Radiator Removal

Hi!
My radiator has just srung a leak!
So tomorrow, I am planning to remove it so I can take it to a rad. specialist for a re-core next week.
I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or tips they could offer, which I might need to know about removal/refitting?
I already know I'll have some problems removing the front bumber, due to some seized bolts but beyond that I don't know what to expect concerning the radiator. Is it just a matter of disconnecting the hoses, disconnecting the fan and unbolting the radiator from the car?
Any advice would be appreciated, cheers.

Fairly straightforward - but probably a nightmare of rusted bolts if your bumper is causing problems. Behind the bumper, there's a plastic air scoop that makes sure the air coming in the front goes through the radiator. Its held on with some fairly small nuts on bolts embedded in the body of the car - probably rusted. I ended up having to grind out the old ones and fixing new stainless steel bolts in place with fibreglass. Try not to break the scoop as it was originally missing on my car and I found that it makes quite a difference to cooling.

Beyond that it should just be a case of doing exactly what you describe - undo the mountings (2 at bottom through the chassis member and one "bobbin" at the top centre - do from back I think), unclip the fan wiring and unbolt the fans from the radiator and undo the hoses. Be careful with the headers as they are plastic and if you damage them getting the hoses off you'll need a complete new rad. You should be able to leave the fan switch and bleed hose in place on the rad - just disconnect the wiring.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice.

You were right though, it was a nightmare of rusted bolts getting the bumper off! You were correct about the air scoop too. The small top bolts were rusted and just sheared off if any attempt was made to undo them. So I left these in place. The air scoop was split at the sides, so I just undid the bottom bolts (came off easily!) and I could then hinge the scoop upwards and remove the radiator through the gap. The radiator was recored a couple of years ago. I had a garage do it for me and I assume this is why the scoop was split because they must have had to remove the radiator the same way.
The radiator itself was quite easy to remove though, once the bumper was off.
Incidently, the reason why the radiator was leaking was due to the fan being mounted incorrectly. The fan was actually touching the radiator, so that when it came on it rubbed against the radiator, cutting a circular groove into it and making the hole!