i have an 85 se and i want a radiator other than stock. i dont want one that costs over $500 but an aftermarket radiator for not to much. can someone help me out??

 

Here's what I did...

I wanted to go aluminum and at at first every aluminum radiator I came across for a 1st gen was 450+ without shipping.

I found a decent looking one on ebay. KOYO for a 2nd gen. It was 300 shipped and I think using the best offer option it was a touch cheaper, so I decided to wing it and see if I could get it to work.

It came wrapped and boxed real nicely & looking super crispy clean. Polished and pretty. The dimensions are slightly different from stock. Alot thicker, but width and length was very close.

The trickest part was cutting the upper and lower hose nipples and mocking them up to fit the same way my 1st gen radiator nipples were. I say trickey b/c once you cut the nipples off you have very little room/nipple/piping left for error. Once mocked up I took it to a local welder and the guy welded my mock up super professionally for $30. You can't even tell where the alteration was done.

The stock hoses fit with a slight trim, and the shroud also fit, but being the radiator is thicker it's kinda tight on stock fan... but it fits. The radiator cap was angled b/c the 2nd gen radiators are mounted at a angle so the top most point of the cap hit the underside of the hood. I drilled a hole with a 2" hole saw and all was well.

Looks and fits snug as a bug in a rug.

I'll see if I can dig up a picture.

 

thanks

 

Check this thread, might have what you're looking for...
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/radiator-replacement-option-832991/

 

No problem.

It definatly keeps the car much cooler.

Before the shroud:



Ohhh and all the sensor bungs were already there. 2nd gens are the same in that aspect.

 

I had a radiator problem a year back and a half back before i had let her sit but i just took an old radiator from a 73' dodge dart with an extra core added on and it ran very cool (minus the little fact of modify the radiator bracket)

 

here is what i did to keep my 13B-PP cool. I installed a stock S4 rad and it keeps the car much cooler than the stock FB rad ever did.

 

Why do you need a radiator upgrade? Unless you're racing or driving the desert in August, the stock one works fine, proving the internals are clean, clutch fan works, the fan shroud and under tray are in place and you're using the OEM thermostat.

 

I drive in the desert in August and don't even use an undertray - and my temps never get above 25% on the gauge.

I think as long as your radiator has been 'rodded-out' in the past few years, you should be fine with the stock radiator.

About every 5 years, mine starts to get hotter and I take it in to be rebuilt; tanks unsoldered, core rodded-out, cleaned, and repainted. Looks brand new when it goes back in, and keeps the car cool, as designed.

Does an undertray make that much difference? I'm thinking with my airdam, I'm getting a lot more forced flow at speed than any undertray would produce...

 

In stock configuration it does make a difference. When I installed the widebody kit, I opened up the center area all the way to the inside of the frame rails, tying the undertray to bottom part of the air dam. I now have so muchsquare fottage of opening to feed the radiator that I can run a 1200 cfm electric. The same fan that caused my FC to overheat in 90* stop and go city traffic.

 

Aero can be tricky. Aside from the assistance the undertray provides at speed, it will lessen recirculation. When a car is stationary, some of the air the fan pulls through the radiator will flow down out of the engine bay, forward under the radiator and be sucked back into the front of the radiator. This is obviously a bad way to cool your engine. Without the undertray, the path is a lot shorter.

 

undertray definitely makes a difference, specially while in motion, stationary i'd say its about the same, but while moving it focuses the air onto the engine, and creates that much needed downforce at 85+ mph