im gonna get a fluidyne radiator soon but i plan to take off the stock radiator and putting in the new one myself....any advice??

 

plasters!

 

get a pair of large plyers to remove the god awful stubborn clamps.
Do a lot of stretching before you start
have a puch bag or stress ball handy
make sure the fluid is all drained ( du-oh!)
apart from that its all relativly straight forward.

 

yup, it's fairly easy.

 

No reason for all of that! it's a piece of cake for a fluidyne from what I hear.

Steve

 

well...you might wanna FSM if you think its hard(shame on u if you dant have this or a haynes/chilton manual...)

 

Even after moving the old clamps with pliers, my rubber hoses were pretty much stuck to the pipes so i took a razor blade and one cut in the hose made them come off real easily.

 

This is not that bad of a job. When I did mine I spent two evenings to get it all done. I found this link http://www.rx7guru.com/radiatorhowto.htm as a good start. Also, I recommend that you replace ALL the water hoses, not just the two for the radiator.

 

Just finished changing my radiator and it's a piece of cake. Highly recommend that you change at least the 3 hoses (2 big that go to the engine and 1 small that runs up to the AST) when you install your new rad, I chose to also change all the coolant/heater hoses as part of my FD longevity project, I've heard that Ray over at Malloy is running a special if you buy all the hoses.

Take the rad out the top, as I don't see how in the world it could be removed (as per Mazda's workshop manual's instructions) from the bottom. You drain the coolant, take out the airbox, battery/tray, remove the IC, bend the AC drier out of the way (the AC lines are easily bendable), disconnect the fan wires, and remove the IC shroud. You'll then have full access to the radiator. Disconnect the old hoses. If they're stuck a good way to "break" them loose without cutting the hose is to get some big plyers, grip where the hose connects to the rad and turn back and forth slowly. Remove the two nuts that hold the rad in place on the sides/top. Pull the old rad out. Save the rubber "stoppers" (2) on the bottom corners of the rad, you'll need to use them on the new rad. Swap the fans and "stoppers" onto the new radiator. Drop the new radiator in (push it down until it sits as low as possible, otherwise you'll have problems fitting the IC shroud back in, clearance is tight) and reverse the above steps.

Almost any weekend mechanic should be able to do this.

 

should be easy and straight forward. You wont know untill you try.

 

My friend and I installed a Fluidyne on my car. I followed the workshop manual I have and took the radiator out throught the bottom. It was a piece of cake, my friend had done it throught the top and he said it was a lot more hassle after we took mine out. Also if you put it through the top and not carefully you will bend some fins. When you go through the bottom there is no risk at all. I replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses. It took us approx. 5 hrs. and about an hr. refilling back with coolant and making sure all the air was out of the radiator.

 

Its pretty easy, but take extra care when bending the AC lines, as they do bend easily, but they also kink/break easily.

 

Which is why it may be easier getting it out through the bottom. There is no need to remove the IC if done this way. If my Koyo can be done this way, then a Fluidyne should be a piece of cake (yeah, riiight ;-).

My big suggestion is to keep the radiator and the AC condensor wrapped in heavy cardboard (usually it is shipped that way) until it is bolted in. This will minimize the chances of you damaging the fins while sliding it in/out.

Good luck,

-bill

 

I did this in a couple hours almost 3 to be exact with no manual or anything. Its completely simple and my car is running much cooler. Actually i did it twice because i broke the nipple off the stock radiator when replacing the fans so then i replaced the radiator car didn't even sit for a day.

 

If you decide to remove from the top (which I don't recommend), I suggest that you cut the intercooler shroud so you don't have to bend the AC-drier. Bending those lines is risky, especially if you do it more than once.

Doing this job from the bottom is the way Mazda recommends, with good reason.

If you don't have a Factory service manual, PM me.

 

what do you use to make the radiator mount vertically. I have a fmic and im going to install it and need to know what to use to mount the radiator vertically.