Mishimoto radiator replica (or is it?) - Fitment

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Juliuswws
Posts: 143
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:32 am
Location: Ireland

Mishimoto radiator replica (or is it?) - Fitment

Post by Juliuswws »

Hi Guys,

Bought the below radiator from ebay and fitted it yesterday. I'm very pleased with the results.

I got this radiator from "gpi_racing_nl" ebay seller for 135GBP (152EUR) including postage. It came from Czech republic by DHL, arrived in around 5 days (to Ireland).
This was the only seller who answered quickly and promptly to all my questions about thread sizes, location of stock, postage method, etc.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40MM-FOR-TOYOTA-MR2-SW20-3SGTE-1990-1997-91-aluminum-alloy-radiator/15262

This radiator weights just a few grams under 4kg (8.8 lbs) without any plugs, caps. Total shipping weight 5.5kg (12.1 lbs). It was safely packed with styrofoam and 5-layer cardboard box.

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Fitment of fan shrouds went pretty well, but it didn't align perfectly. As I read even Mishimoto doesn't line up properly.
I enlarged the bottom holes on the fan shrouds to 9mm, and made the top mounting holes oval on top of the radiator itself. There was a threaded insert on top of the radiator, but I drilled it out as the fan shroud has a threaded hole on top. (Mishimoto has the same thread on top - pointless). With these enlarged holes, the fitment went effortlessly.

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The radiator sits a little lower as some of the bottom rubber padding rusted onto the old radiator. I will address is with some rubber washers on the bottom, or put extra material under the top brackets.

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fan shrouds before
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I also rerouted the plastic drain pipe, 3rd picture.

Bleeding went super easy, you just need a rubber hose (1/8" ID) and put it on the top nipple. Once finished refilling with coolant, pull the hose off and screw the cap back. Tip: Screw the radiator cap back on in the engine bay, before removing the hose from the nipple. Due to vacuum, the coolant will not p1$$ out when you remove the hose.

I had another idea about the bleeding, but it didn't work out due to the design of the end of the nipple and valve itself. It didn't seal well at the threads. I could have worked it out with much PTFE tape, but I abandoned the idea. You don't want to dick around too much the soft aluminum threads on the bleeder and the hard steel valve or you'll have a bad day.
FYI the top nipple is 1/8" 27 NPT thread.
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Hose and sensor connections are perfectly identical to original.
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The "or is it?" statement in the title reflects my belief that this radiator is the exact same thing as the one sold under the name Mishimoto with the large M logo on it for nearly double the price.

I couldn't find any weight data* for the Mishimoto radiator, if you have, please let us know.
As stated above this radiator weights just under 4kg (8.8 lbs), 5.5kg (12.1 lbs) including packaging.

*On amazon, it says 2.27kg for Mishimoto radiator but for total weight, it says 8.5kg...
Over 6kg packaging...Yeah, right... Maybe steel reinforced packaging with lead shielding to protect against radiation?...sure

Cheers

Some pics of the radiator:
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raptor95GTS
Posts: 6213
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:14 pm
Location: glasgow
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Re: Mishimoto radiator replica (or is it?) - Fitment

Post by raptor95GTS »

looks very shiny indeed. Hope you have mesh in the front air damn to protect that or a stone is going to ruin that bit of kit :(
Juliuswws
Posts: 143
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:32 am
Location: Ireland

Re: Mishimoto radiator replica (or is it?) - Fitment

Post by Juliuswws »

raptor95GTS wrote:looks very shiny indeed. Hope you have mesh in the front air damn to protect that or a stone is going to ruin that bit of kit :(


Thanks mate! Got plans to get some chicken wire :)
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