Radiator replacement question Options

[Langing]

Bit the bullet and decided to try to resurrect my Base Level 94 Celica ST 1.8L with manual transmission. It has been unable to start for over a year and a car buff friend stopped by and assured me he would help me pull the engine and get me through the problems of rebuilding it's 7AFE.

So, the engine bay is empty, the garage is full of mostly washed parts, the engine block in on an engine stand, I have a rebuilt head, and I am faced with the following problem about the radiator:

What caused her to shut down was an overheating event which messed the head gasket, warped the head so it could not be repaired, and blew a hole in the RADIATOR.

It just so happens that a couple of years ago when I was redoing her suspension, brakes and wheel bearings all round, I needed a front steering knuckle and found one on a Celica at a local junk yard. At that time I also ripped off that Celica's decent looking radiator and brought it home where it has been stored ever since.

My Celica's transmission is manual. Its radiator is different than the one I got at the junk yard, which is for an automatic transmission. There is no identifying information on the junkyard radiator, and I do not recall what Celica it came from, but maybe 1995, just guessing. I moved the two fans from my old radiator and was easily able to mount them on the junkyard radiator. The only way I know the two radiators are different is that 1) my radiator core is about 5/8" deep, while the junkyard radiator core is 1" deep, and there are two teats on the bottom of the junkyard radiator (for automatic transmission fluid) that are not on my radiator.

All that said, the QUESTION:

Would it be ok to use the junkyard automatic transmission made for radiator in my Celica that used a radiator made for only for a manual transmission? Would it cool my engine properly? Are their any snakes laying in the direction of my thinking?

[root]

I definitely know where you're coming from! I've been there with a MR2t a few years back. Some parts, you can get away with salvage, and some not. I'm definitely not an expert by any means, so maybe that radiator you have there will work just fine with a little prep. Was the radiator pulled from a Celica? Around my neck of the woods, I almost never see a 6gc in a salvage yard. Just a bunch of domestics and Hondas, haha! If its in working shape, that's a good find!

As for cleaning and testing it, you may be able to test it with a air compressor or shop vac if you have that available. Cap one end airtight somehow, and fill with water on the other. On the open end, clamp a hose on. On that hose, clamp the shop vac hose on, and turn the vac on using the blower side. It will push a a lot of volume but not too high of a pressure to see if there's any leaks. It doesn't need to withstand a real high pressure anyways, as your normal rad cap is usually 13 psi / .9 bar. This came to me the other day as I used a similar method to do a coolant flush on my ST. I did a few flushes, then I blew out the rest of the old coolant with the vac before filling it up with the pink stuff.

I hope the rest of your project goes well!