[V8] radiator removal questions

[Buchholz, Steven]

... three easy steps?  (1) Go to phone, (2) make appointment, (3) have a
beer?  :-)

While the V8s radiator isn't that difficult to swap, it is more complicated
than any other car I've personally had to work on ... primarily due to the
fact that it has an integral transmission oil cooler.  Make sure you have
replacement o-ring seals for that.  You will need to remove the belly pan
and bumper, pull the A/C condenser loose from the front of the rad and let
it swing down, pull off the coolant hoses and tranny cooler lines ... I
think you need to pull the engine oil cooler, electric fan and the shroud
for the belt driven one, but I'm not 100% on that.  For some reason I also
pulled the intake horns that sit on the front side of the core support ...
and needed to get some replacement plastic "rivets" that hold it in place.  

A side note I've been wanting to post for a while regards that silly upper
radiator hose ... anyone else pulled one of these apart yet?  I did, and
found that underneath that formed rubber "T" there is a plastic "T" and
three crimped hose clamps ... I'll bet that's where the failures occur.  I
plan to build a replacement "T" section using standard copper plumbing parts
... should be pretty straight forward, but there is a diameter reduction
between the inlet at one of the sides of the "cross" on the "T" and the
outlet to the left bank.  The hoses themselves seem to be in very good
condition.  I might actually look into how difficult/expensive it is to have
a custom metal piece made that is identical to the plastic part ... 

Steve B
San José, Kaleefohnia (USA)
> 
> Does anyone have three easy steps for removing the radiator 
> from a v8?  Any suggestions would be appreciated - Thanks