Replaced the Radiator, Miata is happy now.

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Today my radiator came in from Radiator Barn, and then it went in my car.  This was the biggest project that I have done period.  Not just on my Miata, but on any car.  I thought it would be fairly easy and it turned out, I was right.  I started at 2:00 and was done and on the road testing by 5:30.  I could probably now do a swap in two and a half hours, but my first time went a little longer.  I'm really happy with the results and the larger automatic sized radiator seems to work a bit better than my regular OEM one did, prior to it cracking like crazy.  It also looks a lot better in the engine bay than the old one did, and thats always a nice bonus.  I'm fairly happy with the quality of the Radiator Barn unit, and my only complaint is that the outlet was bent a bit and I had to bend it back.  But hey, it only ran me $147 shipped and I had it in 2 days, so Radiator Barn gets my seal of approval.
Thanks for everyones help deciding on the new unit and what my problem was, that is until the radiator just cracked and the problem made itself quite obvious.  Also, thanks to whomever put the radiator removal guide in the garage.  I didn't use it very much, but it was a nice piece of mind that I had it available.

A cooled miata is a happy miata. Glad you got your problems worked out

Thats quot;coolquot;.

Congrats and good for you ! Looks like we did the same project today. Same radiator, arrived yesterday,only 1 day for shipping. But why did you pay $147 ? Was there tax for your state ?
I started at 4:30 and was done at around 6:30. It was pretty straightforward. It's nice not to see any drips on the ground like my oem. I noticed that my car runs smoother too.
Only thing is I thought it would solve my temp gauge problem. After the car gets to normal operating temps, it goes past half, then all of a sudden drops to the normal 1130 spot.
Now I'm assuming it's either a bad,pretty new thermo,dirty 90 degree barb, or the thermoswitch.

Yeah, I'm in Alabama, which for some odd reason was included on the quot;Add Taxquot; list of states.  And I'm running smoother now too.  It was a very straightforward install.  I didn't even have to remove my intake or remove the fans first to get the old radiator out.  I was able to just shift some things and pull everything out.  Then it was a simple move the fans and mounting points over to the new one and pop it in.  I good afternoon's work.
And I too would have had it in one day, but my payment got delayed or something.  My invoice I got said they didn't get the money till 8 something the night I ordered, I placed my order at 9:45 AM, hoping to get it shipped same day.  Oh well, its in now.

Bleed the system and check your thermostat.

I bled the system very well.  I made sure of that.  I don't want this radiator going out on me too.  The thermostat seems fine, as well as the gasket.  It wasn't the cause of the previous radiator failure, if thats what you were wondering.  The previous one was the original one that spent its whole life here in the south, she only lived in Alabama and Georgia.  So it was old and brittle.  Plus, it had a small leak that I noticed two weeks ago or so.  I figured it would be fine for a few more weeks.  Well it wasn't and that leak turned into a small crack, which turned into a 7-8quot; crack in our mid 90's heat, which turned into dumping all my radiator fluid on the road and a BP parking lot I pulled into.  
Thanks for the advice though, I wouldn't have bled the system nearly as well as I have had I not read that its very important last night.

Sounds like today was a day for radiators.  I installed a dual core godspeed radiator today.  Cool miatas are happy miatas indeed

Nobody said if they did the hoses too. I did when I replaces mine (I went with OEM), as I figured it would make removal of the old one easier (just cut off hoses) and also would set my cooling system up for several more years of trouble free duty. (water pump only has about 30k).


Originally Posted by Mad Swede
Nobody said if they did the hoses too. I did when I replaces mine (I went with OEM), as I figured it would make removal of the old one easier (just cut off hoses) and also would set my cooling system up for several more years of trouble free duty. (water pump only has about 30k).

Yup, did both too.