My new 1975 2002 - just blew my radiator!

[hnichols]

Last year I had the fan slice into my rad.: the rubber piece connecting the airbox to the snorkel fitting came loose, fells into the blades, mangled them. Something to be mindful of.

I don't think old engine mounts would be an issue unless they're really shot, in which case you should replace them anyway. Replacing the transmission mount might shift the angle of the motor, so you might want to double-check the clearance with the lower part of the rad.

When I had mine repaired (just a matter of soldering) it worked better than before. Actually had to change to a warmer thermostat afterwards. So the stock rad is more than adequate if it's in good condition.

Hugh

[Collinster742002]

p.s. Anyone have issues with the fan hitting the radiator due to weak or aged engine mounts?

Yeah, my '74 used to eat radiators for breakfast. Turned out to have a bad side motor mount. For some reason it also has a quite crunched AC condenser.

On some earlier cars, the (right?) motor mounts were weak and would basically snap off of the subframes.

for the hell of it I have one of the eaten rads sitting in the trunk of my '76 parts car, I'll post a pic of it when I get home.

[jdt10768]

Si Garage - call Mark P. Thank yourself later

[2002.albrecht]

Thanks for the input. I noticed the fan shroud was badly cracked - I think either some plastic or a bolt came loose and was thrown into the radiator. I have never seen such a big hole - I was pretty surprised. The 2002 is just sitting on the street so I'm pretty desperate to get this work done! I might even just spring for a stock radiator if I can find one locally. Left a message for Mark @ SG - we'll see how that goes. Thanks for everyone's help - what a great community!

Jon

[roadhog0]

Stock radiator works great! I still have the original one in my car and it doesnt have any issues!

[Mark92131]

I miss that car badly, it was one of my favorite 2002's and I regret selling it. I haven't had any luck finding a replacement for my S14 project. Sorry to hear that you had a problem with the radiator. It is possible that the passenger side motor mount could be bad, I replaced the driver's side with a poly mount from IE. There is no need to upgrade to a higher capacity radiator, the car always ran cool (under 1/2 way on the gauge) in all weather and traffic conditions. You might consider changing out the thermostat as well, so the car runs at a warmer (normal) operating temperature.

I hope you are enjoying it as much as I did.

Mark92131

[AceAndrew]

Have you had any experience with the IE street radiator clearance wise? Any pics of installs? Couldn't find anyone with pics.

Jon

Here's a picture of the IE street radiator for posterity, if you search you'll find many more.

[jgerock]

Here is my SG 3-row radiator. Mark Preisendorf (9 Grenzen Motorsports)worked with me to build one with late model fan shroud brackets, angled lower stub (for A/C) and a NPT fitting (drain plug) that can be used for a thermoswitch.

He even honored a gift certificate Curt provided to the 2010 True Friends event after Curt passed away. Now that is good business!