radiator in place of ac condenser

[taka21]

hey everyone im looking to put a custom 3 row radiator in place of my ac condenser(ac has already been ditched)
any ideas on how to accomplish this?
i saw viper had done this on his car but i havent been able to get him via pm so im posting it up to everyone

any input is greatly appreciated
thanks

 

[Chambers]

He found it on craigslist and from my memory I think it was for a 240Z or something similar. I have looked into this too, there are a few companies online that will be able to build one to your specs and needs.

 

[GrimJack]

The two that I have seen had a radiator custom built from PWR, then built their own custom hoses.

Be warned, this wasn't a route for the thrifty - I don't think either of the guys I know spent less than $2k on this.

 

[bioskyline]

also why move the rad? most 3core rads fit fine in the stock location, not alot of room to spare but the fan clears fine.

 

[te72]

also why move the rad? most 3core rads fit fine in the stock location, not alot of room to spare but the fan clears fine.

A situation like mine would be why. PWR radiator and JZ engine leaves very little space for fans. Would be nice to be able to use a clutch fan, and this would enable that, but like Grim said... Custom generally = $$$$$, especially if it's specialty fabrication in question.

 

[bioskyline]

ahhhh got ya.

 

[hvyman]

Take some measurements of the area and then go to the junkyard and start measuring radiators.

After that could look for a same side radiator for that car(right side) and if you on the 7m flip the stat housing over and find a hose at autOzone.

Buddy put a same side one in his mk3. But not there.

 

[mjsn1]

I wanted to remove the ac condenser and add another radiator. But i thought why waist money? put another fan instead of the second radiator.

 

[taka21]

the ac condenser is about 1ft 2in tall, 2ft 1in wide and theres about 4 inches of width to play with,
i found i could use one meant for a sprint car but im concerned that it will not have enough cooling capacity for the 4l v8

---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 PM ----------

He found it on craigslist and from my memory I think it was for a 240Z or something similar. I have looked into this too, there are a few companies online that will be able to build one to your specs and needs.

yea i read that too, but i also read that he had to chop the lower rad support to make it fit, and my car is too low to be trying to hang stuff in the way like that lol

 

[hvyman]

Could also buy a core and have someone weld tanks on. Prolly be cheaper than a custom radiator.

 

[destrux]

Once you get past 3 inches thick the heat rejection gains really start to taper off. A 4 inch thick core might not be more than a few percent better than a 3 inch thick core. This is why you only see extremely thick radiators in places where there's not enough room for more frontal area.

A junkard matchup is the best way to go. Then order a racing rad for whatever donor you find.

Off the top of my head a Jeep Chreokee has a short and wide core that has adequate size. I'm sure there's an aftermarket performance rad made for those, as they use them for mudding and hill climbs (the goofy offroad kind, not the awesome "we closed down this mountain road for a weekend in the name of the SCCA").

Still... why do this when there are suitable aftermarket rads that fit fine?

If you want to use a clutch fan it would be easier and probably cheaper to slot the motor mount brackets and move the engine back a bit. It's got some room before it hits the firewall. About 1/2" at least. You might have to shorten the exhaust a little bit, and maybe do something where the shifter comes through, but everything else should slide back easily. Fairly sure the driveshaft even has enough slip yoke left that it wouldn't need modding.

That way you'd be making your weight distribution better instead of worse.

 

[mstgeer]

I have a pwr with 2jz motor mounts on the 7m with Elec fan with no shroud and I have no issues with fitment or cooling.. Why not go with the same setup?

 

[te72]

I have a pwr with 2jz motor mounts on the 7m with Elec fan with no shroud and I have no issues with fitment or cooling.. Why not go with the same setup?

Depending on where one lives, ambient temperatures can easily overpower the majority of electric fan setups...

 

[taka21]

Depending on where one lives, ambient temperatures can easily overpower the majority of electric fan setups...

im in the middle of the east coast i dont think ill have a problem with ambient temps. dc to be exact

---------- Post added at 06:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:59 PM ----------

i am however worried about the cooling capacity of a radiator that small lol

 

[te72]

im in the middle of the east coast i dont think ill have a problem with ambient temps. dc to be exact

---------- Post added at 06:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:59 PM ----------

i am however worried about the cooling capacity of a radiator that small lol

Something to consider, even if you have a HUGE radiator, what does it do? It cycles coolant through it. If left alone, it will 'radiate' heat on it's own, through natural heat transfer into the air surrounding it. Now what do we do to improve the efficiency of our radiator? Increase the amount of air that is used to radiate heat into/onto. How do we go about that?

The fan.

I'd say the fan is more important than the radiator, considering only SIZE, and not CONDITION. I'd be willing to bet that if I had a stock size aluminum radiator rather than the behemoth that is the PWR, even with my sub-par fan setup, I wouldn't have had problems keeping my temps down when I was in AZ and Vegas. Essentially, my awesome PWR radiator acts as a heat sink, RETAINING more heat than the fans can pull out of it. Therefore, I consider the fans to be more important than the radiator itself. Again, this is assuming the radiator is in good shape.