Changed radiator to larger one

[Guest Lenny]

I changed my radiator to a larger one and it really helped. Especially with my supercharger helping to build more heat, just moving the fan farther away from the radiator wasn't enough. Took it out today in 105 degree weather and it never got over about 196 degrees and stayed there real steady no matter how I drove it. That tells me that now it is being completely controlled by the thermostat and not the size of the radiator. I bought a radiator off ebay for $70 plus $20 shipping. See add at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120599393194&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT titled "Aluminum Radiator Acura Integra 94-01 95 97 99 GSR LS" Overall size 27"x17.5"x2". To this I added a 16" 3000cfm fan also from Ebay for $80 plus $12 shipping, see http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380252905142&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT titled " 16" 3000CFM HD Reversible Electric Radiator Fan w Relay" You will see in the pics that I welded a 1/8" thick sidewall rim around one side of the radiator. To this I rivited a fan shroud made from a 16ga aluminum sheet. Also I moved the radiator back to set up against the two verticle frame members allowing the fan to be mounted ahead of the radiator letting it push air through the radiator for more evenly distributed air flow. Everything fit in real nice. You will also notice that I removed the plastic cover over the cylinder head. Last thing I need is a closed dead air space to insulate the head from staying cooler.

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Lenny

[rocmoc]

Lenny, a couple of things.

One is I never have liked how small the fins are between the tubes of the factory radiator. I feel a stock size radiator with larger fins would be better even tho that would require fewer tubes. So maybe a re-core of the stock radiator as a option? Opinion!

Second, Is the new radiator vertical flow instead of cross flow? My understanding is that cross-flow is better.

I do like the improvements! When are you going to hold a class in welding alum? What kind of welder do you have? Top plastic cover on the head is coming off of mine.

rocmoc n AZ/Baja

[Guest Lenny]

Lenny, a couple of things.

One is I never have liked how small the fins are between the tubes of the factory radiator. I feel a stock size radiator with larger fins would be better even tho that would require fewer tubes. So maybe a re-core of the stock radiator as a option? Opinion!

Second, Is the new radiator vertical flow instead of cross flow? My understanding is that cross-flow is better.

I do like the improvements! When are you going to hold a class in welding alum? What kind of welder do you have? Top plastic cover on the head is coming off of mine.

rocmoc n AZ/Baja

I really don't know if horizontal tubes would cool better. When I think about it, I can't come up with any physics that say it would improve cooling except if the water pump were not big enough to fill the top tank of the radiator all the way across and the coolant was not getting all the way across the top of the vertical tubes. Horizontal tubes would flow with out the help of gravity and thus lesser pump flow might fill up more of the tubes. My new rad is vertical. I don't think a recore would make any real differance. I use a Miller 300ABP tig welder. It's about 35 years old, Bought it new. I did have to completely disassemble and clean it a few years back because of dust buildup over the years. With the heavy dust buildup, the high frequency was bleeding off and I couldn't weld aluminum without it contaminating. When welding aluminum, you need to slow down and give the material a chance to warm up, you should have a shinny puddle on each side of the joint before adding filler. Also make sure it is clean and fresh bear aluminum. I always sand the surface with a small air 3" disk sander before welding. Snowbird sujested using an aluminum acid. He said it helped a whole bunch and he is a welder by trade.

Lenny

[Detbohica]

Lenny,

Did you have to mod anything for this to fit.