Fluidyne Radiator for Automatics

[1991ZR1]

After a delay, I'm working on the radiator again. When I dropped in the first radiator that I got, the inlet pipe on the driver's side was almost against the fan shroud. I took a picture to the shop that got the radiator for me and they emailed it to Fluidyne. Fluidyne sent a new radiator, this time for manual transmission and there is more clearace.

The advice on cutting the shroud and removing the thermostat housing was a big help. It also helps to follow all the instructions in the service manual. Putting a little silicone grease on the rubber top mounts also helps.

Right now I''m having a problem on the driver's side. I think it's because the mounting tabs on the top of the radiator are a little over 1/8" farther apart than the stock radiator mounting tabs. I may trim the rubber to fit if I don't find any other hang ups. Getting the inlet hose on is also going to be a problem. The pipe looks like it's the same size as the stock radiator but they flared the end a little. I don't know why they did that. There is a little bulge just before the end of the pipe that should give a tight fit. If I can't get the hose on, I may have to cut a little of the flare off or bend it in a little.

By the way, using gloves to protect your hands really helps. I couldn't find mechanic's gloves that were small enough so I got golfing gloves.

[tf95ZR1]

So what's the story? I thought all these radiators were supposed
to be drop in?

[flyin ryan]

Originally Posted by Jerry#397

Last year I installed a Ron Davis Rad. The drain is a alum plug. I called Ron Davis Rad and they said not to use Brass, SS or any metal drain valve other than Alum. which I can't find so I use the alum. drain plug. Your picture shows a brass drain valve, you might want to check on the use of Brass and alum.

Thanks,
Jerry

Good advise...try not to use dis-similar materials

[tomtom72]

Trimming the rubber used to be the std instructions with the DeWitt rads for our cars.

On the lower hose, or any really tight hose for that matter, try some dielectric on the fitting & a bit on the I.D. of the hose end. If that still wont do it you could boil up some water and drop the hose in for a bit after removing the flame from the water/pot...that usually softens the new rubber up enough...but usually the dielectric works.....sometimes ya can even get away with a wipe of pure coolant as a lube.

In truth I think that the only true "drop in" parts are OEM stuff. All the knock off stuff usually needs some TLC & judicious massaging. JMHO..


Tom

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by 1991ZR1

After a delay, I'm working on the radiator again. When I dropped in the first radiator that I got, the inlet pipe on the driver's side was almost against the fan shroud. I took a picture to the shop that got the radiator for me and they emailed it to Fluidyne. Fluidyne sent a new radiator, this time for manual transmission and there is more clearace.

The advice on cutting the shroud and removing the thermostat housing was a big help. It also helps to follow all the instructions in the service manual. Putting a little silicone grease on the rubber top mounts also helps.

Right now I''m having a problem on the driver's side. I think it's because the mounting tabs on the top of the radiator are a little over 1/8" farther apart than the stock radiator mounting tabs. I may trim the rubber to fit if I don't find any other hang ups. Getting the inlet hose on is also going to be a problem. The pipe looks like it's the same size as the stock radiator but they flared the end a little. I don't know why they did that. There is a little bulge just before the end of the pipe that should give a tight fit. If I can't get the hose on, I may have to cut a little of the flare off or bend it in a little.

By the way, using gloves to protect your hands really helps. I couldn't find mechanic's gloves that were small enough so I got golfing gloves.

When I put the Samco hose on the inlet pipe (driver's side) it took two people. I greased the inside of the hose and then started at the bottem of the pipe. Once I got it streched as far as I could, my assistant used a tool shaped like an "L" to pull the top edge of the hose up over the lip of the inlet pipe. After the hose was around the pipe it took a lot of force to get it push all the way on the pipe.

I recommend against trimming the inlet pipe. You need that lip to keep the hose in place when clamped.

The Samco hoses are a little stretchy. Just keep working at it and you will get it.

Concerning the fit of the DeWitts C4 replacement radiator, the core of the radiator is a lot thicker than the OEM radiator (it is double tube). There are two issues this creates:

1. The bottom rubber mounting blocks have to be trimmed about 1/8 inch.

2. Since the radiator core is thicker than stock, the fan housing will not fit properly against the back of the radiator. In the past, the fan housing had to be trimmed 1/8 inch on ALL of the front edges. Now, DeWitts includes two aluminum spacers that are installed between the fan housing and the radiator shroud. This moves the fan housing further away from the radiator core and gives proper clearance.



In this picture, the radiator shroud is on the left, the fan housing is on the right (with yellow stickers) and the new spacer is the silver piece between them.

This "solution" to the fit problem works OK but is certainly not very original looking. I will paint the spacer black if it bothers me too much in the future.

Jim

[jonszr1]

on the samco hoses , if you are carefull with a heat gun , they all become very easy to put on .just did a set for a friend last night . he was so pissed that he was going to through them away . we installed all of them start to finish in about an hr. i use the low heat setting and gently heat the part of the hose to be put on .it takes about 3-5 min to heat right lube it with vasiline and go . workes for me

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by 1991ZR1

The advice on cutting the shroud and removing the thermostat housing was a big help.

Glad to have helped I learned the hard way. GC

[1991ZR1]

After another delay, I'm working on my radiator again. This time, when I was going to put back the lower hose, I found that the thermostat housing cover seal got dried and cracked so I had to order another one. The thermostat housing cover does not seem to go on straight. It's offset by about 1/16 of an inch. The cover seems to fit flat against the housing. Is this a problem?


The upper hose was really tough to get on. If others had not said that they did it, I would have said it was impossible. I ended up removing the radiator and hose from the car thinking that it would be easier to push harder on the hose. It didn't seem to help. The next thing I tried was to cut a 2" wide piece off a plastic bottle. I used silicone grease on the pipe and the plastic piece. I started the hose on one side of the pipe and used the plastic piece on the other side like a shoe horn. I still had to push hard but it worked. The hose is really stretched over the pipe. I hope it doesn't affect the life of the hose which is already 8 years old.




I cut a small piece off the corner of the shroud for clearance. The larger cutout was already there. The dealer must have done that at some time.

The connection for the air bleed hose sticks out farther than the stock radiator so I had to run the hose between the two oil cooler lines. I hope that's not going to cause any problems.



Getting closer to completion now and I hope I don't have any leaks. It's a good thing I don't work on cars for a living.

[tomtom72]

On the T-stat housing. I should remember since every two yrs I do a coolant & stat change, but I'm senile I guess? I seem to think that my hopusing looks pretty close to yours with that slight offset. I know it don't leak and there is no evidence in your pict of any leaking. I would not worry about it. I find it harder the get the darn stat w/ the o-ring to stay put while I'm trying to get the whole deal back in the car...ya think they could have cut a deeper groove for the O-ring to sit in?


Tom