Range rover P38 Radiator upgrade.

why? with the extra power comes extra heat, and also the plastic radiators have a habit of splitting open, and they are not repairable easily either in the workshop or on the tracks.

another family member split his 2.5 P38 radiator and bought from ebay one of these… made by Direnza www.direnza.co.uk

Direnza performance radiator box on a workshop floor

for only £150 delivered I was impressed with the quality,

Direnza radiaor for range rover high quality for low money
Direnza-land-rover-aluminium-radiator-dakar-rally-1
So during COVID lockdown I upgraded the dogger
Direnza-land-rover-radiaor-comparison
Old rad compared to new fat boy

Don’t be fooled by the extra thickness it doesn’t always mean it will cool better, generally, it is the frontal area that is important, look at any modern car and you will see the rad is very thin but has a large surface area facing the air path.

P38 Range Rover engine bay during radiator upgrade
removing the P38 rad is so easy, I love this car to work on.
Radiator mesh fitted into a P38 front end
you need to trim the plastic at the base by around 20mm to allow the radiator to drop down fully, this is because the OEM has a rounded end can and the ally one is square
Aluminium radiator panel in a P38 engine bay
The base mountings don’t quite sit right so I added some rubber spacers, this ensure the weight is held correctly.
also the side mounts are 6mm which allows a little wiggle room in the OE 8mm holes
Hands fitting parts during a P38 radiator upgrade
slides in nice and easy
P38 engine bay after radiator panel installation

And looks good when finished

Let hope it works as good as it looks.

Completed P38 radiator panel and engine cover
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