Radiator replacement
For a long time (1+ years), I've had a small, intermittent leak in my radiator. I finally got to fixing it.
I ordered an OEM Mopar radiator (pictures attached), per the advice of many folks on the forum. It arrived in good shape, and looked to be a perfect fit. Since it had been a long time since I had flushed my cooling system, I also got some cooling system flush to put in after I had put in the new radiator.
Taking the radiator out was no problem. While I was at it, I also replaced the serpentine belt (picture attached) (which might have been the original one), as well as the thermostat, the radiator hoses, and the radiator clamps. Old radiator had seen better days, so it was definitely time for a new one (picture attached). Even though it had been years since changing the antifreeze, it wasn't totally gunked up (see attached).
On another thread, there was some question about the different sized clamps. For mine, two of them (upper thermostat side, lower radiator side) were 50mm, and one (lower hose water pump side) was 55mm.
For the most part, the process was straightforward, with a few tedious details. Making sure the thermostat gasket (which also might have been the original one) was super tedious. I had read lots of comments about making sure I got all of it off, and making sure not to gauge the metal. I think I accomplished both. I cleaned it up a bit and bolted it back on (pictures attached).
Tedious part #2 was getting on the water pump lower hose clamp since it's in an awkward place and I those constant tension clamps can be very particular. I also had to shorten the lower hose by a lot since the one I got at Napa was the right overall shape, but WAY too long (picture attached). I also re-installed the hose spring that was inside the original lower hose (picture attached). Patience in both cases served me well, and things went in without issue.
One bump in the road I ran into was with the fan shroud bolts and the new radiator. The original bolts were 1/4"-20 bolts, but they were a little to big for the holes in the new radiator. I tried M6 bolts, those were also too big. I then tried M5 bolts, an they were too thin, but at that point I was sick of experimenting, so I put a washer on the M5 bolts and called it a day (picture attached). If anyone knows the right size of those bolts, I'd love to know.
While I also had the hood up that day, I decided to re-install my factory air box. I had installed a K&N "cold air" intake on it in the past, and while it was ok. I decided to go back more stock. My pack-rat nature made it no problem to do this since I had carefully attached all the bolts to the original air box 15+ years earlier (picture attached).
After installing the radiator, I put in the flush (picture attached) and distilled water and was going to spend the next few days running it, and then draining it and flushing with water again. Living in Colorado, I also had to keep an eye on the temperature so as not to let things freeze.