Hi all,

Would it be possible to utilize the flying Miata v8 radiator setup on a ford 302 ??? Apart from the hose routing would it be possible to do?? It looks like a good plug and play setup..

Cheers

 

If you are planning on running the shorter sn95 accesories it should work. I doubt it would work with Fox accesories.
Howe has a very nice aluminum off the shelf rad for under $200 shipped with no filler and the inlet/outlet in the correct spots. I'm using it on my current rebuild. The only downside is you have to sacrafice the upper radiator header and hood latch (aerocatch time).
I'll post some picks and a link later.
-Jason

 

do you have a part number? I already have a radiator but one of my friends starting collecting parts for his miata

 

Yup:


342AFNF - 19x26 with Ford locations and no fill. Both the inlet and outlet are 1/4 inch larger so different hoses needed to be used. I have the part numbers for them as well but I'll have to search. I think one came from a 1960's Chevy pickup and the other from an AMX or something.

Here's Howe's site with the dimensions:
https://www.howeracing.com/p-7455-crossflow.aspx

And Summit with the price:
Howe Aluminum Radiators 342AFNF - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

Ignore Summit's picture. Also ignore the ship date they have posted. They quoted me a month and I got it from Howe in three days. I don't think Summit realizes that Howe keeps this size in stock.

I had to cut out the original radiator header and hood latch out to make it fit. This sounds drastic but the finished result is much improved over the old original mounting in that now the radiator seals against the hood (no more upper shroud needed), its higher position makes it easier to fill without air bubbles forming, it's removable from the top in about 10 minutes and Martin's lower header is now solidly mounted to the side bars without compressing the radiator itself. The radiator is actually completely floating on rubber mounts at this point. The best part is if or when it blows again I'm only faced with a $180 price tag and about an hour of work to change it out.

I'll post up pictures of the installation when I get the chance to upload them.

-Jason

 

I cut my radiator support out too, not too drastic at all.

 

Pics as promised:











Also the hoses I had to use were:

Upper: Dayco E71036 - $16.99 from AutoZone

Lower: Gates 20345 - $8.86 from Rock Auto

The upper comes from a 1988 Chevrolet Astro Van 4.3L V6 and the lower comes from a 1963 Chevy C10 pickup.

-Jason

 

Great stuff thanks Jason ☺

 

Hi Jason,
Did you fabricate the radiator support, or is that Martins? Very clean look nice job. Thanks for the post.

 

Thanks.
I used Martin's parts as the core of it and built a system by which it could "float" off of it. Martin's parts as designed sort of hold it under pressure which seems to work fine as long as it never gets nicked by anything. As it now sits the entire radiator is floating on rubber and can not slide forward or aft. It can also be removed from above in about 10 minutes.

The radiator I used is about three inches taller than Martin's. If I were to start from the beginning with his I'd mount it this same way (sacrifice the hood latch, remove the upper radiator bar). Doing so with his would get the lower end of his where the original Miata radiator was and seal it against the hood.

-Jason