Well, my radiator has seen better days, and I need some radiator hoses that actually fit my s5 engine, so I guess its time to redo the cooling system.

I was looking at the radiator, and I dont know if there is anything better out there than the stock one (besides the 79-82 one). Mabey an alluminum one or something. I've seen them for fc's and fd's but not fb's.

So since no correct radiator hoses exist for my fb/s5 combo, I was looking at some braided stainless ones at the auto parts store by me. They were like 30 bucks each, so the price is sure right. However, what flange size do I need?

 

I havn't seen a bolt in aluminum race radiator, but I bet that with some simple measurements, and a call to a dealer, you could get a nice one that would fit. Your going to be doing a whole lot of fabrication to get that s5 in anyway.....

The cheaper alternative, but still good, is to get the radiator recored. On my 85 GS, when I pulled the radiator, it was only 1 row, but appeared to be stock (even had factor torque on the mounting bolts). The new one is 2 core, so it should be better. The stock radiator hoses "should" work, with some trimming. I have yet to get that far in my swap, so I guess I'll find out soon.

Our radiators stock are actually pretty good. That and our engine bays seem to breathe better then the later models. From what I understand, the 2 row 84-85 radiator is good for some serious power, before it becomes a problem.

 

LOL, the s5 swap is allready done. I just need to get a racing beat pulley so I can fix that damn timing.

Anyway, my top radiator hose is in horrible shape, its very soft and has grown in diameter because of the cooling pressure. My radiator is just plain horrible looking, mold and mildew all over it.

If I got a radiator to fit how much do you think an alluminum one would cost?

Also does anybody know the flange size for teh radiator hoses, so I know what size braided steel to get?

 

I have founf the bolt on radiator!!!

But hold on to your asses when you see how much it is.
http://www.indigospeed.com/indigoSCradiators.html

 

that price is a ripoff and it doesn't bolt in. badassrx7 installed one and didn't like it.

I bought a nice Howe aluminum radiator and 25lb cap from http://www.sevensonly.com/ and it's a good fit $300.00 at the time. Had to drill mounting holes, no big deal. radiator is 1" shorter than the stock TALL radiator (83-85) so you got more ground clearance. upper hose is on drivers side and is a bigger size (1.75"), lower hose is on passenger side 1.5". I used a 35" long generic sprung flex hose from upper hose on radiator to upper water pump housing. electric fan.

 

could you take a pic of the radiator and your hoses for me? $300 doesnt sound like a bad price at all.

 

Hi Hornbm, I did the radiator in my 84 GSL last weekend, a fun little project that took about 2 hours, most of it cleaning and painting once I had the old one out. I changed it because I was getting a little temperature jump at extended highway speeds and/or when I used the AC for more than 5 minutes. Also, it was looking kind of ratty, like yours. I got mine from radiators.com for $121, including tax (they sell an aluminum racing radiator for about $300, as I recall). It fit perfectly and all the connections were correct, making it real easy to put in. Even better, it has 2 cooling rows instead of just one that was on the stock radiator (I am curious why Mazda skimped on the radiator - to save money or maybe a little weight?). Anyway, now the engine runs quite a bit cooler (below halfway on the gauge, before it was just above halfway) and the temp gauge doesn't move, however fast I drive or however long I use the AC. Nice! Did I mention that I was able to pick the radiator up at a warehouse located only two miles from where I work? Yes it was in stock!
Ray

 

Hi Hornbm, I did the radiator in my 84 GSL last weekend, a fun little project that took about 2 hours, most of it cleaning and painting once I had the old one out. I changed it because I was getting a little temperature jump at extended highway speeds and/or when I used the AC for more than 5 minutes. Also, it was looking kind of ratty, like yours. I got mine from radiator.com for $121, including tax (they sell an aluminum racing radiator for about $300, as I recall). It fit perfectly and all the connections were correct, making it real easy to put in. Even better, it has 2 cooling rows instead of just one that was on the stock radiator (I am curious why Mazda skimped on the radiator - to save money or maybe a little weight?). Anyway, now the engine runs quite a bit cooler (below halfway on the gauge, before it was just above halfway) and the temp gauge doesn't move, however fast I drive or however long I use the AC. Nice! Did I mention that I was able to pick the radiator up at a warehouse located only two miles from where I work? Yes it was in stock!
Ray

 

dude,
which water pump are you using? if you use the pump from your 12A (pump and housing) there should be no problems with hoses or anything ... the stock parts for the 12A may or may not require slight trimming, but they will work.

just something to consider ...

 

you cant use any Fb water parts on a S5 motor. The first reason why the hoses dont fit exactly right, is beacuse the 13b is 20mm longer than the 12a, thus making the hoses 20 mm too long.

Also the FB water pump and housing will not bolt up to a FC block.

Lastly, the the S5 motor has an electric OMP which sticks out quite a bit and as a result the S5 water pump housing has the lower pipe comming off at a different angle as a result to provide clearance.

So because of all this, my hoses dont exactly fit right which is why I'm going to put the braided stainless steel on there.

As far as the radiator goes, the radiator ray green was talking about doesnt sound half bad and since its a two row instead of my one row, it should help bring down those temps a bit. So I might be getting than unless I can find a fairly cheap aluminum one, that bolts in or requires little modification.

So how about that flange size? Anybody know? I really dont want to have to pull off oneof my radiator hoses to check. Getting them on was bad enough.