Radiator question

[Scottjeffrey]

Merry Christmas everyone. As  my previous post discussed, I lost my new 320i radiator to a broken fan blade yesterday. I can't find another and was looking at the WallothNesch higher efficiency, stock size unit. Vicleonardo1 was kind enough to inform me that it would be a very hard to fit if my car has A/C. It does but with an updated Sanden 508 style compressor I switched in for the BEHR stock unit. Will it still be a problem? 

WallothNesch has one for A/C cars but is double the 300 euros for the non A/C unit. 600 Euros!!! Your input would be greatly appreciated on this matter. I finally got the car on the road after year of replacing damned near everything system in my driveway, took it out last Monday and discovered I need a differential (one on the way Fed-ex as we speak) and now this. Trying to keep smiling as I run out of money, lol. Thank you deeply.. With out this Forum and all your help, I could not have gotten this far and it would not half been half this much fun.

One Million Thank You's,

Scott In Fort Lauderdale

 

W

[dlacey]

Take a look in your engine bay..the standard rad has the pipe coming out the lower right corner of the rad...thats normally directly at the pulley on AC cars...hence the special rad with the offset elbow so the hose  goes more sideways and misses the compressor pulley & body. I would imagine that any good radiator shop can create the elbow...especially given that pic....they can also recore your old rad...

[SaharaX2]

Merry Christmas!
I ordered a W&M Radiator and had it modified by a local shop so it would fit around my AC Compressor.
I would recommend ordering the correct Radiator for AC. Although it costs more, I think you will be happier in the long run.


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[Scottjeffrey]

1 minute ago, SaharaX2 said:

Merry Christmas!
I ordered a W&M Radiator and had it modified by a local shop so it would fit around my AC Compressor.
I would recommend ordering the correct Radiator for AC. Although it costs more, I think you will be happier in the long run.


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I'm a bit confused SaharaX2, would it not be cheaper to buy the Non-A/C version and have it modified as you did? Any down side to that?

Thank You,

Scott

[SaharaX2]

Yes it is cheaper. It cost me about $100/50 Euro. For the conversion.

My radiator guy brought the fitting straight out and up to clear the compressor, not to the side like the W&N radiator.

He also painted the radiator with the standard gloss black mixture of enamel and gasoline.

i have since cleaned the glossy paint off and repainted with Eastwood Satin black radiator paint.

 

i have some clearance issues so I gave not installed my radiator yet. The W&N radiator is a little thicker than my current E21 radiator and the fan would hit the radiator on the passenger side.  I plan to install the radiator in the spring.

if I cannot get clearances, My new and modified radiator will be up for sale.

 

[tech71]

3 hours ago, Scottjeffrey said:

 Trying to keep smiling as I run out of money

 

W

Me too dude, doesn't look like a 12 grand car does it?

I still think its worth it, I get a lot of satisfaction seeing it slowly transformed by my hand.

You will get there.

Mikey

[SaharaX2]

You don’t want to add it up.
It will scare you to death!

Prices for nice 2002 parts are going straight up.
Back in the days of BMW MOBIL TRADITION, you could actually buy individual fasteners for a few cents. Now you have to buy at least 10, 20 or more and the price has gone up considerably.

Belt line trim was $160 for a complete set. Now it is $160 a piece X 10 pieces and they don’t fit.

Prices for high demand items like mud flaps and Euro or Italian Turn signals and Horn buttons have gone thru the roof.

With prices this high for nice spare parts, it would almost be cheaper sometimes to buy from BAT than build it.


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[Scottjeffrey]

1 hour ago, tech71 said:

Me too dude, doesn't look like a 12 grand car does it?

I still think its worth it, I get a lot of satisfaction seeing it slowly transformed by my hand.

You will get there.

Mikey

Hi Mikey, I have about the same in mine including the radiator repair next week. I'm putting  new-used differential in mine after it arrives next week by fed ex. It "SHOULD' then just need paint and some body work (not much). Paid $1700 with shipping 12 months ago and did all this by myself. Like you say, that feeling of, "Hey. I did that with my own two hands" is priceless (almost, lol). I finally got in on the road last week and found out about the differential needing to be swapped and then the damn radiator. I do wish I wasn't 63. My body has been moaning and groaning but hey, f-ck it. I had one your color in the eighties. Love it! We will get there. Perseverance furthers (along with some cash, lol). Great talking to you and thanks for the help!  Here's my list of work done so far.

Rebuilt heater box

Rebuilt heater valve

Rebuilt, upgraded entire A/C system-made my own hoses!

Cooling system

Charging system

Rewired wiper motor

Bought new looking front and rear seats

Whole new front end steering and suspension with struts and strut bearings

Guibo and Center support bearing

Front and rear brakes complete

Heater fan

New Weber

Rear shocks

New instrument cluster lights

New exhaust from down pipe, back

When the differential arrives I’ll drop the rear subframe to install all new bushings I have waiting.

I have all new rubber seals ( sold my 85 E23/ 5 speed to pay for the damn seals) so I'm ready for paint, once I’m done mechanically which should be soon (as soon as I can pay for it that is).

Pleasure talking with you Mikey. Let's keep in touch. You're not THAT far. I'm in Fort Lauderdale. I'll meet you in the middle!

Have a great, rest of Christmas.

Warm Regards,

Scott

[SaharaX2]

It’s only money!
Remember the mantra:
I don’t hang out in bars, I don’t chase wild women (anymore),
I just play with cars!
Merry Christmas


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Edited December 25, 2019 by SaharaX2
Spelling

[Scottjeffrey]

6 minutes ago, SaharaX2 said:

It’s only money!
Remember the mantra:
I don’t hang out in bars, I don’t chance wild women (anymore),
I just play with cars!
Merry Christmas


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Love it!

[Conserv]

18 hours ago, Scottjeffrey said:

I'm a bit confused SaharaX2, would it not be cheaper to buy the Non-A/C version and have it modified as you did? Any down side to that?

Thank You,

Scott

No one has yet shown me, in the parts book, how this “A/C radiator” thing worked, or even that there was such a thing as an “A/C radiator.” If you installed Behr or Clardy A/C in your car — or, generally, if the dealer installed it — you didn’t swap the radiator. Could the angled lower radiator outlets simply be a later design? I installed Clardy A/C in my new ‘76 in ‘76, and it already had an angled lower outlet, from the factory.

 

If no one can find a factory “A/C radiator” in the parts manuals, I’m going to suggest that BMW simply modified the design of their radiators prospectively in reaction to feedback they were receiving from the field. And, thus, there are simply early radiators with straight lower outlets and later radiators with angled lower outlets.

 

When I, last year, upgraded the ‘76 to the W&N heavy duty (not their “turbo”) radiator, it admittedly came in only one format: straight lower outlet. The radiator guy took both the angled lower outlet and the fan shroud brackets (square taillights only) off an old OEM radiator, swapped them into the new W&N radiator, and the W&N has worked fabulously with those modifications.

 

I had three recores performed on the ‘76’s original radiator tanks, two triple-row and one double-row, but the W&N keeps my engine temps lower than any of those. Due to the miniaturization of tubing and fins, the last double-row recore was supposed to be, and was, every bit the equivalent of the earlier triple-row units. But last year the original upper tank started springing pin-leaks everywhere and it had clearly reached the end of its life. Hence the purchase of the W&N radiator.

 

’02’s, even more so as they age, are prone to cooling issues. Don’t cut corners on your ‘02’s radiator!

 

Below, the original radiator — well, at least, the original tanks — is shown in the first photo. The W&N radiator is shown in the second photo. See the difference? Neither do I! ?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Conserv

[Scottjeffrey]

2 minutes ago, Conserv said:

No one has yet shown me, in the parts book, how this “A/C radiator” thing worked. If you installed Behr or Clardy A/C in your car — or, generally, the dealer installed it — you didn’t swap the radiator.  Could the angled lower radiator outlets simply be a later design?  I installed Clardy A/C in my new ‘76 in ‘76, and it already had an angled lower outlet, from the factory.

 

If no one can find a factory “A/C radiator” in the parts manuals, I’m going to suggest that BMW simply modified the design of their radiators in reaction to feedback they were receiving from the field.

 

When I, last year, upgraded the ‘76 to the W&N heavy duty (not their “turbo”) radiator, it came in only one format: straight lower outlet.  The radiator guy took both the angled lower outlet and the fan shroud brackets (square taillights only) off an old OEM radiator and the W&N has been fabulous with those modifications.

 

I had three recores on the ‘76’s original tanks, two triple-row and one double-row, but the W&N keeps my engine temps lower than any of those. Due to the miniaturization of tubing and fins, the last double-row re-core was supposed to be, and was, every bit the equivalent of the earlier triple-row units. But last year the original upper tank started springing pinleaks all over and it had clearly reached the end of its life.

 

’02’s, even more so as they age, are prone to cooling issues. Don’t cut corners on your ‘02’s radiator!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Interesting train of thought Steve!

[SaharaX2]

What Steve did cannibalizing an old OEM radiator was what I did with my W&N radiator.
I just have not installed it yet


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[Dave3x72tii]

I  never saw a  U.S. spec two barrel car with a "non AC" radiator from new, I think they were so equipped given the likelyhood of having AC added, and the cost difference to the factory was likely nothing. The core size and thickness is the same on AC and Tropical radiators. Therefore, if you have a donor AC radiator, you can have  the complete bottom tank swapped to the replacement radiator, I just checked the dimensions last week.

[percy]

12 hours ago, Scottjeffrey said:

 I lost my new 320i radiator to a broken fan blade yesterday. I can't find another and was looking at the WallothNesch higher efficiency, stock size unit. Vicleonardo1 was kind enough to inform me that it would be a very hard to fit if my car has A/C. It does but with an updated Sanden 508 style compressor I switched in for the BEHR stock unit. Will it still be a problem?

 

A few thoughts.  First, if the E21 radiator fit and you were comfortable with its performance, why not stick with what worked?  That said, there were a few versions of the E21 radiator, but presumably yours is at least dimensionally similar to the Type 114.  Second, there are several advertised on bay, e.g., https://www.ebay.com/itm/201677570035 and https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fit-BMW-3-E21-320i-M10-1977-1983-MT-Full-aluminum-radiator-56mm-2-Rows/254266420048?epid=1463125504&hash=item3b3375ab50:g:mroAAOSwYUZdBvWt. and depending upon condition, there might even be some acceptable "used" examples available at reasonable prices.  Ireland also offers some less expensive alternatives:   https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/aluminum-radiator-2002/  Another option would be to have one of the same radiator shops (that you are contemplating using for modifications) repair your E21 radiator.  Early E21 radiators did come in brass variants that can easily be repaired.  The later aluminum and plastic variants are potentially repairable, but the probability of success is, at best, poor.  Other possibilities include fitting radiators from other vehicles, e.g., the venerable Ford Pinto.  I am sure there are others.

 

I hasten to add that there may be radiators advertised in the classifieds.  This might be a good candidate for taking to a radiator shop  >>.  https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/254445-radiator/ 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by percy