Pinto Car Club of America
Shiny is Good! => Your Project => Topic started by: ctpinto on March 04, 2011, 07:07:19 PM
I've been doing work converting my 80 to a 72 and i came across the radiator issue. i believe ill have to cut off some of the support and probably need a different shorter radiator so i can bolt on the front valence. i have a 72 donor car with the 2.0 radiator but i though this would be a little small seeing that i'd like to drop in a 2.3t in the summer. im on kinda a low budget so i afford having a custom aluminum one made up lol. anyone else done this before? any suggestions? Thanks
Will
I've been running 2.3s in one of my 72s with the 2.0 radiator and had no heating problems even on hot days here in SC. I run a 12" electric fan with a thermostatic control in front of the radiator since I have no clearance for a engine driven fan. I'm even using a power pulley and large diameter pump pulley which slows the water pump for less drag. I don't know how this will work on a turbo engine, but I plan on finding out some day! I used a maverick radiator for a while, but you are correct that the lower valance will not bolt up unless it is notched or reshaped aka bent severely down. Good luck!JT
Ok, I think I'll try swapping them this week. My original fan should still fit. Any other experiences or suggestions with radiators here? Oh, and does the front valence get replaced when installing a fiberglass spoiler? I might eventually do that.