Do you have to pull off the bumper to put on a new Radiator? I just got new 3 core aftermarket due OEM is in ruff shape.

I didn't have to. What kind of new rad did you get?

nope... just remove the airbox and the goofy plastic thing that hooks to it, and pull the radiator out thru the top of the engine bay. If i remember correctly, the battery tray has to be removed also.

You can also install it from underneath. I thought it was easier. Just drop the sway-bar and the sway-bar mounts and loosen the mounting for the AC condensor. The sway-bar mounts also double as the base for the radiator. Disconnect hoses, unplug the fans and drop the fans and radiator down as one unit. Swap fan assembly to the new radiator and just reinstall. I usually tape a piece of cardboard over the finned section of the radiator so I don't dent them during the process.



With larger (wider tanks) aftermarket radiators you can run into some fitment issues. This generally requires a little trimming of the bumper reinforcemet and bending of the mounting tabs to get it all to sit down low enough.

I got 56 mm b3 core aftermarket one off ebay. I just dropped the FD down to garage to have her swapped out. Hope the damage/ bill is not too bad.

Thanks for all the info boys.

As of today my FD is still down the shop with Rad out and techs have not install the new yet as there was no nipple for the AST and due to size of it. Has anyone else installed a aftermarket Rad that had no nipple for AST? I asked the techs to first confirm the if the rad will fit and then tap it for the AST which will add up more cost for labor.

should have bought a name brand radiator like fluidyne... etc

^Agreed. Ebay is not the place to go for critical parts on this car. And a radiator is a critical part. I've seen the crappy welds and poor materials used in those Chinese radiators.

Price and Cost are two different things.

I replaced mine with a koyo and never looked back

+1 on the koyo rad lol

Finally done and $500 later, she is done. Mods to rad had to be tapped for AST, battery tray, notch out fan house and the cylinder for AC had to be removed due to additional size of rad.

Huh, the previous owner of mine just removed the steel bumpers to make room lol

Not seen the radiator, but I've never heard of anyone having to remove any AC component with ANY aftermarket radiator install.

Me either, did some small local shop do the work?

yep, garage just down from my house. It's only off 1 to 2 inch. the A/C cylinder hits the fan housing and does not allow hood close. just off abit. Don't know if the A/C worked and the cylinder need to be recharged.

I'm guessing the eBay rad was robably a universal fit that they said would fit several cars including the fd

what are the steel bumpers are you referring to? Got any pics?

It's illegal and unsafe to remove them, that being said it drops a ton of weight off your car

i'm not quite sure what you are talking about either poorguy... i know about the fiberglass bumper support but not any steel supports. Post pics please.

i'm also confused and i just had the entire front end all apart on my car installing a fmic

My friend's fd still jad some sort of bumper behind the front end. Mine just has the front end and then frame lol

Maybe I was just seeing things, I'll check the fsm's later

Ok it was the bumper reinforcements that were removed prior to my purchase lol

There was no reason for the shop to remove the A/C dryer. Even if it needed charging, that reduced the value of the car way more than savings from buying a cheap radiator.

Being "off" one or two inches is ALOT. IMO, you should have tossed that ebay one for something that was specifically made for the car....lines up with the stock hoses, has a nipple on the bottom tank for the AST line, is efficient, has increased capacity, has attachment flanges for the OEM fan assembly... and isn't as likely to fail from poor contruction and materials. And you should find a shop that's familiar with FDs to install a radiator. It's not that hard...at least it shouldn't have been.

Easier said then done. Not too many people up here in Nova Scotia work on FD especially JDMs and parts are next to none. I can still mount the A/C dryer, i'll just remove the plastic housing and extend the bracket for dryer. I saw it on another rx 7 forum buddy did it as he put extra large FMIC. Lesson learned.

The Internet helps you get parts anywhere lol