i bought the car about a year ago,off of my cousin. he had it for 2-3 yrs, and it overheated on him one time ( he was teachin his wife how to drive stick. he said they were in first drivin around for like 20 min). the only thing he ever did to the car was get the tires changed. ive never had the cooling system flushed. i think the radiator is original equipment. the only mod i have on the car is a catback exhaust (which i "made"). no heat shields have been removed, at least by me. i also have a major oil leak, but i keep on top of that, and keep the oil level up. the engine is strong as hell @ 137k + mi. i know the car had been in an accident, b4 my cousin bought it. the hood, front bumper, front fender, had been at the very least repainted possibly even replaced. so the radiator might be newer, but at least 5 yrs old. but it ran fine for the 2-3 my cousin owned it.