Thread: My radiator thread. Project Tight Fit complete!

Well, I measured it out, and it looks like I will have about 15-16" of radiator height to play with before it hits the hood. That is from using the mounts for the condenser. It actually looks like the old radiator would fit, almost. The old radiator measures out at 17" end to end at the tallest point, minus the rad cap.

So I would need to angle it slightly to avoid any issues with the hood if I were to use a stock radiator using the Condenser mount surface. If I use the factory mount point then I wouldn't have any issues with height, but may have problems with clearance.

I def need something thick, with lots of thermal capacity. I may have to go custom on this...

BTW, the aluminum on the radiator doesn't look like it rubbed through exactly. But it looks melted. Maybe it just barely touched for long enough it polished its way through it.

U running two wastegates? I know random question.

Yes. Twin scroll.

Yeah that aluminum is really thin, I have had the smooth side of intercooler pipe clamp eat through a rad tube before. It was just enough to make a leak. You could probably do a patch with alum-alloy or what ever that stuff is, but it might be more trouble than it's worth.

It looks like you will have lots of room once you ditch the hood latch. Just make allowances in your measurements for the monkeys at the place your are getting your rad from. In case there is some part that sticks out too much that they don't tell you about. Plus it will make it easier to get the rad in and out and you won't have to worry about something else eating your new rad.

Don't forget about multi pass rads in addition to capacity. It is almost like free added cooling.

If you are thinking about a custom rad this place has pretty good prices. I got a qoute back in September for a custom made 27x3x17, dual core crossflow twin pass for $430
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soo the 2'' civic half radiator isnt a good one for the track but would a radiator just smaller in size from the stock one but still 2'' be a good one for the track?

If it holds more coolant than the stock and is dual core, chances are it will cool better. There are a lot of ifs ands and buts to it. For instance will it fill the gap that the stock rad left behind or will it leave a big hole for all of the incoming air to flow right around?

Tons of pics of my cutting and research. I'm sure it will help someone in the future.


You can see the plastic radiator tie is melting lol.




One picture is measured from the stock radiator position to the top of the support where the rubber seal sits on the hood when it is closed. The other pic shows less clearance because it's measured from the AC condenser mounting location.


From mount hole to mount hole



I cut the lower mounting rods off the radiator to make it sit flat, then mounted it on top of the condenser mount to check clearances. Check it out.









Almost 3 fingers worth of space opened up. If the radiator sat just a little shorter it would work perfectly to place a cushion under it and fabricate some upper mounts. Re-weld some new rods on the bottom, slide some hose over it and it should fit snug in the factory AC condenser holes.

Now just make yourself a nice cooling plate from some 1/8" aluminum plate like I did and bolt it to the edges of the radiator support where you cut it. Will clean it up nicely.

You can lower it if your willing to cut out the lower core support and weld in 90 degree angle iron. This will give you plenty of space for sure. Granted it is not a mod for the faint of hear it would make the setup ideal for sure!