How To Modify a 1969 GS400 Fan Shroud To Fit a 1970 GS455


By Robert (Bert) Moses

 

To modify a fan shroud from a 1969GS400 and make it fit a 1970GS455 is very easy and the modifications only take a few minutes to perform.

Here are some pictures that show the two fan shrouds side by side so that you can compare them and get a good idea what exactly is not the same on the shrouds so that you will be able to modify the 69GS400 shroud to fit your 1970GS455. Also notice that on the 70GS455 shroud the lower corner of the shroud on the driver side is "bevelled", this will not matter as far as fit or function but I wanted to point it out for visual identification purposes

 

The upper mounting tabs on the 1970GS455 are approx. 3/8" longer and just a fuzz thicker than the upper mounting tabs on the 1969GS400 shroud.
Please note: the bolt hole on the upper mounting tabs for the 1970GS455 has a
longer(approx. 3/8" longer) slot than the bolt hole on the 1969GS400 shroud.
The result of these two differences allows the 1969GS400 shroud to attach to the 1970GS455 radiator top plate using the same bolt hole(on the passenger side) in the radiator top plate as the 1970GS455 shroud.

 

As you can see in this next picture the upper mounting tab on the passenger side is in the
same location for both shrouds.

 

The upper mounting tab on the driver side is not the same and will require you to drill a hole(11/64"), in your radiator top plate to relocate the bolt that attaches the shroud to the radiator top plate on the driver side. I also used some very thin black plastic to go between the upper mounting tabs and the radiator top plate.

 

 

Please note: the lower mounting slot on the passenger side of the GS455 shroud had already been elongated, do not let this confuse you.

 

The lower mounting slots will both need to be elongated approximately 3/4" outward. A very simple and quick visual indicator is to widen the holes to just past the reinforcement ribs that are on the inside of the shroud.


Here are some pictures of the shroud after installation.

 

In this next picture you can see the thin plastic spacer between the shroud and the radiator top plate.

I plan on filling the extra hole in the radiator top plate and repainting it to hide the evidence...
And I painted that rusty bolt after seeing how awful it looked in these pictures...

Although this modified shroud will not be acceptable on some "show cars" it should work just fine for a driver or car that is not shown in "judged" classes.
In my opinion this looks better than either of the reproduction shrouds that are available for the 1970GS455.