what car is this thing going into.... how many cores does it have.... sure looks fairly thick

It looks like the AMS unit would drop right in like you say. And as you implied a SPAL fan is thinner and from all my experience they move THE most air of any electric fan...They do not have a shrowd though that would help draw air through the entire radiator.

Does the AMS verbage say that the evaporator must be removed? I don't see why it woul unless you do plan to run your turbo and header combo through the new space left open by the smaller radiator. My evaporator would be fine where it is no matter what size radiator I used.

BTW - Glad to see you making progress on the EVO man! Maybe this time we will have our two out at the same time.

Sorry about the radiator problems. I don't have any input there. PM me on that alky kit refurb sometime. And I recommend BR's Deluxe FMIC with at least their lower piping. The turbo outlet is one of the very best designs IMHO.

I'd ask AMS about running one of those in a daily driven car. I know I had to upgrade to a larger core on my DSM just because the stock core couldn't handle all the extra heat I was creating. Not to mention blocking it with a FMIC.

Are you sure you don't want to just try some "Great Stuff" on that leaky core?