Just purchased ADPI radiator...

B

baghouse

EZE
Joined
Aug 15, 2016
Hey! I'm new here. After 22 years of waiting, I finally purchased the car of my dreams - 1987 GM with T-tops.

Unfortunately I need a new radiator. I quickly found out that I can't just go to the parts store and buy one. I ordered and ADPI radiator which has the trans and oil cooler ports. However, there are no holes to mount that fan and the core is skinnier (depth) than stock.

Will this work? Do I risk overheating? Has anyone else installed one?

I took the old one out in hopes of getting it rebuilt. Is this possible?

Thank you!
 
The fan doesn't mount to the radiator.......It mounts to the top plate and the lower lip of the core support. There is a brkt that goes on the lower end of the fan, and it's bolted to the core support.
 
Chuck Leeper said:
The fan doesn't mount to the radiator.......It mounts to the top plate and the lower lip of the core support. There is a brkt that goes on the lower end of the fan, and it's bolted to the core support.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I realized that after I started piecing it back together.
 
Cool thanks. Yea mines is clogged to. The previous owner need his ass kicked for neglecting this car like this

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Earl, that is a stock replacement for a tb. It has both engine oil coller and transmission cooler. If you scroll down to the very bottom of the link you'll see the specs. It's the f body radiator with the correct side tank. They've been making them for a little while now.
 
ericmandy said:
Hey! I'm new here. After 22 years of waiting, I finally purchased the car of my dreams - 1987 GM with T-tops.

Unfortunately I need a new radiator. I quickly found out that I can't just go to the parts store and buy one. I ordered and ADPI radiator which has the trans and oil cooler ports. However, there are no holes to mount that fan and the core is skinnier (depth) than stock.

Will this work? Do I risk overheating? Has anyone else installed one?

I took the old one out in hopes of getting it rebuilt. Is this possible?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
Wow,I had no idea that there was such an animal. I have the F body radiator and would have bought this if I had known about it. It might not have been in production when I bought mine though. This radiator will do a very good job of cooling.
To move the bottom of the fan shroud toward the radiator,you'll need some spacers and or washers. Iused 1/2" spacers with my radiator,but yours has a thicker core requiring a thinner spacer or less washers. You'll need longer 10mmX1.0 bolts because of the washers and or spacers. To get the shroud up against the core will cause the heads of the bolts to touch the core. You can put the bolts in a drill and spin them againts your bench grinder to remove material from the heads of the bolts untill they are thin enough so they don't hit the core. To move the upper part of the shroud toward the radiator,you will need two 10mmX1.0 coupling nuts. The only sorce that I could find for them is ebay from china. They were poor quality as far as the ends being perpendicular to the lengths on the nuts. This is easilly fixed by spinning them in a drill up against your bench grinder. You will also need to remove some material from the heads of the bolts you use to fasten the nuts to the shroud just as you needed to for the bottom mounting bolts. You'll need to remove some of the length from the factory bolts that you will screw into the coupling nuts to secure the shroud to the upper radiator support. Then you'll be able to fasten the A/C line brackets to the remaining studs just like it was done by the factory.
The final piece of the puzzle is to move the wire that attaches to the resister to the other end of the resister to allow full voltage to get to the fan motor which will cause the fan to spin at a much faster speed.
 
I was able to get the radiator in! So far, so good. I had to modify the transmission lines so they would connect to the radiator. I don't have gauges (yet), so I don't know exact temps. At this point I'm depending on the idiot light.
 
ericmandy said:
I was able to get the radiator in! So far, so good. I had to modify the transmission lines so they would connect to the radiator. I don't have gauges (yet), so I don't know exact temps. At this point I'm depending on the idiot light.
Click to expand...
Do you have any kind of scan tool?
 
I just ordered one from RockAuto, their distribution center is not far from my work but they don't sell directly. I'll be replacing the stock radiator which is probably clogged, temps got up to 210 w A/C on in stop & go traffic during in mid-July when it was high 90s here. This weekend with low 90s and A/C temps stayed around 180, but once I got into boost a few times it got up to 195. I'll post my results this weekend.
 
Ive ran both the Fbody and the 87 Regal 307 radiator and the Regal v8 radiator fits better as far as the lower hose goes and its just as good on cooling. Pull both at the parts stores and see for yourselves! Some brands the 87 regal core is better!
 
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