Got mine installed yesterday, links to the fittings at Home Depot were a big help. I ended up buying the same fittings at Lowes. Now that the radiator is in I guess I am happy with it, however the quality control from Mishimoto is terrible.

The lower mounts were off just a tad but not horrible, the top ones had one lined up decently but the other one was so far off that I could not use the rubber center section and even then I was a squeeze. Both of the plastic/rubber locking mounts I had to pull the rubber piece out and shorten it. They had the radiator built to the correct height but the mounts' welds keep them from fully inserting.

I had to completly cut off one side of the fan shroud so it would sit flush up against the radiator and add two pieces of sticky backed foam so there wasn't a gap at the top of the shroud. Also the tabs and bolt holes for the shroud were too far apart so I had to add a couple of short sections of hose to the shrouds lower mounting tab to keep it secure.

The lower tabs for the condenser to slide in need to be redesigned, they are so big the condenser tabs can go too deep. You have to get aligned and hold it in place from the bottom while getting the bolts(not provided) started. The bolts needed for the shroud and condenser have to be really short so test fit before install.

The worst of all is the large chunks that have to be removed out of the bottom of the core support where the condenser mounting tabs hit. I made the huge mistake of putting the radiator in before trimming the core support and ended up having the radiator stuck in place. Then I had to chisel the core support to free it.

Also, once the radiator was in the cap would not go on because the neck was too close to the core suppport so I had to trim the core support with an angle grinder.

Wasn't this advertised as no modification necessary or was I dreaming that?

 

Man, I hear ya. I had many of the same issues with both radiators I got from them. Both had defects. At least the second one didn't leak, and they have a good warranty.

 

wow, i had to trim the core support by the filler cap and trim by the drain plug, but other than that, mine was pretty good, well, except for the trans cooler threads issue.

 

great idea, keep that trans cool! and thanks again for the hookup on this. i will be going to home depot tomorrow with part numbers ready.

 

went to home depot and got the same parts. the coupler would not thread onto the radiator threads, probably because i screwed them up enough when i was originally trying to get the mishimoto parts to work. i plan to just put jb weld on the threads, screw it on the best i can, and let the jb weld make the seal. kind of ghetto, but i just want it done

 

Really? Yeah you probably damaged the threads. I had no issues at all on both radiators I had. No leaks from there either. Just make sure to torque it down tight, but not TOO tight that you strip them.

 

i dont plan to torque at all with jb weld on there, just tight and then let the jb do its thing. i think they are partially stripped already