Radiator Choice

[Guest danny_samb]

Right guys I'm thinking of going with a civic rad, the only problem is the house outlets are the opposite sides to what they currently are, will there be any problem just making my hoses loner to suit the new locations

[Guest 2b cruising]

None whatsoever.

If it means any long runs of pipe, you would be best to use metal tubing.

This is easy to get off eBay in all bores and shapes.

Just search in car parts for cooling hoses.

When you find a retailers site check there shop.

[Guest mower man]

If you use the rs 2000 [mk1/2] the hoses are on the correct sides so no daft long pipe runs mick

Edited January 23, 2016 by mower man

[Guest danny_samb]

Iv found a rad that has the pipes the correct sides I need now, but it's 80mm smaller than I was running before. The core dimensions are 360mm x 300mm. I was running a 360 x 380 before. The rad will be all aluminium with a fan mounted on the rear pushing cold air in. Will that be ok being slightly smaller. Only use the car for short journeys and odd track day but have the fan on a switch if necessary

[Guest 2b cruising]

Would it be possible to have another core fitted to it and make up for lost volume.

[Dave R]

the local radiator place made up a copper/brass rad to the pipe positions i wanted....

wasnt much dearer

[Guest danny_samb]

Think I'll just use a civic rad that's the same size just have a longer hose run for the bottom hose. It has a rad cap but I'm using a header tank. Can I just not use the cap or do I need it removing and blanking off

[Guest 2b cruising]

You do need a pressure cap in the system.

Either on you header tank or you radiator.

It also needs a return valve in the cap to suck any blown out expanded coolant back in.

The pressure cap helps to raise the boiling point of water.

My cap is a 16 psi one and works well on my suck and blow system.

Edited January 25, 2016 by 2b cruising

[Guest danny_samb]

I'll just get the filler neck cut off and blanked over on the rad and use the header tank. That has a cap on it and overflow going into the bottle

[Guest 2b cruising]

In that case, the top f your bottle needs to be higher than the radiator top.

Otherwise filling problems can occur.

[Les Welsher]

No need to cut the filler neck off the rad, leave it there with the pressure cap and plumb the overflow from the filler neck on the rad to the header tank. No problems with bleeding, you can always fill up the rad first. I've run mine like this for the past 12 years with no problems. (I can't find a pic of the civic rad I got on my car at the moment.)

 

Les

[kevin the chicken]

You can just buy a blank cap with no pressure relief valve on it to fit to the radiator. That way if you change your plans you still have an intact radiator.

[Guest danny_samb]

Where can I find 1 of these caps. The header tank I'm using is a pressure tank so can I just blank the overflow pipe from the rad filler neck or does that have to connect to the bottle

[Guest 2b cruising]

That needs to go to the bottle. All the way to the bottom of it.

Easier to do by fitting a pressure cap onto rad.

As said previously 18 months and no problems with my 2 lt o/head valve.

Edited January 26, 2016 by 2b cruising

[Guest danny_samb]

The bottle is above the rad though, so doesn't that cap need to be the pressurised 1, that's where the coolant goes in and into the system