PR/CXR Ebay Radiator

I ordered this off ebay on Saturday night and received it today. Box is good, no damage. Opened it up and packaging is also good. Rad is fully enclosed in bubble wrap followed by thin sheets of styrofoam. Opened that up and the first thing I notice is that several of the radiator fins are bent. Nothing too drastic but I can tell they definitely needed to handle it a little better. It's a pet peeve of mine when these rows of fins aren't perfect but I suppose it can't be help sometimes. Overlooked all the welds and I can say they're good but I have seen better. They could have definitely used a lot less wire. Some of the welds are just gobs.

My biggest complaint is the valve. They have a valve on the bottom of the radiator that's designed to release coolant when it's opened. Guess which way is open. Clockwise till the valve is all the way in. WHAT THE ####.

I see two problems with this:
1. We all been taught righty tighty, lefty loosey. For the less bright, someone just might install this and turn the valve all the way open following the rule of thumb. Comes install time, all your coolant will be on the garage floor.
2. God forbid, something snags onto the valve and just rips your whole radiator off.

I have yet to install this but that valve sticks out like a sore thumb. Hopefully, at the very least, it'll be above the bottom of the bumper. I'll write more when it's installed. For now I rate this a 7/10. Till installation time...here are pics.

 

[crimsondragon]

I installed it today. Weight savings = none. The stock rad and this rad is practically the same weight. Granted, the aluminum radiator is slightly thicker. With it, I installed new coolant hoses and thermostat. It holds rock solid in the middle line. I haven't logged it yet but will have pics and the info up soon.

 

[crimsondragon]

Checked the radiator again today. The valve LEAKS! It's as tight as it goes and it still leaks. It's a very tiny leak. It drips maybe once every 5 minutes but it's still a leak. I also noticed upon checking it, the valve was slightly loose again. This is not the cause of the leak. After I completely closed it off and wiped it down, I came back later and found a drop of coolant forming.