Am I crazy or is the stock radiator basically boxed in?
boxing in the radiator
- Thread starter Fast99Snake
- Start date
Yeah the sides arent bad, you can fill in the voids from the p/s cooler lines with black duct tape. tape both sides so you stick the tape to itself, this way it doesnt leave a sticky surface to collect debris.
The bottom is what needs the most attention box that in with a peice of .025" aluminum flat sheeting and youre 90% there.
The bottom is what needs the most attention box that in with a peice of .025" aluminum flat sheeting and youre 90% there.
Freakin' awesome!! And here I thought this was going to be a hard job 
I boxed in my radiator and run a Home Depot air dam as well on my 98 cobra. Here's a quick run-down on what I did:
Boxed Radiator:
Although the side have the plastic pieces that somewhat already box it in, I used foam to replace the stock plastic pieces. The foam idea was stolen from someone on Corral.net, except I wrapped mine in black duct tape to keep it sturdy. The reason why I used the foam instead of aluminum for the sides was because it was very easy to cut and shape to fit around all the lines and such. The bottom of the radiator was boxed in using aluminum sheet metal. I went from the edge of the front bumper cover to the radiator support. This, with the foam side pieces created my "box."
As you can see in my pictures, I initially used rivets, but over time they felt like coming apart (I guess I didnt do it right:shrug, so I ended up fixing the small issues with black duct tape. It's not the prettiest setup, but it works:thumbsup:
Air dam:
As mentioned above, I used Home Depot garden divider (or whatever its called). I did not trim the height of it as I wanted it to work as best as possible. My car is rarely driven on the street so scraping was not a concern. The width is a bit short of meeting wheel-to-wheel as I didnt have anywhere to attach the end on my Saleen bumper. The Home Depot material is held onto the car by attaching it to the stock air dam, which is then mounted in the stock location, underneath the radiator support.
Boxed Radiator:
Although the side have the plastic pieces that somewhat already box it in, I used foam to replace the stock plastic pieces. The foam idea was stolen from someone on Corral.net, except I wrapped mine in black duct tape to keep it sturdy. The reason why I used the foam instead of aluminum for the sides was because it was very easy to cut and shape to fit around all the lines and such. The bottom of the radiator was boxed in using aluminum sheet metal. I went from the edge of the front bumper cover to the radiator support. This, with the foam side pieces created my "box."
As you can see in my pictures, I initially used rivets, but over time they felt like coming apart (I guess I didnt do it right:shrug
, so I ended up fixing the small issues with black duct tape. It's not the prettiest setup, but it works:thumbsup:Air dam:
As mentioned above, I used Home Depot garden divider (or whatever its called). I did not trim the height of it as I wanted it to work as best as possible. My car is rarely driven on the street so scraping was not a concern. The width is a bit short of meeting wheel-to-wheel as I didnt have anywhere to attach the end on my Saleen bumper. The Home Depot material is held onto the car by attaching it to the stock air dam, which is then mounted in the stock location, underneath the radiator support.
My box in
And no more light coming through
I do have a question, though. There is some movement on the front of it. Should I try an anchor it down? It's right behind the lip of the bumper so I don't see it doing too much but I figured I'd ask
And no more light coming through
I do have a question, though. There is some movement on the front of it. Should I try an anchor it down? It's right behind the lip of the bumper so I don't see it doing too much but I figured I'd ask
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Looks good. Remember when doing high speed runs the piece at the bottom will slow the car down because you are now forcing all the air thru the radiator which is great for cooling but now you are pushing a wall of air. One member reported his car was a little unstable at the higher speeds.
I'm looking to do this mod to function on the track. Do you suggest against the piece on the bottom?
What about the movement in the front Carlos? Going to be a problem? And honestly I can feel the difference already in the front end. It almost feels heavier
Hopefully this video will work
http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h86/suaveflooder/?action=view¤t=0dc691ab.mp4&evt=user_media_share
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Can you zip tie it to the bottom of your heat exchanger?
I had the leading edge on top of the clips that hold on the lip spoiler. Or you can attach it to the heat exchanger bracket like brkntrxn says above.
I'll try and slide it in with the lip. If that doesn't work, zip ties it is! Thanks guys!
Sorry, didn't see this earlier. didn't touch the radiator. The aluminum was more than flexible enough to get in there with no issues. Mock it up with cardboard and you will be good to go. I put black take on my side pieces because they were SHARP and I was worried about them cutting into things.
I barely ran it over my hand on accident
Looks like I found a new mod to do. I wish somebody would just make a kit for this.
subbing for more info. pretty interesting thread, For more street use, would you all recommend just boxing the radiator and the lower lip under it to divert the air upwards into the radiator. Or in addition to the two mentioned above, also boxing in the heat exchanger. Again mostly street use but plan on taking it to the track where it will see upwards of 120mph +/-. I do not want my upper mph shaking the car or feeling less comfortable at these speeds
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