I got lucky it seems; every Gen 1 Dakota that comes thru the local yard has a new radiator in it. I have gotten 2 in the last month>>> there is 1 more out there now with a "Visteon" whose tanks are still shiney, in another JY refugee. .

Ideally, I have a 2 row Copper/brass version that only has slight seepage from the upper hose neck at the tank joint; I would like to put that radiator into my 318 truck as it is the heaviest duty radiator that I have.Its a 2 row as opposed to everything else I have being single row.

BUT I have the orig one from my 94 3.9 truck. I think the tranny cooler may be at least part way clogged. I have a brand new one in the 3.9 truck now.

I have a 93 318 powered CC that i am converting to a 5 speed. so tranny cooler means nothing any more on taht truck. IS the radiator the same between a 3.9 and a 318? Not "will it fit"/// as I know it will. but if it is clear and NOT clogged, will a radiator from a 3.9 truck properly cool a 318?

Both the orig one from my 94 and the copper version are at the radiator shop for evaluation. If they come back "good" would the 3.9 radiator be OK for the V8? If the 94 rad comes back as the tranny cooler's plugged beyond hope (a possibility) it is junk in an auto tranny equipped truck, hate to scrap if I can otherwise use it....

 

i put a 318 alum. rad in my 89 sport 3.9. had to cut a small amount of body metal on the drivers side that serves no purpose, took about 12 seconds with a grinder and cutting wheel. the rad is an exact fit as far as mounts go.
make sure you get the shroud of a 318, couple bucks at a junk yard, it also bolts up.

 

At Autozone the same radiator is listed for the Magnum V6 and V8. When in doubt on swapping parts just check www.autozone.com or www.napaonline.com or other sites for part numbers.

 

I have 2 trucks one w/a 6 the other w/an 8.... the V8 shroud is worthless on a 6, as it is shallower and the 6 cyl fan will be outside the cone so wont do anything with airflow; but yeah I did have to buy a shroud for the 318 truck I have, since it currently dont have one installed courtesy of the PO.

and the one I have in the 6 cyl truck came from a 318 truck; but I knew that if anything a 318 might take a larger one, which would not hurt a 6; but if the 6 cyl radiator was any less capacity, then it might not cool a 318 sufficiently.

 

well moot point; the radiator that I suspected of having a bad (plugged) tranny cooler wound up having a cracked top (plastic) tank; IDK if they checked further for the cooler once that was found; its funny as in that radiator never leaked a drop the only reason I changed it out was that I suspected that tranny cooler issue.

I hate plastic/aluminum radiators any tikme I have to buy new I look for a copper/brass style to see if one is available aftermarket.
the other choice (better actually) is my 3 row copper/brass one... I was gonna keep that one as my spare. Almost brnd new out of the local junk yard. had some seepage from the upper hose neck.
that, the rad shop was able to fix easily.

 

With minimal fabrication I put this radiator in my 96 318. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-380325-3

 

Cool. How did you mount it up and all? Show pictures!

 

It's pretty ghetto. I cut pieces of my old radiator hose for it to sit on. Then I used some cheap $2 cabinet support bracket peices that I bent on the top to screw it in place. The upper hose is longer than stock but the bottom should use a stock hose. I pulled the condenser forward and have 2 12" fans mounted to the condenser and 1 16" on the radiator itself. Used the stock overflow ziptied to the header panel. I also have an oil filter relocator mounted under the overflow so it is supported underneath by that. Here are some pictures.

http://www.havewrencheswilltravel.net/Dakrad1.jpg
http://www.havewrencheswilltravel.net/Dakrad2.jpg
http://www.havewrencheswilltravel.net/Dakrad3.jpg
http://www.havewrencheswilltravel.net/Dakrad4.jpg

 

Cool. And a remote oil filter location nice.
On 2wd I had a remote oil cooler. I always wanted to do the remote oil filter and cooler on the 4wd but since 4wd had less room for the oil filter adapter with the filter attached, I never hooked it all up. But now with the SAS I don't need to move the oil filter, so I may use the remote cooler again.

 

thats cool, ive seen guys use those before. is there any real benefit from using a remote oil filter?