I have one in my car, with their upper mounts, but haven't put enough miles on it to give a verdict one way or the other though. It hasn't leaked yet, at least. And on a brand new engine I never saw temperatures above 195-200 degrees while I know the cooling system was still burping itself some.
One thing I can say is that it is very nicely constructed. I was impressed when I pulled it out of the box.
i got the 3 core off american muscle for my 95. i was having issues with it getting warm before the new radiator. the car doesn't even start to overheat anymore even in the hot weather. no leak in ~2000 miles of driving.
thanks guys i was just curious cause i want to replace my original for a new one i had a fluidyne in my 96 gt but i saw this mishimoto and saw it was fairly cheaper than the fluidyne. thanks guys maybe ill give it a try it just make me a lil sceptical cause its cheap but thank you guys with your info i will consider it a little better
I believe the oem 03-04's are bigger than ours but that the after markets are all the same size. American muscles specifies them as fitting 97-04 but I don't see that there is one for the 96 so I'm assuming it should work as well. I read a comparison that showed the build quality and compared reviews between fluidyne and mishimoto won both categories, I'll see if I can find it again.
Dimensionally they are different sizes between the 96 model year and the 97-04 model years. The lower mounting points are different also, as well as the fan size. This is a direct result of the cooling TSB that plagued some of the 96 model year cars.
And I know some people will likely argue with me but I had a factory Ford 03/04 Cobra/Mach 1 radiator and it would not work in my 96. Dimensionally you could almost get it to fit, but it wouldn't sit down all of the way because of the mount for the support rod for the coolant overflow tank, and the lower mounts for the radiator to sit in (which are welded to the core support mind you) were way too narrow and would not work safely no matter how much they're ground out and expanded.
The Mishimoto listed for the 96 cars on AmericanMuscle is absolutely a direct drop in. The only thing I had to do was barely bend the support rod for the coolant expansion tank.
I agree with Tabres! When I put the '03 radiator and fan into mine the lower passenger side mount is not even close to lining up. I also had to relocate and bend the overflow tank support rod and even cut the grommets down to get the '03 radiator to sit lower. Still I had to add a couple of washers under the tank to get it to clear the radiator. Don't forget to purchase the upper mounting brackets also. The '96 bracket will not work with a '97-'04 radiator.