I recently noticed some coolant under the front of my 80 two door sedan and sure enough the radiator was leaking. I had also noticed a slight coolant smell from time to time and figured that could be the cause.
Since I had previously successfully installed an aluminum CJ radiator in my 81 Kammback, I decided to go that route again. Ordered it off eBay and it arrived a couple days later.
On the Kammback, I measured from the top of the old radiator to locate the mounting holes I would need to drill on the mounting bracket for the aluminum radiator. I didn’t take into account that the neck on the new radiator was much taller than the OEM style radiator so I ended up extending the holes vertically to avoid interference with the hood. I didn’t want to make that mistake again so was careful in locating the vertical spots for the holes to be drilled. Past mistake avoided but made a new one. I located the holes in the horizontal center of the mounting brackets, but the spots where it attaches on the car were actually a little wider, so I had to extend the holes horizontally. But that was a pretty minor problem everything else went pretty smoothly.
I used the flexible upper and lower hoses I had used the last time around. The lower hose is the same one used on 80s CJs, 1.5” on one end, 1.75” on the other. The top is 1.5” on both ends, about 15” long.
The only issue I ran into was potential interference between the upper hose and the A/C compressor pulley. I used a piece of aluminum brace to lift the hose slightly and keep it out of the way.
I pulled the fan off to make it easy to install the radiator. When I reinstalled the fan, I noticed a pretty noticeable so then had to get the water pump replaced.
And unfortunately, the slight coolant smell is still present. There is no sign of a coolant leak, and no drips inside the car or film on the windshield so I’m stumped where the smell is coming from.
Pictures below!
Topic: Radiator replacement (Read 2687 times)