So I hate the gangster lean half core radiator that I have in my crx. And it started to leak some. I know that as soon as I boosted my car that it was going to overheat. I have seen it so many times, big boost, stock half core, and a b18 in a crx.
But I need the room, whats a rhmt'er to do? So after alot of looking around I came up with this.
The radiator is 24.5"X12.5"X 1.5" Core is 1.5X12X20.5 = 369ci it also has 1 1/4" in and out, unlike the civic half core that has 1 1/8" also the stock half core core is around 1"X14"X14" 196ci
Radiator $50 shipped
So the radiator is for a 85 Volkswagen Scirocco I got it frome here
(the brand is Nissens part# W0133-1610603)http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1985/volkswagen/scirocco/cooling_system/radiator.html
Inline Fill neck $34 shipped
The inline neck I got from the seller
TK Motorsports on ebay.
2- 5/16" grommets $1 w/tax
The rubber grommets I got from the ma and pa hardware store
Vented 13lb radiator cap I got from the local auto parts store
Radiator Cap $7 w/tax
2- fender washers free, Had them on hand
Free
Fan temp switch (just to plug the hole in the radiator)
Free from the local wrecking yard
Total price $92
Call it a hundred or so.
On to the setup
It looked like this
SO first things first, drain your coolent and pull your shitty ass half core out.
Now that youve done that, you are going to need to mod your hood latch support bar. First score the 3 bolts where the latch assembly bolts up so you can get your hood to latch when your done.
Now pull the 3 10 mm bolts out, and squeeze the 2 plastic clips and and now your cable and latch us free from the support. Undo the 4 10mm bolts that hold the assemble to the headlight area, and the 1 10mm bolth that is attached to your lower support. Clamp it ito the vice, and now pull out the drill
Now I used a step bit to drill out the 4 spot welds that hold the upright support on, You will be getting rid of this to make room for your new radiator.
Now I used a flat head screw driver and worked it in between the support upright and the latch bar. I took my time on this because I did not want to bend the latch support up to bad.
Now go ahead and bolt the hood latch back onto the support bar and test your hood to make sure it closes and opens.
Ok with that done I now went onto the task of mounting on the tabs to hold the radiator in place.
So I took the 2 rubber grommets and slipped them into the washers and put them onto the bottom of the radiator.
and I held it upto where I needed it. I made some marks on the traction bar of where the washers hit it. I pulled the grommet out and tacked 1 of the washer into place with my welder. Let it cool down and put the grommit back in.
After I test fitted it, I double checked my other washer marks and pulled the grommet out and tacked the other washer into place.
Now I need to keep the top of the radiator from flopping around. So I had some scrap lying around.
Cut it down and drilled a hole in it. And grabbed a screw I had lying around too.
Now I saw just where I wanted it monted up.
Well with my awsome welding skillz
and some oil that I had sitting in between the sheetmetal from a previous busted oil feed line it turned out somthing like this
I used the stock 91 teg lower radiator hose and it worked perfect. For the upper hose I used 1 91 teg upper hose, and a piece of another teg upper hose.
Now there is a nipple off of the radiator so I took a vaccume cap and a hose clamp and threw it on there.
I then put my slim line fan on and put it back together.
Well see how it dose over the next few days but so far it seems great. and it tucks up under the support and out of the way of my turbo and downpipe.
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