Ok, so my stock radiator has a crack in the plastic header, and I'm going to replace it. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to replace it with?

The last radiator I installed on my Mustang came from Autozone, and it was not a direct replacement requiring some engineering to get it in place. Since I'm basically stock and don't plan to upgrade I don't feel that I need to blow the budget on a top of the line super capacity radiator. However I do want one that drops in and works well with A/C in the Oklahoma summer heat.

It's a manual transmission 1997 Firebird with LT1 of course.

 

Installed my auto zone radiator about 1 month ago. No problems.

 

For me, Autozone parts have always been a gamble. Sometimes they fit perfectly, other times they take some persuasion. If you want a GM replacement, one of these guys may be able to get you a pretty good deal: http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#Dal_and_Jason

 

I went ahead and bought a new one from O-Reilly and it worked perfectly. The only difference was that it didn't have the refrigerant line support near the bottom of the drivers side header. But I'm sure that it for ease of assembly seeing as how I had to break the old support hooks just to get the thing out of there.

 

I just bought one from AutoZone and it was an exact fit - '93 Z28 LT1. Also, O'Reilly and AutoZone will sell the exact sam radiator from the exact same manufacturer, as will most of the parts stores (NAPA included). It is a company named Proliance (formerly Transpro/GoDan) - they bought out Modine last year, so they are the dominant OE rad supplier in the aftermarket.

 

I bought mine from a local radiator shop about 1.5 yrs. ago.

 

find a local radiator shop.
they can put new tanks on and flush out your radiator for a 1/4 of the price.

 

How many miles can one expect from a stock radiator? I was a little concerned the errosion/corrosion of 140,000 miles would cause one of the tubes to fail within the next 10 or 20 thousand. Furthermore, I didn't feel that I would get out of the radiator show for under $80, which is half of the new one.

 

I paid $130 for a new non-GM radiator. Fit great; I wouldn't rebuild a 140K mile radiator.