routed on top of the sponge above the horn, exiting via the passenger side hole
--->http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps569904d5.jpg

And ended at the passenger side corner lamp, to be fished and pulled. Bothers nothing in there.
--->http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps833e9fd1.jpg

Did not need to remove grille other than the top 3 plastic screws, plus some skilled fingering...
Tested; works. It may be of use to someone.

 

Why not just fix the hood cable the correct way?

 

What is that very bright silver piece under the fan cowl? LOL

 

I think his cable is fine, he just wants a backup in case it fails.

 

04duxlr : Correct.
jfall : Hood cable is healthy, just in case someday snaps...
Hokie :
That bright piece is the side top detail as in the attached pictures
From this animal---> ALUMINUM RADIATOR GM CHEVY 16" x 28" LOW PROFILE - KMJ Performance

 

Whoa - How well does that fit? It looks like it works pretty well. Any problems getting it in there?

 

Zero problems, fits well, some adrenaline needed yes.
Transmission and oil coolers are held from the cavity walls in its original position, the radiator is fully independent from any attachments to anything and can come out by itself (if I ever need to); it is cushioned by these:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/gearbox-yea...s/4/43345n.png
Also held from existing body holes.
Vehicle is "spitting ice cubes through the tail pipe" at any hot weather or traffic condition. Temperature is ~174F at 81F ambient. Am happy.

 

Fantastic find! I'm especially happy to hear about this after replacing my radiator a few months ago. Oh well, maybe others can benefit. You should write this up and post it.

 

So did you do the inline thermostat mod? Is their a petcock to drain the radiator? Find this very intriguing and also would love to see more photos of the mod.

My cooling system runs great until we get over 100 degrees and stuck in traffic. 107 and 110 this past Friday and Saturday in Austin.

 

The inline thermostat will be installed by October, when cool weather starts. Right now it takes a few miles to get to temperature, but does not bother me. Am enjoying and evaluating the surgery , running well for 3 months now.

I did not want a radiator with built-in drain **** as would not be accessible with the fan shroud. The drain is installed at the lowest point on the 5/8" hose that hooks to the heater core and reservoir; found a crappy set at the $1 store (-believe it or not- attached picture, 3+ in a pack !) but decided to look for a more decent one and installed one found at a generic auto parts place for $3, and it is holding fine:
----> http://images.oreillyauto.com/parts/.../47152-007.jpg

The radiator outlet hose is canibalized from the original T portion:
----> http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps980ada81.jpg

Yes, could be done more professional, but living deep in the middle of a forest, parts stores are very distant here.