Moving the radiator forward.. is there a "how to?"

[Lstruck03]

Hey guys.. looking to make a little more room for my single turbo setup. I run a cgfab kit with a turbonetics tc78. I have maybe 1/2" clearance from the compressor to the fan. I would like to get a bit more space in there...

I have read that a few guys have notched the rad support and moved the rad forward. But, I pulled the top mounts to check things out, and I just dont see where the room comes from. Maybe from the wiring harness between the rad and the condenser, but where would the harness route?

I would prefer to run a bigger radiator, with the stock fan, or a plug n play fan (taurus??) but Then I will have even more clearance issues.

does anyone have a how to, or pics from their install to guide me?

thanks!

 

[itSSlow98]

Im interested to see how this goes. My tc76 literally touches the fan housing with the hellion kit. It doesnt affect anything at all but I do plan to upgrade to a precision or new 7675 turbonetics eventually.

 

[MTBSully]

Why not run a slim fan? That is going to be my next step if I decide to run a bigger turbo.

 

[Turbo98]

The aftermarket fans just don't pull the CFM that the OEM fans do. Maybe you can get by though.

 

[MGC]

I have a cg fab hotside too, another option is to run a pusher fan on the front of the radiator, plenty of room now for my 88 and 4" downpipe. No overheating issues either.

 

[Lstruck03]

mgc, is yours a a/c delete kit? I dont see enough room for a pusher fan between the radiator and condenser... also, i tried to use the 01 cobra crossover like you, but the upper hose ran right on top of the turbo.. and my compressor is much smaller than yours.

 

[MGC]

Yep I have a ac delete kit... I'm going to switch to the modular speed housing to clean up the coolant lines and delete the crossover.

 

[static74]

You can check out my build thread for more details, but simply tilting the top of the radiator forward allowed the fan motor to clear the CG fab hotside with plenty of room to spare. I trimmed some of the plastic shroud away from the fan with an air grinder, I'm not stupid enough to stick my fingers down there with the car running so I don't really need the protection this is put in place for.

I accomplished the tilt by removing my AC condenser that wasn't in use to begin with and I fabbed up my own brackets from pipe hanger purchased at a local hardware store. The material resembles a strip of metal with holes drilled in it.

I highly recommend you wrap your pipe (lolololol) to prevent any heat escaping the exhaust system. This serves two purposes, more heat = faster spool in the exhaust, and less heat soaked into your engine bay. I can run my car in 100*F days and not have any water temp issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lstruck03]

thanks for the replies. as of right now, i will be keeping my a/c .. i might look into slim fans to get more room.

 

[Cobra8urZ06]

Slot the brackets that bolt to the car and just push the radiator forward, I got about 2 inches out of mine doing that and removing the condenser.

 

[TKat13]

I posted how I did this on M1R forum but here are a couple of pics to help you.

I installed a Precision 76 in my Mach and and needed some additional room, I also run a fluidyne radiator so I really needed extra space for the larger turbo and fan. My method keeps the AC and I did not have to disconnect any AC lines to do the work.

1. I removed the wires from the plastic covering and wrapped them in a heat barrier wrap from DEI.
2. Put notches on both sides of the radiator support to run the wires.
3. Make a single custom bracket to pull the condenser as far forward as possible, I did not want it moving around and causing a leak.
The bracket is made from thin aluminum stock that I picked up at Lowes.

The square hole is set on the mount of the condenser, it will make more sense when you see it.
4. I then made two radiator brackets out of the same material, this holds the radiator forward as much as possible and is covered up once you reinstall the plastic panel.
Here is a shot of the two brackets installed

This was the before picture of the spacing I had, the radiator brackets I changed as well but the new ones are a bit different.

Here it is by slightly changing the design of the radiator brackets to fold inwards instead of out.
I pulled in a ton of space:

Another angle; don't mind the mess, it was still under construction.

Finally all buttoned up and a 2nd motor later.

BTW, I hated the factory radiator brackets, these are so much easier to deal with and hide away when the cowl is installed.

 

[Lstruck03]

holy thread revival!! haha, thanks for the update. I like that Idea. I am still on a factory radiator so I should be able to follow your routine and have a good bit of room.

 

[TKat13]

holy thread revival!! haha, thanks for the update. I like that Idea. I am still on a factory radiator so I should be able to follow your routine and have a good bit of room.

Some call me slow....

 

[carolinacat]

So I'm late to the party but on mine I have a fluidyne I cut off aluminium rods and pish it in as far as it would go and tigged on new aluminum rod gave me a bunch of room enuf to run stock fan and ac. This is on my twin setup when I had a single I used 2 pusher fans in front of ac condenser but still had room with to aftermarket radiator and single turbo.

 

[1Fast-Turbo-Cou]

I slotted the bottom core support mounts on mine, still using the rubber bushings. I made the radiator cover so it holds the top of the radiator in place, no separate brackets. I also trimmed the fan shroud to make it fit tight against the radiator with no air gaps, that actually gained me a lot of clearance and it moves more air too. Here's a few pics I know my setup is different but it will give you some ideas. Making the top cover was easy, you just need to find someone with a sheet metal break. I used .090" 5052 Aluminum. I made a poster board template for a pattern, then I bent a coat hanger to the shape of the car and used that as a reference when I bent the metal. I love how it came out.

 

[1Fast-Turbo-Cou]

I should also mention that I moved the A/C condenser forward as well. What I did for that was take the factory rubber mounts and notch them out in order for the condenser to move forward, then I took the notches I cut out and glued them back in on the other end. That way it's still in rubber, mounted like OEM just offset forward. I took my time cutting the rubber so I had nice little blocks to glue back in. Worked perfect and I think it came out sweet. When I did all this stuff I made sure there was an air gap between the radiator and the condenser, between the condenser and the intercooler, and between the intercooler and tranny cooler. I also mounted two Spal pusher fans, one on the front of the intercooler and one on the front of the tranny cooler. I also made sure they mounted tight to the surface with no air gaps. Both of these little fans blow hard enough to make it through all the cores and into the engine bay! I run all 3 fans at once and they shut off at 175*. The fans actually kick on and off as I'm driving, before I did all this stuff the fans would run non-stop the entire time. Before I was running an 03 Cobra fan but it was from Advance auto parts, I replaced that with an OEM Ford fan and trimmed the shroud to fit tight. Man it moves WAY more air! Not even comparable. I also added the extra Spal pusher, I had one on the tranny cooler the whole time but never had one on the intercooler. Hope all that helps and makes sense. Let me know if you need any help.

 

[Lstruck03]

Damn that is nice. That engine bay is a work of art.