I know its slightly off topic but i'm struggeling to know what to do and i've read of the few people with XE Novas etc.

The Radiator on my XE Nova which I believe to be the original one is a
Twin core with Ali fins and about 32mm thick.
Ebay OE link

The car has always run at a good temperature which has suprsied me as there are lots of cool running stats etc available.

The supposed replacement one appears to be a single ovel core and only about 22mm thick with black fins and to be honest looks pretty weedy!
Ebay Link

After looking at various suppliers they all seem to list this Rad as the replacement one at 22m thick and with all the same mountings etc. There isisn't a single other Nova Rad listed at the same height and 32mm thick but i'm worried it won't keep up with the XE in there.

I've got my MOT on Thurs and potentially a weekend thrashing it round Scotland so there's little time to order something else up.. and it needs to be in before then so I can put the exhaust manifold back on as you can't change it with that in.

What do other people think.. is the newer one just made of better materials or design and it'll cope fine?
I could get the original re-cored but i've heard its about £100

My mates one ran an astra one. I think it was a GTE.

Generlly there are 2 sorts of nova rad that can used for the XE (Ignoring the 1.0 that has pipe runs on one side and the diesel which is different again)

The 1st is the small engine (1.2/1.3) one which is similar to the one you have shown but is in 2 inch stilts and as such has a smaller area, this will work on an XE but its better to have the larger one from the (1.4/1.6) engines. These are exactly as you have shown on both your links.
If there are differnces between your one and that shown on the listing it will either be that the manufacurer just makes them different, the core size might be 22mm but the fins bight be 30mm, or the other alternative is your one is not a Nova one.
However I am not aware of any standard vauxhall item that will fit without modifying mounts etc, Astra, Corsa and Cavvy items are either too big or the wrong shape.

Might be worth a look on http://www.pngclub.com for more info

[Edited on 1/6/10 by loggyboy]

Just done a search on there and it is the 22mm thick one thats used on all the larger engines.

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140464


[Edited on 1/6/10 by loggyboy]

Cheers Loggy
looking at the original it has 2 cores and the new one has 1 larger oval core, maybe it's just a better updated design.
Will pop it in tonight and see how it does

Was at the end of my teather with it last night, that engine doesn't exactly fall in there and my hands are so sore everything seems to bite on that thing!

Theres a bar in front of the rad, (does a small amount of support for the slam panel) but i cut it out to make swapping rads a little easier:

Yeh I'd thought about cutting that out before and bolting it back in place!, got my oil cooler hiding up there infront of the Rad aswell.

Looking forward to getting it back on the road now, such a fun little monster!

I miss mine alot. Sleepers are the best way to ejoy a fast car.
Just hoping the kit (when it evetually is ready for collection) will be a suitable replacement, despite not being a sleeper.

I did it the other way round.. Had the kit car and realised how little you can use it without all the Weather Gear and my daily driver was boring n slow and got the Nova for a good price and re-built it.
For performance handling and economy when driving sensibly I doubt there's much that could beat it! And it's a "classic" now so cheep insurance

And when insanity finally takes over there's always the option of dropping a LET in it!