I'm a Dumbass (Radiator death)

[BKCowGod]

So I was driving on a nice windy road, lots of debris from redwood trees, and at some point I punctured my radiator with a stick. F--k me. Managed to hit around 230°, coasted 3 miles and parked for the night.

No new coolant in the oil, no new oil in the coolant that I could see, oil pressure was still good, so at the moment I THINK i saved my gasket (though I'm not holding out too much hope for that) but my question is - there's a local shop that will recore my radiator and make it higher capacity for less than the cost of a new one from IACenterlinearossaP. Any reason I shouldn't go for this? Any other options for better cooling? Any suggestions, donations, spare high-cap radiators sitting around?

Anybody wanna trade their Spec Miata for my Spider?

[elite38868]

Damnit Ben! I told you to be careful! Now thats one more thing to get fixed...Did you make it home? And you cant lose the almighty 78' spider! If you need any help, lemme know.

[sono veL.O.ce]

go for it. I had a three row re-core put in my GTV and its brilliant.

[Rosenmöller]

Hello
I just did a recore on my radiator and its brilliant. They used what they called a high rerfomance net . My engine temperature never exceeded 180 Fahrenheit ever since.
I think there is no sense in buying a new radiator just go to your local shop and have the work done. It is quiet common to do a recore on radiator especially with cars like cabs or trucks with a high mileage. The guy who did mine said that with about 100000 miles on the clock it is advisble to have a recore done.
He charged me over here in Germany 150 Euros for it and I'm really happy with it
Bernhard

[BKCowGod]

Thanks all... Just as icing on the cake, this happened the week before finals week so I can't even get near my car for a few days, but I'll check it out when I do and keep you posted.

For those who know the Santa Cruz mountains - my fun story: I turned off the engine on Empire Grade Road and managed to coast down Felton Empire Road (Sean, remember that road I took you guys up on the week before tour?) and roll another three blocks into felton to park it behind the post office.

[JoeCab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BKCowGod IACenterlinearossaP

[Roadtrip]

How badly was the radiator damaged? I've got a hard time visualizing how a Spider radiator can be damaged beyond repair in anything other than a major collision.

If it's just a tube or two that is damaged, just solder them off. Probably cost $40 to have that done by a radiator shop. Alfa radiators have pretty good excess capacity and Alfa engines, when healthy, are cool running anyway. Unless you're racing, driving at 100 mph in Death Valley in August routinely, etc., I really don't see the need to spend a lot of money on a high performance radiator unless you really need it. There's several Spiders on this BB and Alfa Digest now being dismantled, if you're damaged one is really smashed beyond repair.

[BKCowGod]

John -

I'm not sure what happened to the rad, but preliminary looks suggest a redwood tree slammed the radiator at about 45mph. Since my current rad was already partially clogged, I was budgeting for a new one. I just happened to see a performance upgrade that cost less and thought why not.