'92 per cat Griff - radiator bolt removal ?

[Mickygee]

Radiator has sprung a leak, removed all the hoses, washer reservoir and alarm no probs for its removal. However the two 13 mm bolts that hold the radiator on won't budge. Do they screw into a captive nut which is glassed in ? If so don't want to apply too much torque.

Done the usual with plus gas to no effect, any top tips to get them off ?

Cheers

[PeteGriff]

Hi Micky, there are bushes set into the glass fibre (well, they are on my 92 430 pre-cat). When I removed my rad the bolts were tight (all those years down there getting corroded in). I just squirted in penetrating oil the day before and on the day of removal just went for it, there are two chances. On refitting I used stainless bolts and used copaslip on the threads. Also, as a tip; I made up some high density foam pads to fit the mounting bracket and around the two 'pins' at the bottom that insert into the bodywork, also put some foam strip around the edges of the radiator. This meant I could tighten the rad but it still had movement on the pads, alleviating flex in the rad. Hope this helps. Pete

[Mickygee]

Thanks Pete,

Have left the bolts soaking in plus gas and WD40 overnight so will leave for a few days before I try again. I guess if I turn the nuts I can also always reglass in some new ones.

Thanks for the tip on the foam, the rad fitted seems to have something similar. I will replace with fresh because I read elsewhere on the forum that the nose of a Griff flexes a little which can cause a rad to fail if it isn't padded.

Mick