I dropped the Escort radiator off at Mobile Radiator Services at Oxley to have the outlet pipe at the bottom re-positioned to the left hand side (passenger side). This will make the plumbing easier, as the 4AGE engine has it's inlets and outlets on the passenger side (front side in FWD configuration). They also flushed and checked the radiator and painted it up. Looks like new! I now have to figure out how to mount the Toyota cooling fan on the front of the radiator. The radiator guys said it was 15% more efficient if mounted at the rear, but there isn't enough space on the Westy. I also dropped off my bent wire forms for the alloy cooling tubes to BR Automotive across the way from the radiator shop. So I'm just waiting for a price from them.

Unfortunately, the advice I received to shift the radiator outlet to the same side as the inlet was wrong. That would result in only half the radiator being used. So the outlet was moved back to the opposite side to the inlet. The work was done by Western Suburbs Radiator at Sumner Park for $25 .They also made up the pipes in aluminium for $80, so that was good. To fill the reader in, the blacktop 4AGE has it's thermostat at the rear of the engine, so you have to run long lengths of either rubber hose or metal pipe from the radiator. We used flexible hose for the radiator outlet as this photo shows, and basically had the aluminium pipe made up to match.

This photo shows the ali pipes running alongside the chassis, with the flexible rubber hose attaching to the thermostat at the rear, and the radiator at the front. I still have to work out a system of clamping the pipes to the chassis. The pipes aren't polished, and I will eventually remove them and polish them to a high gloss. Maybe I'll have them anodised too if I can do it in budget. The only worry is the proximity of the exhaust headers to the rubber hose. I'll have to either shield the headers, which would be a pity as they look great, or remake the ali pipes so the flexible hose joins up further back. We have now filled the system with coolant and started the engine. So far we haven't run it up to full temp, as there is no fan yet.

It is inconvenient to remove the nose every time I need to top up the radiator, so it was inevitable that I would move the filler cap to a more accessible spot. Western Suburbs Radiator did the job for $100, and it looks great. The neck is 75 mm height, which means it is above the water level of the old Escort radiator. I now have to organise a refill bottle for the overflow. I wish I had thought of this earlier. Note the insulation tape protecting the rubber hose from the headers. It cost $70 for 10M from Revolution Racegear! I really have to find a cheaper supplier for these things.