12-8-07.

2000-2004 Ford Focus Radiator into Datsun 510.  Mounting (2) Hoses (3)

Of course my 510 had to have a leaky radiator, and it's probably just as well.  The original units are heavy and rather small.  Newer radiators are much lighter and cheaper.  You can also get about $30 worth of scrap metal from old 510 radiators.

First off, I inquired around, and no one could get a 510 radiator.  Not in existence.  Next stop was the web and even dime quarterly had a nice article on 77 Rabbit radiators working just fine.  So I searched, and the cheapest rabbit radiator I was able to find (pain in the ass) was 140 bucks.

After that, I spent 8 hours searching the radiator book I borrowed from Pat at Spaldings.  Found a few likely candidates with similar inlet/outlets from Mitsubishis.  Fortunately, they were also expensive, which led me to another round of Internet searching.  Lo and behold, I found an old article about the rally beater 510 Sport Compact Car magazine had a while back.  They mentioned using a Ford Focus radiator made for an 800 hp drag car that was identical fitment to the stock radiator.  Hey, they even mention it's possible a stock Focus radiator may work, but there's only one way to find out, and that is to try.

Off to the wrecking yard; new aftermarket Foci radiators are 68 bucks!!!  http://www.spaldings.com  1.800.366.2070  With that in mind, I grabbed a radiator and began assembling the parts needed to retrofit.  Keep in mind, although the stock Focus radiator is a 1 row, it still cools a modern 2.0 Ford motor that makes more hp than the stock L16 ever did.  I will be reporting any over temperature issues, but so far there aren't any, aside from high rpm freeway running, which is because I haven't filled the gap in between the core support so the air is escaping the radiator at high speed.

The important part here is I could have spent $300 on a custom radiator.  However, I was hoping to find something common to work for others, and in case I managed to smash the core support during a rally, if I could beat it back out, go down to the boon-doggle store and pick up a common domestic radiator for quick, cheap replacement.  That would be a lot better than a smashed $300 custom radiator.

The overall fitment is quite simple, but you will need to trim a few things.  The Focus radiator has a number of molded plastic bits around the back designed to fit with some plastic or sheetmetal core support of that car.  Fortunately, these bits are plastic and are easily removed with a dremel with a cut-off wheel.

The bare Focus radiator.  And the things you'll have to cut off:

These are on both sides, don't worry, they're not close to the plastic caps provided you don't get carried away with cutting.  Anyway, trim off all these excess tabs as otherwise they'll hit the core support.  I would recommend a dremel tool for the smaller cutting wheel.  Make sure you cut through entirely, DON'T try to snap off the plastic, you might snap the tank instead.

These posts are at all four corners and big rubber mounts are squished onto them to secure the radiator.  You will need to trim the bottom two posts as you'll be cutting the mounts (if you do it the way I did) and once installed, you'll need to trim the top two posts even less to clear the hood.  They almost fit without cutting on the top posts.

You will also need to remove the horns, and relocate the headlight relay, as they're in the way.  Prepare for the horns to be rusty and a pain to remove.  I broke one mounting bracket.

Focus Radiator into Datsun 510. Mounting (2) Hoses (3)