I contacted
www.alloyracingfabrications.com about getting a new radiator made up for my Fulvia 2C.
James has come back to me and asked for a drawing of the rad as he's currently misplaced his.
I'm not sure how the Berlina S1 rad compares in dimensions to others but I feel the one in my car is about 1/2" too tall and fouls the bonnet release cable slightly so was going to take the opportunity to rectify this by having a rad made with less height.
I'd appreciate any help and a copy of the drawing if poss.
My bonnet release lever has always slightly fouled the top hose and is bent upwards, and was like it when found, however there was a new old stock one for sale on Subito when I was looking on there last night, and the lever is straight.
Another point to bear in mind is that that mounting bushes above and below the subframe are not the same, the one on top is thinner and that may have a bearing on the situation, one thing I would suggest if you change the radiator is to change the top & bottom hoses for the silicone ones, they are now available in black so they look like the originals, which is what I shall do next time my bottom hose needs changing, for all you coupe owners you don't know how lucky you are as the Series1 Berlina bottom hose is a nightmare to change, it involves taking off the air cleaner complete, the horns, the mechanical fan and it's pillar mount, the engine steady bar, release and move back the dynamo, remove the two fan belts, the grille surround and Grille, held in place with studs with the nuts inside the engine compartment ( but you'll need to remove the air collection box behind the grille on the nearside to get at the grille fixings that side,) you then need to release the bottom hose where it fits to the water pump from underneath and is difficult to do, before you can manouver the radiator out complete with bottom hose, but only after you've also removed the heater return hose, the split pins and castellated nuts that hold the radiator in place to the front subframe crossmember, remove the bolts and making sure not to lose the tube spacers.
One good thing though is at least you have the long handle to the drain cock by the horns, assuming it's not frozen!
It's also worth taking photos and measurements of the header tank position, the first time I had my radiator rebuilt they managed to get it on closer to the back of the core rather than located at the front and there was no way I could get the radiator back in place! and it took a fair bit of scratching my head before I realised what they had done.
Brian
8227
