Hi guys

I'm chasing some info to help produce some replacement decals for a restoration project.

I've got a whole bunch of stickers made up already, but I don't have a reference for the stickers which were applied to the radiator on new RX-7s.

Specifically, there is a small sticker applied to the top tank on all 79-85 RX-7s. This may or may not be different across different models. It appears that on 79-83 models with the thicker tanks, the sticker ran perpendicular across the tank, while on 84-85 models with the taller, thinner radiator, the sticker ran parallel with the length of the tank. I suspect it might be a warning sticker about coolant type or something similar. It appears to have a silver, reflective type finish. Very few cars probably still have these intact, but I thought it would be worth a shot asking.

Here is a photo I managed to find of a US 84-85 12A model. This is exactly what Australian delivered car would have had as well - it's an identical radiator. You can see the sticker near the top radiator hose.



If anyone has an original unmolested engine bay or spare radiators lying around that happens to have one of these stickers, I would be grateful if you post up a detailed photograph and if possible dimensions. Many thanks in advance!

 

KYPREO,

Here's a couple pics I took for you:




Looks like the sticker says:
NIHON RADIATIOR 8D 1
MADE IN JAPAN

Now, I can't verify that it says something different on USDM cars.. but I hope this helps.

 

Awesome. Thank you very much! This is very helpful. A friend of mine put a similar request on social media and got some other samples. I will post up here with more photos and my findings. The stickers appear to be the same for Japanese, American and Australian cars and was an ID sticker from the OEM supplier Nihon Radiator. The numbering appears to be a manufacturing date/run and a batch number. 8D = 1978, April perhaps?

There is another sticker on the side which has the Mazda part number prefix eg N249 for 83-85 12A radiators.

 

The 8D would be 1978, however the D wouldn't stand for April. The 1 stands for January. My car is tagged 01/1978 all over as you can see here:

 

1985 GSL-SE Radiator Stencil
My 85 GSL-SE radiator doesn't have a sticker on it. The information is stenciled on the right corner backside of the radiator.

 

Thanks Seniorchief. Very interesting. Looks like Mazda may have used a different OEM supplier for GSL-SE radiators: NipponDenso instead of Nihon (which I've found it part of Calsonic). The GSL-SE radiator was different in design - shorter than the 12A version to accommodate an air oil cooler underneath. Since the 13B 1st gens were available in North America only, whereas the 12A radiator style was worldwide, it kind of makes sense that Mazda sourced a different supplier.

I've got photos of an 84 12A model and it had the Nihon radiator with the sticker.

Doing some internet research, I've learnt that Nissan used Nihon radiators in all their Z cars through the 70s and 80s. You can buy reproductions of these very stickers from a few Z car online stores, eg
https://zcarsource.com/decal-nihon-radiator
Banzai Motorworks

 

Thanks for the info and links. Black Dragon used to carry some replacement labels for us. Maybe someone will bring them back at some point in the future.

 

The SE did in fact use a Nippon Denso radiator as well as the Nippon Denso air conditioning over the Sanden brand on the S and GS. Some 84-85 GSL models had the Nippon Denso A.C. as well and I wonder if they too use the Denso radiator.

 

the brake booster Bendix decal looks like it would work for our Mazdas from the z car source.

 

Australian delivered 1st gens all had Nippon Denso air conditioning, but it looks like Nihon radiators from 79-85. We didn't get the Sanden/Wynn's AC at all on any series.

The GSLSE radiator differs because the 6 port 13B didn't have the water-oil cooler, and the oil cooler fit underneath the radiator. The radiator is therefore physically shorter. The GSL had the same part number radiator as the S and GS, so logically it would have been supplied by the same OEM - the radiator is the same part number as the Australian and Japanese 12A models for 84-85.

Interestingly, the 12A turbo models in Japan got a different radiator from both the 12A N/A model and the US GSL-SE models. This was longer and thicker, with the oil cooler mounted in front of the radiator, instead of underneath, presumably for better cooling. On our Australian RHD chassis for 84-85 models, there are actually mounting points for the oil cooler sitting there for the Japanese 12AT models. Do the US chassis for 84-85 have these as well?

 

in the USA, there is an extra tariff for cars with A/C installed, so most Mazdas, up to the mid 2000's have A/C installed at the port, here in the USA. the Rx7's typically have a different, locally sourced system.

B the 83-85 12A radiator, N249-15-310 and the GSL-SE radiator N304-15-310A are the same physical size, except the GSL-SE is 2 row, and the 12A was 1 row. GSL-SE is a Nippon Denso, it had a white ink/paint stamp on the top tank. do not recall if the 12A is also ND.

all the 12A replacement radiators ive seen were two row.

12A Turbo was N253-15-310A. i assume its really similar to the GSL-SE, but not sure what the difference would have been

i think all of the 84-85 cars have the oil cooler mounts on the body

 

You are correct in that all 84-85 cars had the front mount oil cooler mounts on the body from the factory.

 

Thanks guys! Getting some great info together here.

I suspect there was a similar situation in Australia. Mazda Australia at the very least gassed up the A/C system here, but possibly installed the whole thing, as A/C systems were covered by a separate local warranty. The technician was meant to fit a special warranty sticker identifying the date and mileage at the time of installation - this went either under the bonnet or onto the firewall. The ones I've seen have a date after the Australian compliance plate. I have collected some of these aircon warranty booklets, which were included with the owners manual at the time of sale, some with the warranty sticker still in the booket. They also came with a groovy Mazda Air Conditioning sticker that could stick on the rear windows. These booklets were used from about 1984 right up 1998. I am going to be replacing these original stickers on my car as part of the resto.

Here are some photos:







Hmmm. With the GSLSE I was only going off the parts catalogue, which clearly shows the oil cooler as fitting beneath the radiator. Guess that diagram is wrong then! The parts diagram for the 12AT shows the oil cooler in front, with the taller style radiator. The 12AT is a twin-row version of the taller one on the 12A N/A models fitted with a water-oil cooler.

 

oh thats funny, i just checked and you're right, the USA 13B picture in the parts catalog is a little misleading.

as an aside, i've been redoing an Fc turbo, and the US shop manual and the JDM shop manual are almost completely different, even most of the pictures don't match, which is odd, wouldn't you just translate the text?

 

 

Thanks very much. That looks to be in excellent condition for an original radiator from 1979! Kudos.