Project: 2002 WRX Wagon -- The Gravel Express

[kcook]

rex, pm'd you. congrats on the wrx btw

[JustinG]

meh, no biggie, its fixed, youll probably find other things wrong, but comes with the territory of buying anything used from an unknown person.

[ScottyB]

in the same way they call Subway employees "sandwich artists" i would have to call the mongoloid that patched your rad a "JBWeld artist". that's some sketchy underhanded crap. double crap on the yard rad too, that's weak.

glad you had the presence of mind to watch your gauges like a hawk. sounds like the EJ shrugged it off. drive on :thumbup:

[CaptainHenreh]

in the same way they call Subway employees "sandwich artists" i would have to call the mongoloid that patched your rad a "JBWeld artist". that's some sketchy underhanded crap. double crap on the yard rad too, that's weak.

Yeah, There actually is a method for repairing a plastic endtank with JBWeld, but just slapping some across a crack ain't it.

[WRXtranceformed]

Ouch haha...well I'll withhold what you asked to be withheld

[Mike]

the asian did it.

[CaptainHenreh]

Any reason why I shouldn't trot over to MachV and pick up a Mishimoto all aluminum radiator?

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.fastwrx.com/mira08suwrxa.html">http://www.fastwrx.com/mira08suwrxa.html</a><!-- m -->

[WRXtranceformed]

Is there anything wrong with the junkyard one you have in it now

[CaptainHenreh]

Is there anything wrong with the junkyard one you have in it now

It's fucking plastic? :dunno:

[Jake]

Is there anything wrong with the junkyard one you have in it now

It's fucking plastic? :dunno:

The Miatas came with plastic radiators for 15 years. Ours will go from black (aka new) to brown to a kind of olive green color as they age. I would just watch the color of it and replace it with a metal one that you have to pay for when it's necessary. Mine was starting to turn (and seep coolant around the edges) so I replaced with an all-aluminum radiator about 6 months ago.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Any reason why I shouldn't trot over to MachV and pick up a Mishimoto all aluminum radiator?

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.fastwrx.com/mira08suwrxa.html">http://www.fastwrx.com/mira08suwrxa.html</a><!-- m -->

You could probably save 4-50 bucks ordering through a place I know. But MachV definitely makes it easy. I like my mishimoto and had no problems with it.

[ViPER1313]

Eh, plastic end-tanks are all the rage these days. I have never seen an end-tank split like the one that came with your car. Usually they will start to weep around where they are crimped to the aluminum if anything :dunno: , and in that case you can usually fix it by taking some vice grips and re-crimping the tank. MachV has been good on the few orders I have made, but their prices are a bit higher than other places.

[CaptainHenreh]

Maeng says he put a CX Racing radiator in his miata and never had any issues.

What sayeth the hive? I'd probably have it pressure tested before I put it in, just to be sure.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Eh, plastic end-tanks are all the rage these days. I have never seen an end-tank split like the one that came with your car. Usually they will start to weep around where they are crimped to the aluminum if anything :dunno: , and in that case you can usually fix it by taking some vice grips and re-crimping the tank. MachV has been good on the few orders I have made, but their prices are a bit higher than other places.

Adam meet BMW plastics, bmw plastics show Adam what ya do..............crack, burst, exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxplooode. :lol:

[NTIman]

We don't have a huge problem with plastic tanks on toyotas... most of them that are bad are 15+ years old.

[NTIman]

We don't have a huge problem with plastic tanks on toyotas... most of them that are bad are 15+ years old.

[JustinG]

Maeng says he put a CX Racing radiator in his miata and never had any issues.

What sayeth the hive? I'd probably have it pressure tested before I put it in, just to be sure.

i haven't seen anything bad about the e-bay radiators. same deal with the e-bay FMICs. I say go for it

[Mike]

I would stick with what's working.

[CaptainHenreh]

Project Update:

So, before I take it to the Amazin' Jason, I figured I'd get rid of this fuel-smellin' oil.

So it'd been sitting since monday, I checked the fluids, oil looked non-milky, coolant looked as good as it did, and the same level. Started right up, no issues there...but my sunroof is REALLY leaky. No surprise there, but I'm gonna pick up some racertape this weekend for a temporary fix, but that'll require some more investigation. In the end, like I said, I'll have a bodyshop put some glass in it, permamoonroof. SO whatever. Might try to see who put it in, see if they can repair it.

Anyway, it ran good. No excessive heat. No surprises. I like it alot. Pulls hard, a little more horses and a little more brake and it'll be perfect.

I also bought my first modification. Brackets for the H6 rear rotor conversion. An extra 3/4" in rotor diameter, everyone raves about it, and it was cheap soooooooo... :thumbup:

[ScottyB]

were'd you get the brackets? i'm having bad thoughts.