Radiator removal - Advice required.

[Boatbuoy]

Hello All,

Once again I call upon your knowledge and assistance.

As the title suggests I'm trying to remove the radiator. The top and bottom hoses are now off as are the nuts and washers on the mounting points, it's also loose from what I suspect are locator pins at it's base. Essentially the radiator is completely free, but it's prevented from being lifted out by the side mounting bracket hitting what looks like a oil line going to it's own radiator. See the pic below:



I really don't want to have to remove the hight pressure (oil?) line, not that I can see a way of doing so anyway. So, after a lot of head scrathing and pondering, wiggling and swearing I gave up, shut the bonnet and decided to ask you lot!

Can you help?

Regards,
Olly

Edited by Boatbuoy on Sunday 6th February 18:16

[JensenA]

Keep pulling and wiggling it, there is nothing else holding it in There is nothing to do with the PAS on that side of the car, that bracket must be the radiator itself ?
Trt lifting the other side of the radiator out first to see if you can angle the rad, and so edge it past the oil hose. If not, near the VIN Plate you'll see an Allen headed screw, that helps hold in the oil cooler, loosen that off to see if it allows the hose to be pushed over a bit.
Basically it's just a question of "Wigglin' liftin' an' jigglin'" till it comes out.

[scotty_d]

Took mine out last week i see your large fan is still on ,remove that and it gives you more space to bring it back towards the chassis then you can lift it and move it to the drivers side and it should slip out at that.

[Boatbuoy]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice so far.

Scotty_d - How did you get to the lower fixings on the large fan while it's in situ? It seems to me that it's obstructed by front chassis cross members.

Olly

[JensenA]

Take the Radiator out, they're easier to get to then!

Depending on how tight the bottom 2 cowling nuts are fitted, take a look at the cowling and you'll see that if the nuts are loose it can be 'twisted' off.
Jusr keep jiggling it around, try and prise that hose over a bit and squeeze it past. A bit of brute force is needed, they are never a Haynes 'Undo the bolts and lift out' type of job.

[scotty_d]

I just removed the fan its self not the cowling there are 4 10mm nylock nuts that hold it on to the cowling face, A little tight but you can get then with a socket and a extension.

Good luck it is tight but you can do it your self better if you can get a mate to give you a hand its heavy to lift out the car.

[Boatbuoy]

JensenA said:

they are never a Haynes 'Undo the bolts and lift out' type of job.

I was watching an episode of Wheeler Dealers the other day and Ed China was dismantling a Lotus Esprite. He was getting all annoyed because every part that he wanted to remove required it's neighboring component, and its neighboring components other neighbor to also be removed. He said something like "that's the problem with hand built cars".

In my job I'm required to think about something called 'design for manufacturing' where as well as designing a single item you have to consider things like assembly, service route, feasibility, etc... I tried applying this logic to the radiator removal. I was trying to figure out the assembly process in the hope that it might through up a few ideas, with all respect to Blackpool I think I might have read too much into it!

Right, where did I leave the big hammer?

[Mad Mark]

What I did with my radiator, before refitting, is to grind down as much of the excess material on those brackets as I could. It makes re-fitting a lot easier and also if you ever need to remove it again.
Don't forget to grind the bottom ones too.

[markh1]

Can't help with telling you exactly how to do it, only that it takes a lot of wiggling and swearing! I empathise with trying to get it out, behind the oil lines it is probably one of the most frustrating jobs on a cerb.

[Luckyone]

The pipe you circled goes to the aircon "rad" I spent ages loosening that too only to find it wouldn't move till I moved the PAS reservoir as well. That still made no difference. So then I took off just the big fan (as mentioned above) & it came out ok, should have done that in the first place!

[Boatbuoy]

Cheers once again for the advice, keep it comming!

I've just been out to the car and had a look at the large fan (passenger side) and the nyloc nuts that hold it on. I'm guessing there's just three holding it as the fourth seems to be obscured by the front suspension upright plate thingy. I could just about get my hand where the nut would be but couldn't find one. Am I right?

Unfortunatly I don't have the right tools with me tonight to get on with it, it's so frustrating!!

Regards,
Olly

[scotty_d]

There are 4 nuts i found the 4th one by feel but it is there.

[scotty_d]

Infact here is a picture of mine ready to refit hope it helps you.

[Boatbuoy]

Hello again all,

Good news: finally, it's out! Quite easy when you know how.

Bad news: The air con condenser looks pretty shot aswell.

Thanks for all of your help.

Regards,
Olly

Edited by Boatbuoy on Tuesday 8th February 19:08

[JensenA]

Boatbuoy said:

Hello again all,

Good news: finally, it's out! Quite easy when you know how.

Bad news: The air con condenser looks pretty shot aswell.

Thanks for all of your help.

Regards,
Olly

Edited by Boatbuoy on Tuesday 8th February 19:08

Not the end of the world, about £130 from Clever Trevor - worth doing whilst the Rad is out.

[Mad Mark]

Scotty... Take a grinder to those sharp edges, Round them off a bit better. I see you have cut them back but the sharp bits may still cause damage to the body work as you put it back in.

[scotty_d]

Mad Mark said:

Scotty... Take a grinder to those sharp edges, Round them off a bit better. I see you have cut them back but the sharp bits may still cause damage to the body work as you put it back in.

It must have been a previous owner that cut them back. I had to do it in my Chim but i seem to have loads of room to get it in and out in the Cerb but cheers for pointing it out, i will get the file out and round them off any way .

you may have just saved my inner wings i will get a lift back in with it too.

[Boatbuoy]

JensenA said:

Boatbuoy said:

Hello again all,

Good news: finally, it's out! Quite easy when you know how.

Bad news: The air con condenser looks pretty shot aswell.

Thanks for all of your help.

Regards,
Olly

Not the end of the world, about £130 from Clever Trevor - worth doing whilst the Rad is out.

or.... £98.54 inc VAT & delivery from Hypershop