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Dear Frustrated

Removing the radiator from a Mini must be one of the most difficult jobs you can do on a Mini. The normal way to remove a radiator is to dismantle it in place and remove it a piece at a time. The workshop makes this sound easy when it says to just remove the screws from the cowling and lift out the radiator. What they fail to mention is that there is only just room to fit your arm and a spanner down between the radiator and the engine but not enough to see what your doing.

There is a trick that makes removing the radiator dead easy. First jack up the car under the front subframe on the radiator side. Place a support under the radiator end of the transmission case and remove the engine mount bolts. Remove the engine stay bar next to the radiator. Now slowly lower the car. This will tilt the engine up as the car drops. Keep an eye on the fuel line into the fuel pump so you donāt pull it off and spill fuel everywhere. Also watch the inner cv joints, gear linkage and exhaust. You will be able to tilt the engine up far enough so that the radiator can be easily removed in one piece.

This method can be used on the other side of the engine to access to oil pump. To do this the engine needs to be tilted up quite a lot. You will need to remove both engine stays, the exhaust, the gear linkage and the top radiator bracket. Its a tight fit but it can be done and sure beats removing the engine.

Mowog

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