Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi All,

My little car has been running the same radiator since 1990 and sadly the time has come for me to move on and get a new one.

So, since the little motor is running hot I figure now is going to be a sensible time to update my radiator into something a little more bling and efficient.

It's been suggested to me that perhaps I want to upgrade to a 3-core?

Is anyone else running some snazy custom radiators? How about sharing the specs with us?

Thanks.

why do you need a bigger rad ??

I run a 1 litre larger motor than yours with a rad for a 1.3 ... works a treat. I just dont see the point in a bigger radiator for the sake of it

Take yours to a radiator shop, get it rodded out (cleans out the core) and it should be all good ..

I don't know if i offically need a bigger one, but i do need one that cools better than the current one.

The major issue that I have with mine is that it overheats when on boost for extended periods. Stevoe had a little look at this and thinks that the intercooler (which is mounted to the front of the radiator) is heating the air before it gets to the radiator so the radiator cooling is not as effective (warmer air = less cooling for the water).

So a fix of some sort is required for it... A few ideas so far:
1. Replace current radiator with another sierra one in better condition
2. Replace radiator with bigger / better one.
3. Setup my windscreen wiper sprayer to spray water on the intercooler (for added bling too).

Obviously number 3 can be done in conjunction with 1 or 2. But if i do number 1 and find that it still not quite good enough then i have wasted money and effort that could have gone straight into option 2.

Talk Steve into selling his bling aluminium radiator he was going to use for his Sierra (officially the world's longest Sierra buildup)

grimbo wrote:Talk Steve into selling his bling aluminium radiator he was going to use for his Sierra (officially the world's longest Sierra buildup)

Good call - that is a very bling radiator he has there - but ideally i need one that will fit into that little area where the current one is (though it can be a little thicker (front to back) if required.

And you are right - 7 years is a long term build up isn't it

greg wrote:I don't know if i offically need a bigger one, but i do need one that cools better than the current one.

The major issue that I have with mine is that it overheats when on boost for extended periods. Stevoe had a little look at this and thinks that the intercooler (which is mounted to the front of the radiator) is heating the air before it gets to the radiator so the radiator cooling is not as effective (warmer air = less cooling for the water).

So a fix of some sort is required for it... A few ideas so far:
1. Replace current radiator with another sierra one in better condition
2. Replace radiator with bigger / better one.
3. Setup my windscreen wiper sprayer to spray water on the intercooler (for added bling too).

Obviously number 3 can be done in conjunction with 1 or 2. But if i do number 1 and find that it still not quite good enough then i have wasted money and effort that could have gone straight into option 2.

A second hand radiator in decent condition is about $50 .. and I think that a sierra rad is only about 100 or so to get rodded)

Mine managed to keep my 1.6 from overheating (just) on that really hot day when I decided to take on the crocpit ... and I still run most of my inner guards ..

Does your motor have an iron block ?? (if so that may help explain why it does not disapate heat as well as the G series donks)

So to try it .. it may be a waste of time (I doubt it will be a waste) but it's not alot of money or time to swap a radiator (15 mins or so) .. and you can always sell it again if it does not work or use it as a core to get re-cored to a 3 row ..

greg wrote:

grimbo wrote:Talk Steve into selling his bling aluminium radiator he was going to use for his Sierra (officially the world's longest Sierra buildup)

Good call - that is a very bling radiator he has there - but ideally i need one that will fit into that little area where the current one is (though it can be a little thicker (front to back) if required.

And you are right - 7 years is a long term build up isn't it

especially as it has actually moved house ... most people finish their projects before moving ..

love_mud wrote:

greg wrote:I don't know if i offically need a bigger one, but i do need one that cools better than the current one.

The major issue that I have with mine is that it overheats when on boost for extended periods. Stevoe had a little look at this and thinks that the intercooler (which is mounted to the front of the radiator) is heating the air before it gets to the radiator so the radiator cooling is not as effective (warmer air = less cooling for the water).

So a fix of some sort is required for it... A few ideas so far:
1. Replace current radiator with another sierra one in better condition
2. Replace radiator with bigger / better one.
3. Setup my windscreen wiper sprayer to spray water on the intercooler (for added bling too).

Obviously number 3 can be done in conjunction with 1 or 2. But if i do number 1 and find that it still not quite good enough then i have wasted money and effort that could have gone straight into option 2.

A second hand radiator in decent condition is about $50 .. and I think that a sierra rad is only about 100 or so to get rodded)

Mine managed to keep my 1.6 from overheating (just) on that really hot day when I decided to take on the crocpit ... and I still run most of my inner guards ..

Does your motor have an iron block ?? (if so that may help explain why it does not disapate heat as well as the G series donks)

So to try it .. it may be a waste of time (I doubt it will be a waste) but it's not alot of money or time to swap a radiator (15 mins or so) .. and you can always sell it again if it does not work or use it as a core to get re-cored to a 3 row ..

Remembering that Gregs motor will have a tendancy to run hotter (Turbo and higher rev's) so comparing engine size vs overheating isn't really accurate.

love_mud wrote:A second hand radiator in decent condition is about $50 .. and I think that a sierra rad is only about 100 or so to get rodded)

Mine managed to keep my 1.6 from overheating (just) on that really hot day when I decided to take on the crocpit ... and I still run most of my inner guards ..

Does your motor have an iron block ?? (if so that may help explain why it does not disapate heat as well as the G series donks)

So to try it .. it may be a waste of time (I doubt it will be a waste) but it's not alot of money or time to swap a radiator (15 mins or so) .. and you can always sell it again if it does not work or use it as a core to get re-cored to a 3 row ..

Indeed - $50 sounds pretty cheap - could be worth checking out.

Explain this rodded thing to me Yug? is that cleaning it out?

Mine will take longer to swap over because i need to take off the front clip, remove the intercooler and thermo, then do the swap over... buy you're right - not too long...

Yes - it's a cast iron block... The K6A is alloy (that's what sierras are right) so they would be the better option from a late model Jap Jimny / Cap)...

What are the coiler radiators - aren't they aluminium? i recall hearing something about Coiler Paul being unable to blast his with water because it bends the fins?

love_mud wrote:A second hand radiator in decent condition is about $50

I just called Suziworld - the asking price is $145 for a good nick 1.3L radiator... or $150 for a coiler one (which he thinks should fit in the same spot)...

The coiler is plastic apparently - would that be any good i wonder?

I just chucked a three core in mine the other day. It's pretty big!!!!!

No worries about overheating now!

Wolverine wrote:I just chucked a three core in mine the other day. It's pretty big!!!!!

No worries about overheating now!

Please post up the specs mate... did you get it custom made? costs? fit's the same position? how thick is the three core?

Aluminium?

p.s. if you don't want everyone to know the costs - could you just PM it to me please?

Thanks

Wolverine wrote:I just chucked a three core in mine the other day. It's pretty big!!!!!

No worries about overheating now!

what's the three core out of? any issues mounting it?

I have a Vitara radiator in my 1 litre zook,not sure what size engine it was originally in front of but my temp gauge has never gone past 1/4,and it only sits there when the cars been on for nearly 8-10 hours straight while 4wd-ing.

82ZUK wrote:I have a Vitara radiator in my 1 litre zook,not sure what size engine it was originally in front of but my temp gauge has never gone past 1/4,and it only sits there when the cars been on for nearly 8-10 hours straight while 4wd-ing.

I'm under the impression that the mounts are different on the vitara radiator... is it any bigger? are the "hose holes" (input and output) in the same (similar) spots?

UMMMMM......Don't know,but I do know that a few ppl have seen it and said that it's not that hard to do,only the mounts have been moved out to the edges but the radiator is about 2-3 times the size of those piddly little sierra ones,the bottle and hoses are all in the normal places,as far as I can see when compared to my other zook,the steering box is in same place as well,the radiator is about 3-4 inches longer and nearly 1 inch wider.

I have a custom 3 core radiator in my zook in front of the 4A engine.
Cools it effeciently with no problems.
Its made to fit in as much space as I have up front.

greg wrote:

82ZUK wrote:I have a Vitara radiator in my 1 litre zook,not sure what size engine it was originally in front of but my temp gauge has never gone past 1/4,and it only sits there when the cars been on for nearly 8-10 hours straight while 4wd-ing.

I'm under the impression that the mounts are different on the vitara radiator... is it any bigger? are the "hose holes" (input and output) in the same (similar) spots?

It's way bigger all alloy - do you want some dimensions?

I too rarely see anything over 1/4 gauge unless I have it completely full of mud..

I am interested in radiator ideas too. Same problem as Greg long periods on boost get the temp up. inercooler infront of rad as well, also a/c condendsor. I did not want to spend money on the current rad because I would rather some overkill to maintain constant water temps with the turbo it is critical as you can imagine.

stephen wrote:I am interested in radiator ideas too. Same problem as Greg long periods on boost get the temp up. inercooler infront of rad as well, also a/c condendsor. I did not want to spend money on the current rad because I would rather some overkill to maintain constant water temps with the turbo it is critical as you can imagine.

Have you guys tried water wetter, can't think of the brand names. Spoke to a M/Cycle racer who said that their overheating stopped so dramatically that they had to remove some of the WW to get it up to the correct temp.

LM

Yeah, find a better antifreeze. I don't know if they're selling Dexcool (orange colored, but not red) in Australia yet, but GM here in the US made it standard in 1998 in most all of their cars. It's about $10US a gallon here, but it will dropt the temperature quite a bit, compared to ethyl glycol (green).

I've also heard of some stuff like water wetter, but i can't think of the name i heard it called. I think it was called Stay Kool. The racing guys would buy it. Pricey stuff, but they said it worked great.

Make sure your water pumps are working properly also before going to all the trouble of a custom fit radiator.

Luigi Malone wrote:

stephen wrote:I am interested in radiator ideas too. Same problem as Greg long periods on boost get the temp up. inercooler infront of rad as well, also a/c condendsor. I did not want to spend money on the current rad because I would rather some overkill to maintain constant water temps with the turbo it is critical as you can imagine.

Have you guys tried water wetter, can't think of the brand names. Spoke to a M/Cycle racer who said that their overheating stopped so dramatically that they had to remove some of the WW to get it up to the correct temp.

LM

Is that like a coolant with a higher boiling temp or something??

Kool it was the name i was thinking of.

Look here.

http://www.autobarn.net/koolsupencoo.ht ... ID=1259339

FYI here's the stock dimensions of the sierra radiator, 1.3L

Click on the picture for a clearer version.

http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails ... 31&PTSet=A

I know about the extra heat load that the toibo will produce, But with no guards etc allot of that would be swept away ... the heat load for a piston driven motor should be about the same for a given power output regardless of RPM etc (if they are operating under similar loads and conditions).

Unless the engine is leaning out on boost creating higher combustion temps then a radiator that will cool a motor of a liter extra capacity should be OK... or if the motor is experiencing boost creep again causing a lean burn situation .. Then a bigger red is only masking a problem that needs to be addressed (as when the motor was installed overheating was not an issue)... so something else has changed ... that should be addressed first.


The alloy radiators with plastic header tanks are a PITA the tanks tend to crack, and the fins are easyish to damage .. I would stick to a copper and brass unit .. easy to fix and still reasonably efficient (not quite as god as alloy though)

I don't care about the cost, As long as my missus never finds this site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The three core was $330.00. It uses the same top and bottom tanks (new ones) but has three core sheets instead of two.

The mounting brackets, length etc are all the same it is just about 10mm wider. (as in depth )
The cores stick out from the tanks about 5mm either side, but there is heaps of room in there.

Another option if you are short on room is to go a longer core sheets and get a custom one made up.

The investigation continues...

I've called up a few places regarding re-coring, replacing (stock) and replacing with bling... Prices are ranging from 250 to 700 so far

love_mud wrote:Unless the engine is leaning out on boost creating higher combustion temps then a radiator that will cool a motor of a liter extra capacity should be OK... or if the motor is experiencing boost creep again causing a lean burn situation .. Then a bigger red is only masking a problem that needs to be addressed (as when the motor was installed overheating was not an issue)... so something else has changed ... that should be addressed first.

As i understand things, the computer should be able to keep the air to fuel ratio all in order up to 1.1 bar (15.x psi). Currently we are operaiting between 9 and 12 psi so i don't imagine that we should be having any issues with running lean.

You are correct about the boost changing from the originally set level of 9ish to now (up to) 12psi... I think a check i will have to do is remove the duel boost controller out of the system and just then check the boost guage - perhaps we have a leak somewhere that is letting more air bleed off than it should.

Looks like i'm going to arrange for a custom bling aluminium radiator to be built for me by Race Radiators in Dandenong - thankfully it's only going to be in the low millions so i should be able to afford it pretty soon

For future reference - here's a few pointers that i have learnt today:

1. Aluminium Radiators only come in single or double core, but in different thicknesses.

2. Aluminium is supposed to be able to stand up to high pressure hosing more than a brass / copper radiator is

3. Places that only make Custom radiators for special needs are the only places that want to spend time listening to you on the phone and helping you decide on what sort of radiator you should get.

greg wrote:

love_mud wrote:Unless the engine is leaning out on boost creating higher combustion temps then a radiator that will cool a motor of a liter extra capacity should be OK... or if the motor is experiencing boost creep again causing a lean burn situation .. Then a bigger red is only masking a problem that needs to be addressed (as when the motor was installed overheating was not an issue)... so something else has changed ... that should be addressed first.

As i understand things, the computer should be able to keep the air to fuel ratio all in order up to 1.1 bar (15.x psi). Currently we are operaiting between 9 and 12 psi so i don't imagine that we should be having any issues with running lean.

You are correct about the boost changing from the originally set level of 9ish to now (up to) 12psi... I think a check i will have to do is remove the duel boost controller out of the system and just then check the boost guage - perhaps we have a leak somewhere that is letting more air bleed off than it should.

But is the computer getting all the info it needs ???