The radiator is coming out today!
But not for the initial reason. I finally got my dad to check it out yesterday, and he found the leak. The hose going to the header tank was loose. It could be pulled off by hand. So we decided to chuck a hose clamp on the end to solve the problem.
In the excitement of not having to replace the radiator etc, he screwed it one turn too far, and the bloody tiny nippley bit snapped off. So I guess we found the problem, then fixed it, then created a new one which still results in Mr Radiator being stuffed.

I don't know if you already bought a new radiator, but what about this one, from a forum vendor
http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/showthread.php?t=35788

Adi

Can you tap a new fitting in instead of replacing the radiator?

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Classic WRX all the way ...

The little tap got crushed off right near the base. There is very little room to clip anything onto, and I can't really see anyway to attach any sort of part at all. Any ideas would be tops though!!
We called around a few radiator joints yesterday, and they all said if the tap broke off so easily, the plastic probably isn't in the best condition. Could just be waiting for it to break in another place.
Surprised how easy the radiator came out. Not difficult at all

Cheers for the link addy, will have to investigate.

Well, today I went to that shop addy suggested. And picked up a nice new radiator from the guy there. It looked identical to the stock one.
Fully installed it this afternoon, and got the car back together.

The good news is there is no sign of leakage.
The bad news is after idling for about 10-15mins in my drive way checking for leaks, the temp gauge in my dash got waaaaay hotter than usual.
The fans came on, and the temp went up shortly after that. Had the heater on as well (didnt have it on at the start, heat dial was to hot, but the fans were on 0...doh!).
Is the high temp due to me just having it sat in the driveway with the heater on??
Before i put everything back together, i pulled out the thermostat, because i was going to replace it, but it looked very new, so i just put it back in.
The top radiator hose gets pretty hot, but the bottom one is hardly warm. Is it meant to be cold? I understand it is designed to cool, but it is hardly even warm.
Anyone have any thoughts on the problemo??
Thanks for all the help so far.
Everything was going so well with the install. haha sucks to have it do this at the end...

It shouldn't bake up like that. I'd be taking it back. You don't want a cooked engine. I guess the good news the thermo fans are coming on.

The thermostat sounds odd, it might be opening much later than it should be, causing the temp to go up hugely. Check to see what was installed, it should be a genuine Subaru part.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Should have bought an STI

I thought the same when i pulled it out, but it was working just fine before i pulled it out thought. Is there a wrong way to put it back in??

I think it must be the thermostat not opening, if the bottom hose is so cool, it suggests nothing is really flowing through. But it took quite a while for the engine to start getting to hot...AHHHH!!!!

Is it a standard replacement radiator or a thicker alloy one. sounds like it hasn't been bleed properly, that bottom hose should be warm to hot to touch. If in doubt take it back or take it to another workshop or if you have time swing it pass mine and i'll have a look.

It isnt a genuine subaru part, but it isnt an all alloy unit either. It looks exactly the same as the subaru part though, just a fair bit cheaper. But it looks spot on.
I think i followed the bleeding process pretty good.
I topped it up, when the header tank was full, i then topped up the reservoir.
I started the car with the header cap off, and let if bubble out for a bit.
I turned off the engine. Topped up the header tank, closed it off, and started her up again.
Then i left it on for quite a while, sorted out the heater, then the fans came on, and it started getting too hot after that...

hmmmmm did you have the heater tap on when you were running it up and did you let the fans kick in without the cap on first, then you bang the cap back on and recheck the fans come back on and off.