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**peterrc** · 8 July 2011, 12:01

Hi TY, it look as if you got a bout of Stag Paranoia with the purchase. If the car is not overheating by all means upgrade the radiator WHEN it needs changing, save your money and spend it on the Stag when something DOES go wrong.
Peter, Cupar

**jleyton** · 8 July 2011, 12:01

Hi TY,

Welcome to Stag ownership and the forum - good choice, well done

If your car doesn't overheat then you'll probably still be ok with a standard rad provided you do all of the precautionary things that you can read about on here if you do a search. (Flush, backflush, remove block plugs, fill correctly and change regularly & use good quality antifreeze etc)

However, I was like you and wanted a bit of extra reassurance and I've got an uprated rad from Rimmer bros which seems fine.

The only problem is getting it fitted as, being thicker, it sits very close to the crank bolt. A tip (from Martin?) is to put a sheet of cardboard on the face of the rad as you fit it.

Good luck and you just enjoy that great new car of yours

Cheers

Julian

**Staggard** · 8 July 2011, 15:12

Originally posted by Triumphant1969 View Post

I have recently purchased a mk2 stag. I always liked the cars when i was younger and love driving it now

I have an ok general knowledge of cars but i'm a complete novice when it comes to stags although ive learnt alot already since owning one and reading the Forums alot.

My question is:- Which is the best radiator? Ive seen the Tony Hart Supergill at £252 as stated in the Club magazine,yet when i enter the ebay page i cant find the radiator. Also Robsport have a Gill uprated radiator at £175 So which is the best one?

My car doesnt have any overheating problems it's more for peace of mind.I've also ordered the Header Tank kit in the magazine too.

TY

old saying !!! If it ai'nt broke don't fix it

**jamcarr2** · 8 July 2011, 15:58

When I first got my stag I thought I must get an updated rad and a header tank to stop it overheating so I fitted them both and drove every where with one eye on the temperature gauge It never over heated. Then I had a bit of trouble with the water pump so decided to fit the external water pump and as I was removing the up rated rad I damaged it so I re fitted the original and removed the header tank .It still hasn’t overheated, its constantly on the E on the temperature gauge and I have stopped worrying about it
I think the moral of the story is, if the engine is well serviced and the cooling system is regularly flushed out the stag is no more likely to over heat than any other 30 year old car .
john

**Moraystag** · 9 July 2011, 03:23

TY I agree wih Julian. I have original set up viscous fan and what I can only see as a pretty original spec radiator.
As Julian said, good basic maintainance on the cooling system should be fine. My radiator is begining to show a bit of surface rust only and could do with a paint but it's solid. I will only be removing it in the begining of the winter, for full flush out and a coat of paint. Also remove block plugs which will be threaded type on the MK II and stick the hose in and let it run and flush the cooling cappilliarys in the block out.
Also in the winter if or when you lay it up, put in a strong concentration of Ethylene Glycol based blue anitfreeze / coolant I put 50/50 in for winter.
I remove it at the end of winter and replace with 35% to 40 % /60% mix of water.
Others may think that I change it to much but honestly no problems to date.
Also what I have is a very large white bucket. Obviously it helps me to see just how much black stuff, if any comes out of the block or radiator. Last flush there was a couple of blackish specs but basically negligable sighn of particles, so I'm pretty confident that there is little corrossion within the system

**Andy Rundell** · 9 July 2011, 08:35

Hi TY,
Welcome to the forum ....... lots of good advice already ....... back to the original question 'which is the best radiator' . I'd suggest the best one is the Aluminium one from EJ Wards (http://www.ejward.co.uk/aluminium-ra...tch-p5268.html) It is, however, also the most expensive ! and as mentioned above may be more than you actually need.

............... Andy

**Westfaling** · 9 July 2011, 09:10

Just a thought but if you do go for a wider radiator with consequent reduced clearance to the crankshaft you might want to make sure that the engine and gearbox mounts are in good shape.
Regards
Nick

**Bob Heritage** · 9 July 2011, 09:37

I would suggest that a visit to your local radiator shop could be worthwhile. I have kept my original radiator and had a high performance matrix fitted, all is fine. With modern technology the matrix is much more efficient, modern cars have very thin rads compared to the old ones.

**elvimto** · 9 July 2011, 09:44

I bought my Mk 1 car of a man who owned it for thirty odd years all stock and lived in Florida he said it never gave him any problems with overheating. Since I never owned a Stag before when i got it to California I jumped into the overheating issue i had the radiator checked out the radiator shop said it was in great shape I also overhauled the water pump and switched to a Mk 2 inlet manifold the heads were overhauled as well and the block flushed. I looked into the newer aluminium radiator and the header tanks etc etc I had the car out on the freeway last week end did about 25 miles running up to 80 + and the cooling system goes right to the middle of the guages I did put one in each head. I have the long life anti freeze I think it is by GM and use distilled water also plan on doing the flush and refill stuff. Like any type of system it is best to make sure you have a functional set up as a starting piont and use good maintenance practices, I think this is better than throwing money at it.

Just my 2 cents Stuart

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