Thread: Swapping a V8 radiator into a 300TDi SI Disco

Any updates Frank, i think for longevity i will be looking at a full width rad and custom IC.

After my head cracking i may well seriously look into this, possibly the tdi tanks can be fitted to a V8 rad ?
The bottom hose will be a slight problem but could be overcome by using the expedition hose which uses a couple of T fittings in place of the molded hose which you can then add a longer expansion bottle hose to since the outlet will be further spaced over to the left.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

After my head cracking i may well seriously look into this, possibly the tdi tanks can be fitted to a V8 rad ?
The bottom hose will be a slight problem but could be overcome by using the expedition hose which uses a couple of T fittings in place of the molded hose which you can then add a longer expansion bottle hose to since the outlet will be further spaced over to the left.

No further progress mate, I have been busy setting up a scrap and towing business with my son.
Also setting up a DC to DC (C-Tek) charger and new Optima yellow top battery and 140W solar panels on my Chinese camper trailer.
For the last week I have been installing a new kitchen and then I need to pull the stainless steel water tank out of my son's Stage 1 and replace the crappy plastic one in the CT.
I will be getting the V8 radiator tanks modified to suit the 300TDi, I will keep the 300TDi rad. as it has extra cores and I will modify the hose to incorporate stainless steel T-pieces, I'm going to check the capacity of the TD5 intercooler compared to the original 300TDi. I have just finished putting an intercooler on our ACCO truck, it has a T6.354 Perkins and it goes so much better with an intercooler.
Now that I am in the car scrapping business I have access to a heap of second hand I/C's, I have one here at the moment with both inlet and outlet on the same end, so I will check it's capacity against the LR ones. I will certainly post some pics when I get time to tackle the job, it will happen, Regards Frank.

Think the 300tdi Disco I have has a V8 radiator and unsure which intercooler apart from being a large full width fitted in front, next time I am near it (its stored offsite for now) I will get some pics and try to see where the pipes were run. A previous owner fitted it all. It has a cracked head due to one of the hoses leaking when on a beach trip and it had to keep being driven to escape the incoming tide - also by the previous owner.

I have a larger intercooler from M R Automotive to fit to the Defender, will see how that goes and might swap the other across down the track.

Love to see any pics you can post up, Regards Frank.

So we finally removed the radiator today - its stuffed, now to work out what it is. It has a plate NATRA Australia with the following part number U 242294 A3 - ok found that NATRA was bought out by Adrad in 2006/2008. Hopefully they still have some records of the old NATRA stock. Think it is just smaller than a v8 radiator as it doesn't take up the full width of the support frame.

The intercooler has both pipes which run outside the radiator support frame on the passenger side. Will get some pics in the next couple of days now that we can actually see what is going on. The overall size of this radiator is 710mm x 410mm with both water pipes on the passenger side and the engine oil cooler pipes on the drivers side of the radiator.

Originally Posted by GuyG

So we finally removed the radiator today - its stuffed, now to work out what it is. It has a plate NATRA Australia with the following part number U 242294 A3 - ok found that NATRA was bought out by Adrad in 2006/2008. Hopefully they still have some records of the old NATRA stock. Think it is just smaller than a v8 radiator as it doesn't take up the full width of the support frame.

The intercooler has both pipes which run outside the radiator support frame on the passenger side. Will get some pics in the next couple of days now that we can actually see what is going on. The overall size of this radiator is 710mm x 410mm with both water pipes on the passenger side and the engine oil cooler pipes on the drivers side of the radiator.

It has been a year and still haven't had the time to do the swap, trouble is I need the Disco for work, I bought some track rod bushes 6 months back and still haven't fitted them. I promise I will let you know when I get the time (off work), Regards Frank.

So the radiator was a custom build, getting some prices to replace it as the core is scrap now. The V8 radiator is too wide, so just swapping tanks won't work - well not in my car anyway. I have photos that I will load in the next couple of days. The intercooler pipes go through the body work to the left of the original radiator/intercooler surround.

The plumbing has had to be extended to cater for the inlet/outlet being further to the passenger side of the vehicle.

As it was previously made there was a gap of about 40mm between the tank and the support frame on the left hand side, they are going to see how much closer they can fit this they can make it. Can't see any down sides in this, but it might be a bit tighter with both the bottom outlet and the intercooler hoses so close together.