Cooling Pro Radiators

[mid life 5]

My original hook bolts fitted so i don't know why your ones don't. Earth strap didn't think about that, do i have to fit one.

Cheers

[hot rod]

They don't fit (aren't long enough) becasue the original lower bolts are only as wide as the STOCK radiator Anyway that's no worry to sort.

I am going to fit an earth strap as precaution. You can do a test with a multimeter and check if you have any unwanted voltage. If you've flushed your coolant properley and haven't added any additional/aftermaret wiring then you shouldn't have a problem.

[bruce]

Earth strap for a radiator? Never heard of that before.

[Okibi]

They don't fit (aren't long enough) becasue the original lower bolts are only as wide as the STOCK radiator Anyway that's no worry to sort.....

Yeah I just used some long bolts (pity they didn't come with any), lucky I had some that were perfect.

[Locutus]

wierd - sounds like there are a few variations of the same radiator floating around...

finally fitted mine last weekend. had to leave the lower condenser bolts out, buy longer lower bolts, and elongate the upper mounting holes.


i'm not quite following with the earth strap - wouldn't that make things worse? the stock radiator & condenser are mounted with rubber insulators, i'm assuming for this very reason.

[PUR157]

I was under the impression it was an early build with the fitment issues? As time went by people were saying they fit better...

Although having said that I still had trouble with mine, (and this was late last year I installed... maybe an early batch?) the rubber grommets for where the top of the radiator mounts to the chassis would not fit.... also similar AC condensor problem that you describe... otherwise it works fine though...

How did your install go Locutus? Were those problems described the only ones you had?

[Okibi]

The top 2 bolts one mine were a little tricky to get in, I had to massage the mount a little.

[Locutus]

How did your install go Locutus? Were those problems described the only ones you had?

actually now that i think about it, i also had to shorten the lower bolts/screws that hold the condenser to its mounting rails. i think that's all.

the fan mounts, on the other hand, lined up perfectly. would have preferred to have them sit lower to reduce the gap between the shrouds and the radiator though.

[Mokesta]

I ordered my cooling pro radiator earlier this week from Just Jap Auto Imports in Sydney http://justjap.com/store/home.php . Two days later it was delivered to my house. $299 + $35 postage. So far so good.

The radiator is a two-core unit with total core thickness of 42mm and 14 fins per inch. The original radiator is a single core with many more fins per inch. The cooling performance should be satisfactory with more water in the system to buffer the peaks in load.

Today was install day. Here's what I did:

Tried to get the old radiator out without removing the under-tray. Fail! The a/c piping attaches to the condensor fan mounts so that wasn't going to work. Off with the under-tray and out with the old rad.

Test fitted the new rad without fans and two things were clear. 1) the screws that hold the surround to the a/c condensor were too long and would have to be cut down. 2) The condensor needed to be moved forward in the car to fit the thicher radiator.

The grinder sorted out 1)




and a stack of big washers sorted out 2)



Then I put the the fans on the radiator, using lots of adhesive-backed foam to get a good seal for the thermo-fan. Not much can be done about the condensor fan as it has a poor lip. The fan mounting bosses were in perfectly the right place. No round file required.



The pins that mount the lower sides on the stock rad are too short to reach the width of the new radiator.



The CP rad isn't supplied with anything suitable so I had to find some bolts.



The holes in the side of the rad are too small for the pins or the bolts I bought so I drilled them out to 7mm.

I assembled the pins with bushes and loctited the nuts in place.
Then I applied the adhesive-backed foam to the top of the rad so it seals tight against the rad support panel and installed it.

The side mounting wings were a bit off due to dodgy workmanship but I got the upper screws in place with only a little bit of swearing.



Then I fitted the under-tray. The NA has a very limited front grill opening and need the air directed through the radiator an not around it. The foam was good to ensure the thermo fans drew through and the rad was sealed at the top, but the bottom was a problem. The under-tray is stepped down before the rad. It is almost like it was designed for a rad 30mm deeper. To seal the lower gap I cut down the radiator packaging ploystyrene foam to form a 40mm x 40mm section as long as the rad is wide. This nicely seals between the rad and the under-tray. Happy days.



It was several hours work, what with jacking up the car, draining, trips to Supercrap, re-filling, getting out the grinder etc. etc. but here it is all water tight and ready for the next track day:



Edit: Yes, I will seal the hole above the a/c dryer and the radiator cap supplied with the rad is a 1.1 bar unit compared to the 0.9 bar OEM cap.

M

[Adam_NAclubman]

I put mine in yesterday too. It's a bit of a pain in the backside if you've got air con and intercooler pipes to contend with.
Oh, and for the nuffies out there (like me), remember to tighten up the drain plug before pouring expensive Tectalloy coolant in.

Heh, I had this problem tonight. Finally got my bov and idle air piping sorted, went to fill the engine with oil and the cooling system with...... coolant, and it came straight out the bottom. So I tried tightening the tap but it still comes straight out, wtf? Am I best off just pulling the tap out and blanking it off, or is there a secret to setting the tap so the bugger doesnt leak?

[Steampunk]

So I tried tightening the tap but it still comes straight out, wtf? Am I best off just pulling the tap out and blanking it off, or is there a secret to setting the tap so the bugger doesnt leak?

From memory, when I helped someone install one, it was reverse threaded ... for some reason.

But yeah, block it off cause they did not tap the thread very well at all.
You can either drill and tap another plug-hole, or just drain the coolant via the bottom radiator hose.

[Adam_NAclubman]

I was planning on just sticking a bolt with the correct thread in it to get rid of the tap, that wont work?

[Locutus]

are you sure you've closed off the tap? you close it by seemingly unscrewing it all the way.

[philz]

That's alot of fabrication for a "bolt in" job.

Might need to try ASI radiators, from what I've read they don't have any problems with fitment.

[Okibi]

That's alot of fabrication for a "bolt in" job.

Might need to try ASI radiators, from what I've read they don't have any problems with fitment.

I wouldn't call it a lot, I had to find 2 longer bolts to use and I had to bend one of the side tabs to suit, given I already had the bolts it would have added a couple of extra minutes.. a LOT less work then I had to put in to get my PWR one to fit.