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