Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Hi to all the radiator removal experts! Primary objective was the R/R of the busted water pump on my '69 2000. Bolts & nuts are off the old pump, but did not want to risk damaging the radiator when sliding pump forward on the engine stud. Got the 7-blade stock fan off ( with a lot of box-wrench work ), & got 3 screws out of the shroud, but the 4th one ( lower left ) wont budge.

I decided to pull the radiator, with the shroud still attached with the single screw. I took the top brace & horns off, and detached the radiator from the lower brace, so the only thing ( I think ) holding the radiator in, is the air scoop. The original radiator has 130,699 miles on it and has never shown any signs of leaking, so I intend to have it flushed , the right-top tank-strap re-soldered, and the assembly re-painted.

After extensive searching of the forum tech-posts related to the air scoop, I have concluded that the scoop is a "must keep" for proper cooling. Being old and lazy, I am hoping I can detach the radiator from it, without detaching the scoop from the car. Looking at the radiator/scoop assembly from the top, it looks like two hex nuts, with bolts protruding from beneath the car, but decided not to "monkey with anything", until I checked with you folks first. One post I encountered mentioned phillips screws, & the necessity of "drilling them out", but from the top, they don't look like screws. Several posts also made reference to " early & later model steering boxes. My VIN is SRL311-08559, so I think I have the later box. I believe someone said the later version had a narrower radiator, so maybe the air-scoop mounting is different too.

All advice from you expert radiator-pullers will be appreciated, so meanwhile I think I will have a beer, & jump on some of my other bucket-list projects, that don't involve scraped knuckles.

Garry S

I'm not sure where you are currently, but

Disconnect lower radiator hose from the top, and disconnect all other hoses.

disonnect upper radiator brace, leaving it on the radiator. remove bolts from lower radiator brace

remove bolts from scoop at bottom - typically 10mm

with fan removed it should all come out fine.

There should be some picture of the scoop on here somewhere.
IIRC the nuts on the top are welded to the bracket on the radiator and the screws/bolts come from the bottom.

I just did this recently, 2-10 mm bolts secure radiator to scoop below as Peter said above.

Thanks to all three of you posters! When I looked at the nuts from above, and couldn't see a "lower radius", I was afraid they were welded to the radiator bracket. When I looked at the scoop from the bottom ( with the Wife's 8" mirror ) I couldn't discern the shape of the bolt/screw head, That was not surprising, as my cataracts are pretty bad, even using a strong light source.

There is no way I can crawl under the car anymore with it sitting flat on the garage floor, so I will have to jack up the front end at least a foot, & lower it onto two stands. Unforunatey, when I pulled the car into the garage years ago, I didn't leave enough room for the floor jack, so I will have to winch the car back out, at least 2-1/2', using a pair of come-alongs attached to my Wrangler's front tow-bar holes.

BTW, I shot the bolt-threads, from the top, with RB Blaster yesterday afternoon, so I hope I can back the bolts out without too much effort from the bottom. From the view with the mirror, it looked like the bolts are about 1" behind the tie-rod. With a 12" extension on the wrench, I should be able to find the heads 'by feel", & get the bolts out, without using the creeper.

Will keep you posted on progress --

Garry S.

If I remember correctly, the scoop is held on to both the body and the radiator with 10 mm bolts threaded into blind nuts. The bolts thread in from underneath and the blind nuts are visible from above (at least a couple are..
If you have long enough arms, you should be able to lay down at the front of the car and follow the body of the scoop to find the bolt heads.
I don't think you have to remove the scoop in order to remove the radiator, just remove those bolts holding the scoop to the radiator.
If there's not enough room in front of the car and you have access to either side, I've jacked up the car using the jack location as a balance point. Once it's up in the air, put your stands under it and let it down slowly, making sure the stands don't try to tip once they start to bear the weight. Once the car weight is on the stands, they're solid. Going at it from the side is very useful for connecting the speedo cable on 1600's as well as exhaust and brake work.
Dan

using a comealong?? just release hand brake and push!!

Well, I guess I am a "weaky mouse", but brake off -- wouldn't budge. Pumped the tires up to 38#, still no dice. Stretched the 1K come-along out, connected the rear bumper of the roadster to front hitch of the jeep, took up the slack in the cable & started to ratchet up. After four more notches, I heard a pop, & the Datsun started to move. I took the sissy approach, & used the jeep to move the Datsun back two feet ( enough room to jack from the front ). My guess, is that, with the hand-brake set for several years, the shoes had stuck to the brake drums. When I get all the "front-end" problems solved, I will pull the rear wheels & inspect the drums and shoes. I don't recall whether the shoes are bonded or riveted, but I have a spare set squirreled away ( somewhere in my shop ), to see which.

Garry S.

Glad you got it,.
Dan