Hi Folks,
does anyone have any experience with the Chinese full alloy radiators that are advertised on ebay?

Not the Chinese ones, I've got a Direnza in mine (https://www.direnza.co.uk/range-rover-p38-4-0l-4-6l-v8-94-99-aluminium-radiator) and they do one for the diesel too but not for the Thor unfortunately. Beautifully made, keep the temperature down and with a lifetime warranty.

I've also supplied two to France and a couple to the US too. Direnza won't ship to the US so a couple of owners trusted me enough to buy one, have it sent to me and I then forwarded it on. Even with the carriage they still worked out cheaper than buying one in the US.

I have got an Allisport all aluminium radiator on my DSE which has been in for 8 or 10 years now.
It looks very similar to other brands like Direnza so I suspect they are all made in the far east.
Good thing is they are repairable. Mine was delivered with the inlet connection damaged in the post. It was squashed on one side. I carefully tapped
out the dent with a suitable socket inside. On another occasion a fan blade damaged a tube in the heater matrix. I practised my aluminium welding skills and fixed it.
The one I have got is for a diesel with the manual gearbox. It has a gearbox cooler built in to the radiator. Mine has the auto box though, so I was planning on using the built in cooler and remove the one under the front wing. That would allow me to fit fog lights. Job no.386 on the list.

I am waiting someone to make a full all-alloy for Thor. These seems to be - or have been - a product made in Australia, but is too far for me.
I recommend to stay away from very far east products in this department, or at least make sure don't overpay for them.
Even reputable brands like Nissens are turning out products - at least the ones applicable to our Audi range - very poorly made.

It would invalidate the warranty but the only difference between a GEMS and a Thor is the top hose spigot. If you can weld alloy it shouldn't be too difficult to move the spigot on a Direnza one.

This is a good tip I did not thought of that ... no issues with welding alloy, got a guy close to me that I use to re-make AC lines he is exactly what needed :-)
Pity now I got a brand new (made only 5-6K km) bripart (more about this I promise in the cock-up area), but will put it in the list of future gear ...

Thanks for the input guys. I forgot to put in the original post that I am currently working on a 1995 P38 with a compression ratio of 9.8:1 , and I live in central Queensland in Australia so I am looking for something with some added performance. Summer temperatures are around 40c. The Chinese ones off a 20% increase in volume, which might help.

Don't know what the actual percentage is but the Direnza has a greater capacity than standard. My car runs at around 90 degrees normally, I've never seen it go above 96 since fitting the alloy rad.

if i remember correctly there was a thread on the other side on how to make an aluminium radiator and what to use all you needed was the welder and the ability to do it off cause. all the parts are readily available . it also stated that aluminium radiators hold the heat longer, i think that's because the materials used are thicker than the standard rads. someone said they are available in Aus, how much do they cost ???
PS my advice on ALL chinese products buy two so that when you send the other one back on warranty you have a spare to use
olddirtbikes , do you have some old bikes or is it just a name?
i personally avoid chinese products like the pla sorry coronavirus. :) avoid all things in white boxes when possible.

$295 on Gumtree

Hi Mad as. Yes I have collected a few old dirt bikes. I think at the moment I have 74, not quite sure as I am sure the breed when the shed is closed at night. Mostly early motocross bikes, with a couple of enduro bikes thrown in. There is a lot of Maico's, Can am's, Husky's, Honda's, Suzuki's, Yamaha's Kawasaki's, and a Hercules. I think that about all of them. We did a lot of Vintage Motocross a few back, but not as much the last few years. Regards, Alan

hi Alan thats an amount ,who does the polishing and dusting . are they for show or just a private collection. i have owned alot of motocross and enduro bikes from the late 70s 80s , mostly jap stuff had most off the colors , prefered the red ones. dropped in to the Nabiac bike museum a couple of years ago, they have one or two... thousand, brought some old memories back, definitely worth a look if you are in the area.
PS there is lots of cheap aluminium rads on gum tree and ebay , i will try and find out if they are made here ?

Hi Mad as,
yes they take a lot of time. Much to my wife's disgust. I and I forgot a few, I have a couple of Ossa Phantom's and a couple of Montesa VB Cappra"s. They are just my pets. I started with just some Vintage Motocross bikes to race and it sort of got out of control. I keep saying I am not going to buy any more, until the next one comes along that I just can't live without. I have never got to Nabiac museum, but I would to get there one day. I checked with Direnza and they won't ship to Australia. I have a Chinese alloy Radiator but the bottom outlet is not quite correct, so I will have a look at modifying it this week. Where are you based? In the UK or Australia. If it does not work out I will let you know and I might need to look at getting a Direnza sent to me.

I've forwarded 2 Direnza radiators to owners in the US, cost of carriage added another £105 to the price so would assume about the same to Oz. I spoke to Direnza to see if there was any way we could avoid them having to pay the 20% VAT (tax) on the purchase price as that only needs to be paid on a sale within the EU so should be sold VAT free if going out of the EU. As they aren't geared up for export sales and the radiators were being dispatched to me in the UK there was no way of doing it.

I raced motocross in the early 1980's, started with a CZ250, then an EMC (oddball built by Mike Eatough with a Sachs 250 motor, Marzocchi forks, Ohlins rear end) and finally a Montessa VB414 Cappra. Scared myself stupid the first time I raced the Cappra, got to the first corner and found nobody in front of me, assumed there'd been a false start so slowed down and everyone else came storming past me!

Hi Gilbert, I will have a go at modifying the Chinese radiator I have and see how it looks. If I am not 100% happy with it I might have to take you up on your offer and get a Direnza radiator sent over to Oz. I only started to race Vintage motocross when my oldest son became interested in racing. I still like to have a bit of a race but work has been in the way the last few years. I have a highly modified YZ 125, that I like racing. I am normally last off the line and first out of the first corner. It is lightning fast, it scares the shit out of me. But I love it, it is so good to ride. My oldest son did quite well when he was racing. He won some Queensland titles and 3rd in the Australian titles.