After a large amount of back and forth, even more swearing and general loud noise the radiator is in.
Firstly, the fans....
The stock fans do not line up with the mounting bosses welded to the radiator. Some adjustment of the holes in the fan shrouds was necessary.
I also ran a M6x1.0 tap through the bosses to clean out the threads done at the factory.
In the end they looked like this (you will note the foam under the shrouds to ensure air is sucked through the radiator, not around the fan units)
Due to the size of the Godspeed radiator, one of the mounting brackets bolted to the side of the radiator must be removed and put in the car before the radiator. I removed the passenger side one as it is easier to get to once in the car. You won't fit it in otherwise. A 10mm socket will undo those bolts easily. You will need to do a little trimming with a file or tin snips to fit the brackets. They foul on the edge of the radiator core.
To get the radiator physically into the space, you need to....
1. Remove all the ducting across the front of the engine.
2. Get the support bracket still on the radiator under the chassis rail so the radiator will slide in.
3. Ensure that the AC condenser is not intruding into the space of the radiator, undo the bottom support bolts for the condenser and let it swing forward if this is the case.
4. Bolt up the support bracket already in the car.
5. Check for any contact points that should not exist.
6. Re-fit the ducting, connect the hoses, fans, etc.
These radiators are substantially larger than the stock ones. As an indication, the stock coolant system takes 6l of water, I refilled the new radiator with the water out of the old one (with coolant already added), and then ADDED another 3l of water from a watering can. Once the car was started another litre went in.
With the cold weather we have been having locally, I notice that the car is not getting as hot as it used to. I have fitted a cooler thermostat in order to try and keep the engine as cool as possible. With the stock radiator this made no difference as once the car was at operating temperature, the stock radiator could not shed heat quickly enough to keep to the lower temperature.
With this radiator, specifically it's extra coolant load, the engine is actually not reaching operating temperature on cool days. This is a problem I will poonder before winter returns - when it doesn't get above 10deg C the whole day, I may have to change the thermostat back to a stock one to protect the engine.
