Morning All,

So - the disk shapes / spacers / base plates (whatever they are called) - are they lumps of metal or are they part of the waterway inside the radiator?

The Rad is too tall, so thought about cutting the spacers off - cutting the threaded rods off the spacers and tack welding them to the base of the radiator... thoughts?

Alternative it to cut the cross member of the top of the Grill area - and I do not want to cut car.

 

enlarge the holes so the spacers go through?

 

the stubs are wider than the OE ones so already had to make the existing holes bigger - the spacers are about 2.5" wide..id run out of metal to remove.

 

Is it possible to grind the spacer back? It may be possible to replace (or reshape) the triangular plates the radiator sits on to allow the radiator to be located a bit lower. If you have to cut or modify the car they are the least significant points.

 

I suspect it’s hard to be that precise. I assumed 2 cuts with the band saw or mitre saw and then zap zap zap with the welder…

 

If you are OK with welding aluminium, especially a thick piece like spacer to the thin wall of the lower radiator tank ...

 

I bought a Chinese alloy radiator for my MK1 which is exactly the same as a MK2 in the radiator area. A friend also bought one for his very original MK1
They dropped in without modification.
The only problems encountered were the mountings for the shrouds in the friend's car (mine doesn't have shrouds) and the radiator cap which was 17PSI.
!7 PSI is way too high for this antique cooling system and I ended up with a welch plug letting go.
I ended up modifying the cap to get about 5 PSI.
I would go back to the supplier and complain as you should not need to modify the car for an incorrect radiator.

 

It’s about ¼” too tall, the posts are too wide and the side mounts are way below the OE holes..

this is an eBay guaranteed to fit item

they refunded me $15 of the original price and now are ignoring me

 

I had the same problem fitting the AL rad on my MK2 3.8l. What I did was to cut off flush the two bottom studs and carefully drill and tap new holes at the correct spacing. Don't drill too deep of course! I used slightly smaller studs than the original ones.

Next issue the radiator was too tall. There are the rubber bushings that go on the top and bottom where the 2 bottom studs fit, just eliminate the top one. Yes now have metal on metal, but I am experiencing no issues. By doing so there is just barely enough space for the hood to close. Check using model clay.

Next issue, the two side ears are not at the right elevation, so had to drill new holes and install nutserts (rivnuts).

Next issue, the rad came with too high of a pressure relief cap. I found one at local parts store at 7 psi.

Other than that the radiator fits just fine! AND it works great. I just recently installed A/C in my 60 MK2 3.8l and are having no issues with cooling here in FL.

jjsandsms

 

Thanks, even without the rubber bushes it’s still ¼” too tall, so leans into the engine bay.

i like the idea of sourcing a lighter pressure cap, I’ll make that the next mission. But I genuinely feel the fix here is making the spacers thinner or deleting them completely. My neighbor is an aluminum welder (he makes F-35s).

for the side ears I was going to mark the holes, then tack weld 2 bolts to the frame of the car in the correct location.

 

I was going through my boxes of spares that came with the car - and I found a 4psi Cap and ALL the hoses I need for the Radiator.

I will need some thinner hoses to connect to the heater matrix and possibly replace the servo on the brakes.

I also found a replacement brake fluid reservior as the one in situ has a hole in it, feeling pretty happy.