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 Post subject: Chinese Alloy Radiators
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 8:59 pm 
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MinisPlus
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Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:12 pm
Posts: 172
Location: Mooroolbark, Vic
I know that alot of people here are running these radiators bought via eBay.

A few questions I have are:
1) Can anyone recomend a particular seller? or are they all o.k?
2) Is there any clearance issues fitting a 50mm core over the 40mm core rads?

It's going in a roundie running a worked 1275 to be used as a daily driver.

Thanks,
Ben

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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:16 pm 
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Yay For Hay!
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Location: Wodonga - Vic/NSW border
someone posted a little while ago that they'd pulled theirs out because it was rubbish....


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:27 pm 
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1098cc
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Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 2:21 pm
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Location: Soon to be Newcastle
mine's still in because it's been great so far.. 40mm

temp used to climb to 3/4 at idle even in cooler months.. and in hotter months would stay at 3/4 and over when driving...

now in hotter months it slooowly creeps up to just between 1/2 and 3/4 at idle, and while driving stays at 1/2.. during cool months while driving it stays between 1/4 and 1/2...

but I also upgraded the water pump to a high flow cast impellor... which all 1275s should really have anyways...

I did have some issues getting the bottom hose clamp on - there wasn't enough clearance between the radiator body and the outlet pipe..

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:31 pm 
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1275cc
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Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2004 1:52 pm
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Location: Melbourne, VIC.
I had trouble fitting one into a Moke with an A+ 1275. I couldn't get the shroud to fit at all, so I mounted the rad direct to the body. I also junked the engine driven fan and run a thermo instead. Otherwise all seems fine.

Cheers,

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:39 pm 
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1098cc
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Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:11 pm
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Location: Huddled I'n the corner crying
get your old one fixed up it will cool your car as much as you need it to and i cant see any of theese chinese ones lasting 40 years


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:47 pm 
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1360cc
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Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:07 pm
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Location: SE Melbourne
I put one in my deluxe that has a 1275 A+ in it, and it fit fine without having to modify the standard shroud. How the hell I'm going to get the thing out now I have no idea so just have to hope it lasts a while. :lol:


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:57 pm 
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MinisPlus
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Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:12 pm
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Location: Mooroolbark, Vic
At under $100, it's cheaper than a reco radiator! I just don't want hassles with an off shore seller... so I'm wondering who out of the 3 or 4 chinese sellers people have used?
Also I'd like to fit the 50mm core radiator, but am concerned it will be near imposible to fit. There seems to be barely enough room to begin with, so I wanted to know if anyone had sucessfully fitted one??

Ben

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:13 pm 
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Mods rock!
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minimanic wrote:
At under $100, it's cheaper than a reco radiator!
Ben


The consequences of failure of a cheap radiator will far out weigh any savings between having your good copper radiatior recoed and one of these.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:34 pm 
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Location: Wodonga - Vic/NSW border
GT mowog wrote:
minimanic wrote:
At under $100, it's cheaper than a reco radiator!
Ben


The consequences of failure of a cheap radiator will far out weigh any savings between having your good copper radiatior recoed and one of these.


I can't go past a standard aussie 3 core radiator.... costs $50 to have the tanks taken off and cleaned, my radiator actually has at least 4 tubes soldered up completely.

My car always runs cool - I compete in it once a month and drive in town and on the freeway, even in traffic in summer... never gets hot. Actually, tell a lie, it bubbled a bit of water out when I stopped for a nap beside the freeway on the Australia day weekend

I had it out the other day, was bit grubby...

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:45 pm 
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SooperDooperMiniCooper ExpertEngineering
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Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2005 9:46 am
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Location: Under the bonnet son!
Wow, it looks like even your radiator has had an oil leak Simon.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:33 am 
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998cc
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Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:04 pm
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Location: Ipswich
I had a small core std radiator in my car and it was getting hot all the time. in past vehicles (leyland minis) i have tried larger core radiators with the engines i had and they didnt cool as well as this cheapo alloy one.
i even went to the extreme of fitting electric thermo fans to try to keep it cool. dont get me wrong the standard mini radiators are good, i am not putting them down, they do a good job given you have the right one, with the rest of your system working well.

i suppose it comes down to all the other things in your cooling system aswell. i used a new water pump, coolest thermostat i could get, good quality coolant, and i made sure i flushed the block 3 times before i fitted it all back together.

but my cheap alloy rad has been great. i must say the only annoying thing is the coolant discolours the polished tanks easliy. if you spill coolant on the tank when they are hot it marks them with water spots. and you have to polish them out all the time. it can be annoying.

fitment wise, i did have to cut the slightest bit out of the corner of the shroud to fit around the more square edge of the ally rad but otherwise it was a direct fitment in my round nose. i have removed and refitted it a few times now and everytime it is exactly as the origonal was.

im very happy with mine.

Here is my origonal radiator. was recored but just couldnt cool well enough in low speed traffic.

Image

Here is the alloy radiator in all its glory.

Image

Here is another pic of an ally rad i have taken off the net.

Image

I am in the middle of an engine rebuild right now, and will be using the alloy rad again. hope this feedback helps. good luck. 8)

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:42 am 
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religious status
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Location: near Baulkham Hills, NSW
That `original' radiator looks like an 8 fins/inch UK jobby by the top tank shape, if so it's no wonder it struggles. Oz rads from `65 on were all 16 fins/inch.

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 Post subject: Alloy radiators
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:56 pm 
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1275cc
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Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:57 am
Posts: 3022
Location: JIMBOOMBA QLD.
I bought one on Ebay but it came to me from Melbourne. Being the butterfingers I am as soon as I took it out of the packing I dropped it right on the filler neck. Bingo Broke the little overflow fitting that is screwed into the side of the filler neck. I managed to get the broken threaded bit out with an easy out. As even the fitting is Aluminium I contacted the seller to see if I can buy a fitting and I explained why. He said no problems I will send you one for free. Few days later I got a small packet in the post. It Contained the fitting I needed plus the Neck and another Radiator cap. I sent him a thank you message as I think he deserved one. What we have discovered is that they work better with a lower pressure cap though. The one they come with is 1.1 and we used a .9 or something. But they are a good Item and fitting them only requires a slight trim of the shroud around the top corners and the screw holes drilled out to 1/4 inch. They sure beat even having the original radiator cleaned out as that costs between 80 and 100 Bucks these days. At least you have a radiator that you can afford to throw away if it stuffs up. Don't forget to use a Good Quality Anti boil anti freeze. I personally find that the best and only one to use is the one sold by Toyota it is RED. I Will not use any other brand for obvious reasons. I have done tests on most of them The Toyota one passed the tests with flying colours the others failed.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:04 pm 
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1275cc
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Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 4:53 pm
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Location: Port Stephens, a little north of Newcastle, Australia
jester99 wrote:
i must say the only annoying thing is the coolant discolours the polished tanks easliy. if you spill coolant on the tank when they are hot it marks them with water spots. and you have to polish them out all the time. it can be annoying.

This might help... haven't used it but it could be the go.

Image


http://www.sharkhidesalesaustralia.com. ... ctant.html[/img]


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:31 pm 
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1098cc
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Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 3:27 pm
Posts: 1696
Location: Inner West, Sydney
Mine's been in for 18 months with no issues. Bought it locally at 3 times the price before they all started appearring on ebay. Looks exactly the same though, can't imagine it's any different.


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