I have a 1990 formula 350 i bought from a guy in the air force who did a lot of "custom" work to it. It has two independently
mounted electric fans-one wired always on the other as a secondary switched on at high temp. due to the always on nature of the primary fan it has broken loose and digging grooves
into the radiator. The car has 170k plus on it so im guessing a
new radiator isn't a bad idea. Also, where can i purchase a new
fan or how can i repair this one-i've looked around on the net and on the message board and can't seem to find a place to buy a replacement or a method for repair.

 

Well it might be helpfull to have the brand name of the fan. If there electric stock units you could get them from a Junk Yard or a parts store.

If there aftermarket type then you might want to look around Jegs and Summit Racing. That's www.jegs.com and www.summitracing.com

I bought 2 12" permacool electric fans from summit awhile back and mounted them behind my radiator.

As long as the radiator isn't leaking you could always use a fin straightener to smooth out any grooves. Or you could do the "I'm to cheap to buy a tool" method that I see around in this area where I live and use a small screw driver carefully. Now if it's nicked a tube and is leaking then you might as well cash in for a new radiator.

Make sure to get the nylon ties too for mounting, unless you're mounting them off the oem plastic bracket pieces with plastic ties (which works quiet well I might add).

 

Hey, a screwdriver IS a tool, ya tool! hehe
I straightened my bent fins with a precision screw driver, and the key is to work slowly top to bottom, left to right. It takes patience and care, but it worked fine in my opinion. I never came across any tool for this job... Where is a photo reference of it?
Bill

 

Recently bought one from Snap-On. Basically it fits a varity of different fin sizes. I used mine to straighten out my trans cool. Took me around 10 minutes and both sides looks like new again.

 

Right now, I'm holding onto the radiator I pulled and would like to replace the leaking plastic sides on that, as the middle section is still good. That is an interesting tool I haven't seen. Not sure where to buy Snap On locally though.
Any idea how to get these side tanks for the stock radiator replaced for a good cost? A new one is around $120 or so, so it has to be relatively cheap to be worth the effort.

I just opted to add Prolong additive to my engine, though the gaskets are still leaking, we'll see just how good it can be in the REAL world!
hehe

Bill

 

Summit Racing or Jegs should carry tools like that. I'm sure auto parts stores like Autozone or Advanced should beable to get a straightener for you too.

As for the tanks I was always under the impression that they were expoxied onto the core.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=132771

I would either try to patch it with some JB weld, buy a Junk Yard radiator, or cash up for a nice 31" x 19" Griffin $180 buck aluminum radiator.

 

The manuals (Chilton/Haynes) describe they can be seperated manually (side tanks from the main radiator) I'm not too sure on that. I also noted my resevoir is mounted on the top wheelwell only (missing lower bolt attachmnt), how is that attached at the top?

I'm having a pro look over my fan issue and see what might be the problem. I've added Prolong and notice it does heat up slower, but has gone past 220 still. I kept the driving rather short thus far, but I might have been expecting much more from this product then is delivered in reality. There's always VMax to try next (I think they call it) hehe

Bill