Wow, I have never thought of that! That just proves you are not too old to learn something new!
As to back yard wrenching you gotta enjoy part of it because of the frustration that comes from practicing it but I can assure you that I have driven some bloody expensive automobiles only because I was willing to beat on them my self rather than pay some one else to do it. And then not fix it.
I have been and continue to be living by the philosophy of:
I can screw them up cheaper than anyone I know.
when it comes to fix and repair.

 

My satisfaction comes from saving big $$$. I paid $150 for the radiator, top hose and a gallon of antifreeze. I'm guessing a shop would charge an easy $350 to do this. I'm fairly well off but $200 is still $200.

Rodney

 

Did the radiator yesterday. A bit of a job but not the worst. The top auto trans line came off no problem. The bottom one was not coming off no matter what. So I used a fine tooth hack saw and cut the steel line off flush to the flair nut. Fortunately I bought a couple 5/18 (8 mm is almost the same diameter) brass double compression fittings when I bought the radiator just in case I had problems with the auto trans lines. This is a WI car and driven in winter. So it is late Sunday afternoon. What to do. I looked thru my misc brass fittings looking for a solution. What I did: I used the double compression fitting and threaded the one end of the double compression fitting body directly into the radiator port. It is not the correct thread but reasonably close. I used some Teflon tape on it and tightened it as tight as I felt I could. The seal is now the threads. Then I lightly sanded the steel line and installed it into the compression fitting. All done. No leaks. I should have taken some pictures. Worked great.

Rodney

 

Nice job on being ingenious! And congrats on getting her back on the road.

 

I can verify your amount there...I just had my radiator changed-out by a qualified mechanic (not a dealer) on my '99 SW2 5-speed and total cost to me was $397...

 

I hate winter and it's associated corrosion. A major reason why when the opportunity came up I moved to Arizona and its version of weather which is not fun, the triple digit heat. I guess you have to have something to bitch about to be happy. But nothing rusts or corrodes. I have actually re-used exhaust systems on 30 year old cars and they required little more than sandblasting and then scuffing with a green scrubby to look adequate when taken to a car show. I recently replaced the Catalytic Converter on one that came from Chicago and was and had rusted out with an OEM one that I had taken off of the same model except was a Native Arizona car same year about32 years old now the both of them. I have cut radiator transmission lines and then spliced the back together using a short piece of rubber tubing and a couple of hose clamps. Not pretty but works.
On the same note I too recently replaced the Radiator on my 2007 Town and Country and was surprised to discover there were no lines to the radiator. That car uses a small 2 pass air cooled cooling fin affair located under the floor of the car about the center and where the front seats are in the car. I often wondered while servicing the car what this thing was but never enough to notice the lines were going to the transmission. (Front wheel drive) It must work well, the transmissions on the MOPAR vans were problematic and I had two of these prior to buying my 2007 new.One was a $500.00 junkyard purchase that despite looking as if white trash owned it last ran for a while and was worth the money despite the condition of it. But it had 300,000 miles on it and a replaced transmission. The 2nd was a '96 Town and Country that cost way more and should have been in good shape and I put 5 transmissions in it over 35,000 miles. Why? I don't care, it was a piece of SxxT and an internet search verified long term transmission problems with the things. I paid extra for a transmission warranty and was also assured by a friend who works at Chrysler that it had been redesigned iin 2002. And it drove like something new and different and I have driven the car long and hard and not had a bit of trouble with the transmission. So take a page out of the book as I install the 700r4 into my 1976 AMC Hornet I will also install a 4 pass finned Assembly that looks as if it an axillary transmission cooler rather than run lines up to the radiator and add more heat to the radiator and see if I have the same success in keeping this cool too.

 

Mine was a snap to replace.

 

Alot of these things come down to confidence and tools.
Hard to do easy things with the wrong tools
Not as hard to do most things as you think it is.
The only way to build that confidence is to dive in, preferably with a written guide or an experienced buddy, get your hands dirty, and experience that feeling of accomplishment when you've successfully completed what you've set out to do.
Not only have you learned to do it right, you've also learned what NOT to do.

Confidence.

 

Let me rephrase my own quote, " it was a snap, with a chilton manual & patience, the right tools!!!