well i'm sure he now feels a great deal better for having asked his peers their objective opinions.....

I noticed a witch hunt was mentioned, well it certainly turned into one, but not for mechanics.

On topic:

I've built 10+ motors over the years, everything from high performance 400hp+ V8's, to jap performance twin cams, to bunkies.

The cooling system is part of the motor, without it the motor does not run. Common sense would say replace as necessary, at the very least you would inspect and pressure test the system. Mind you, that does not always show problems that can arise shortly after, but is still found to be considered minimum
common practice.

Hope this helps dude

__________________
aka [ITSNSTI]....... still noobish

13.097 ET stock MY02STi.... first time @ drag

"Whatever it costs you to fix that car, is pretty cheap therapy", Dr. Phill