What failure looks like

JimD

JimD

Waiting for Godot...
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Well, it is only a failure in the sense that I failed to figure out how to use a $75 Honda Civic radiator in my 124 Special. That would have been awesome, but I gave up after a week of fiddling with parts trying to mock up hoses and brackets to make the Civic rad work.

So now I have reinstalled the "refreshed" original radiator with a new external thermostat, new hoses and mostly new clamps. I was surprised that Amazon and O'Riellys actually listed a lower rad hose for a 1972 124 Special. It is a Gates 20793 hose . It fits perfectly and was almost identical to the old hose. It is a lower hose for a Jeep, but I don't recall the model year.

124_REFRESHED_RAD2.JPG


Note the nice run of POR15 on the top of the fan housing. Since the rad looked so nice after the shop painted it I figured I should freshen the rusty fan housing. POR15 is great stuff , but a mess to work with. After I got the whole thing coated, I took a few extra minutes and watched for drips and brushed them out as they appeared. Thought I did a bang up job until I installed the fan today. It would have looked pretty nice without the drip. Oh well. :(
 
Certainly not failure. You found a way to extend the life of an original part from forty plus years ago for what will hopefully be another forty years!

That is success to me. Way to go Idaho! (a Pixar reference from Toy Story)
 
You are such an optimist Karl. :)

I know it isn't a failure really, I just had high hopes of showing up at FFO with a shiny Civic radiator in the car. Now I will have to bring an X1/9.
 
Stock looks better. One of my pet-peeves is an aluminum radiator peering out from behind the grill. Unless it's an inter-cooler on an Integrale.:)
 
Mark said:
One of my pet-peeves is an aluminum radiator peering out from behind the grill. Unless it's an inter-cooler on an Integrale.:)
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Well then Mark, don't lay down in front of my 85X. ;) You will see an aluminum radiator.

I looked around for a "new" stock radiator for this 124, but found nothing. Apparently, the 124 Special with the 1438 OHV engine and automatic trans is the black sheep of the 124 family. There are reproduction radiators for every other 124 model.
 
JimD said:
You are such an optimist Karl. :)

I know it isn't a failure really, I just had high hopes of showing up at FFO with a shiny Civic radiator in the car. Now I will have to bring an X1/9.
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Get real, you are not going to out Denise Denise when it comes to bling! :)

You should bring both, tow the X with the 124. It's pretty flat the whole way this year...
 
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