ea81 Body with 2.2...radiator

[ShawnW]

The lower hose outlet on my 83's radiator points directly toward the timing belt cover and leaves very little choice on mounting a hose between it and the thermostat housing.

 

What have others done to get around this problem. So far I have come up with:

 

A: 90 degree bend of copper pipe so you have a 2" section of rubber, a 90 degree bend and then a flexhose running from the bend to the thermostat housing.

 

B: Custom radiator...I dont like this idea I have a nearly brand new radiator already.

 

C: 1.8L Impreza radiator? The only advantage I can see on this is the hose outlet is already the same size as the thermostat housing AND the mounts for the impreza radiator fan (nicer fans).

[Subarutex]

Shawn, what I did with my wagon (its an '86... but this still kinda applies) is bought a brand new radiator, then I had the inlets and outlets modified to be the same size as the Legacy's radiator. I then found a hose the right size with a perfect 90 degree bend in it (it looked like an L, cost about $12 at Schucks) I cut the bend out, and affixed it to the radiator, then in the part pointing down I used a straight section of copper pipe (3" or so long) to join a slightly modified stock hose to it. And, because i forced the 2 hoses together, you can't even tell there is a piece joining them together... aside from the 2 clamps.

 

It would be simple as pie to take this one step further and change the bottom to a larger, 90 degree bend down. Then just use some creative hosage.

 

I'm still not 100% happy wiht my upper hose... The bends don't like the 3" of lift I have.

[88HatchMonster]

Below is a pic of the setup I've got on my hatch.

 

Stock rad, but the car's got a 4" lift and a custom angle steel lower rad support, which may have given me slightly more wiggle-room. Everything works great though. I found the right angles and sizes I needed in 2 prebent hoses and used a 1 1/4" plastic hardware store coupler to connect them. BTW, the stock EA81 rad with a 12" hayden fan does a phenomenal job cooling the EJ22. No worries there.