Lancia Beta Forum

Hi All,

My Spider was overheating so took her to my garage who in turn found that the radiator was leaking from a small plug on the bottom tank. Under my instruction they sent it off to a Radiator Specialist (Brighton Radiators) who, a few days later, said that it was unrepairable as it was of plastic construction and not brass.   I previously thought that it had been recored by the previous owner but, in their opinion, it had not been as there was quite a bit of deterioration to the core and they thought it had just been "tarted up", painted etc.  It actually looks like a new rad ... AND I thought that all rads from this era were of plastic construction.

So, I googled a new or reconditioned rad last night and found very little .... well, in fact absolutely nothing.  Suppliers who used to sell them now list them as  discontinued.  Does anyone know of a supplier of either reconditioned or, even better, a new rad .... or does anyone had a very good rad for sale ?  Or, on the off chance, does anyone know of a fix for the leaking plug. That might buy me some time as the leak is quite slow, but ultimately the core letting the side down.

Any help would be really appreciated. 

Regards,

Chris

What type/year is your car? Up to facelift 2 I thought all the rads were alloy?

You won't get a new one, your best bet is ebay, or one coming up on here.

I'm not sure, but surely there must be some sort of glue that will make at lest a temporary repair?

plastic? lost me somewhere there,AFAIK I thought the only Beta rads with plastic headers were the ones fitted to late vx/ ie models ( not all just some late examples) which have alluminium cores earlier ones were (i thought) all metal. pretty sure the earlier style can be recored perhaps you should try a different rad specialist?

ah are you just talking about the drain plug itself? i would have thought worst case you could just seal it permanently and drain by removing the  bottom hose instead not ldeal as i believe if i remember correctly the bottom pipe curves up so it wouldn't fully drain but surely it would do for now?  

Some after market rads have plastic headers - mine does - but they must have been NLA years ago.

All the OE ones I've seen have been metal. The odds are very good that if you get one from a scrapper it will be possible to repair / recore it.

Agreed all spiders should have metal rads the rads with plastic headers were only fitted in production from late 1983

Today solution will be to chose a maker of alloy radiators and drive the car to them and have one made to the car. This is also an excellent opportunity to replace the old tired and dated fan and have the mounts made to suit the replacement. I have found the fans from Car Builder Solutions to be quiet powerful and reliable for my Montecarlo. I only had to add high amp waterproof connectors. Concept Racing near Hereford made my Montecarlo radiator after the group purchase alloy one failed after 12 years of service.

Have a look at the tuned car section on here I think Ian's Beta Coupe race car used a VW Scirroco radiator although I am not certain.

I hope this helps

Eric     

Hi Neil,

Thanks for posting this.  I was quite surprised by this as I would have thought that refurbished rads would be available for the built-in-numbers Beta as opposed to the rarer Montecarlo, which are relatively easy to pick up.  Well that's how it is so I will have to look out for a s/h one and possibly recore that if needed.

Regards, Chris

Hi Rosocorsa,

Thanks for your advice on this.  Obviously a late VX/IE plastic header rad has been fitted to my Spider at some point.  I will take a closer look at the core once it's returned and see if it's worth permanently sealing the drain plug. It must be a drain plug - what else could it be ? - as I have not seen it as it was not easy to see fitted to the car in the pi**ing rain, and then the rad company just condemned it !

If it is indeed knackered I will have to find a s/h metal rad to be recored.  To be honest I was not very impressed by the radiator specialist - they were quite negative and defeatist, and passed one or two derogatory comments about Lancia/Fiats of this era ...

Thanks again,

Chris

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for posting your advice on how to fix my knackered rad.  Metal is obviously the way to go, and if I get one in decent shape I don't mind getting it re-cored at all.  There is one on eBay right now for £50 but unsure about it's condition ....

Regards, Chris

Hi Eric,

Thank you your input on this, very much appreciated  Your option is obviously the ultimate way to go - A brand spanking new custom built rad would be great, and a bona fide long term solution. I can get a quote I suppose.  I like the idea of a new quieter smoother fan too.

It's funny you mention a Scirocco radiator as I've heard of it's use on Lancias before somewhere. 

Regards,

Chris

When I took my 124 Spider radiator for repair/re-core at  East End Radiators, Glasgow.  I was totally surprised that he guessed it was off a 131, then quickly changed his mind to say Fiat 124.  He said that it was difficult to get the right size core material now, and to leave it with him couple of days.  Went back a couple of days later and it was completly repaired, we then went on to talk about his passion...Vespa's and Lambretta's.

He also guessed my Lancia Coupe petrol tank correctly, went I presented it for repair.

Good old school radiator repair shop.

not sure if your rad will be a late one, the position and radiator style on late cars is a bit different even the hoses differ 

I thought all Spyders in the UK were of the non IE/VX type engine and hence had the early style radiators?

Chris, on the VX/IE header, are you talking about the expansion tank?

Peter

Both mine IEs have fully metal radiators (early and late model).

Hi Neil. In answer to your original question my Spider is a 1981 facelift model.  The previous owner (targa2000) fortunately fitted a stainless steel expansion tank, renewed most of the hoses & jubilee clips and tested the thermostat (amongst a great deal of other new parts/improvements), so this rad leak is just unfortunate.

Regards, Chris

plastic/alloy rad is from about autumn 83 build date so approx last 12 months of production

Hi,

Wonder if you could help me - I've just bought a recored radiator for my Spider and the mounting brackets for the fan assembly are different to the ones on the old rad (I missed this fact when I compared pics before ordering, oops).  Each of the brackets has two smaller holes to take a couple of bolts, whereas my original has larger single holes.  I've attached a pic of the new rad (if it works ..)

Any ideas would be very welcome.

Thanks, Chris

I know this is an old thread, but I'm in need of a radiator. The plug that connects a pipe to expansion tank snapped off.

'79 carb spider and open to ideas..

Hi John

I wonder if as temp fix you could bond in a brass or similar tube to get you going?

As you have probably found original ones are not available new (from what has been listed before) and so either find a second hand plastic tank one or if possible an old metal tank one and have it recored.

I also think there may be more than one thread on here about alternatives.

Peter

Tapped and glued a hollow M6 bolt to get me running again and then spotted top edge had a leak. Taken the plunge and have aluminum radiator on order. Now I need to work out if I need OAT, HOAT, G48, Paraflu 11, ethylhexanoate  or good old distilled water for the coolant

Hi John

I just use distilled water and good old ethylene glycol (blue) in mine. My understanding is that this helps combat the erosion of the cyl head. There is a Fiat specific mix I think which no doubt others will suggest as well.

Peter

I use Comma G48 and have for 10 years with no issues and stable temperature plus no corrosion or leaks I can spot. Note I did have to change a water pump recently, but it was 15 years old and I was running it faster than stock.

Eric
Opie Oils do this stuff mail order in ready mix so no hunting for distilled water. G48 5 year changes older blue Ethanol 3 year changes.

Hi Jon where are you getting your radiator from ok please ?
C

Company called Coolex and a helpful chap called Steve
I have the impression someone else here has ordered from them in the past

info@coolexperts.co.uk

Not fitted yet.

Note the expansion tank nozzle is on the top but they moved it to be the same as the original.

Cheers John

Hi Jon

Is this a direct swap, or do you need to mod any brackets?

Peter

Working away from home during week so won't get round to fitting until weekend, however expectation is direct swap.

Hi Jon.
I am considering this route to replace my radiator and so will be interested to know that it went in as a direct match to the original thanks.
C

Not had a chance to fit, but to answer the question I stood it in place. It sits high and a little unbalanced so I know there is a small adjustment at the bottom. This is a photo of the top and you can see the radiator wants to sit deeper in the bracket.
Gut feeling is the welds top and bottom stop it sitting perfectly first time, and a bit of bracket bending (or the easier "trim the rubber"), will fix it.

Hoping to fit Sunday, and will report back, but I think it's going to be the easiest swap based on hours of researching Rover 213s and a dozen other cars that share a similar sized radiator.

Thanks John and good luck with the fitting.
Has anyone else got a direct fit recommendation?
Thanks
C

Just a few photos to show the difference in mounting depth / width and the new radiator in situ

Just as a PS, I'm happy to donate my old one to the manufacturer so they have more accurate measurements. It only makes sense if anyone else needs to order one so let me know (whilst I've still got the box)

Hi John

That would be a useful item to have. Can you confirm the cost of the radiator as I would have thought Mark may be interested as well as others who have gone down the route of searching for suitable radiator.

Peter