1989_N/A

Ok, guys I hate to keep asking dumb questions. I did do a search but I really couldnt turn up much on any of this, so now I turn to you guys.

First, after some careful consideration, I have decided to completely remove my A/C and P/S units, I think. lol. What will this do under the hood. I know it will make it harder to steer at lower speeds and I wont have climate control anymore, but I am cool with that. lol. But once I remove the A/C and stuff, how do I remove the interior climate control plumbing and other stuff?

Second, I was looking into some of the pics of you guys FC's and I noticed that some of the engine bays looked like there was really nothing in them. I mean mine is so cluttered its un real. Even with the motor out now, it looks completely hideous. Is there any of that stuff mounted on the walls that can be removed or moved and cleaned up?

Finally, this may be dumbest of all but here goes. The fan mounted on the front of the engine. I noticed that some people dont have it. Is it necessary? Can I take it off and not harm my car? If so, how the heck do you get it off there?? lol.

Thanks so much guys, and sorry again for asking questions that I am sure others have asked hundreds of times. I just dont really know what to look for.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Everybody has to have a fan...what you're seeing is cars whose stock clutch fan has been removed and an electric fan installed in it's place.
Pros and cons either way...debates about the efan erupt here on a regular basis.

1989_N/A

Well I am planning on putting in some electric fans, but on the radiator. After having seals blow due to excess heat, I am planning on venting the hood, and putting a ram air industion to frop air straight on the motor. Then duct through the front and underneath the car to pull in air and push it onto the rad, oil cooler, and trans cooler, and also onto the motor itself.

Would this stuff work in place of removing the clutch fan?

clokker

iTrader: (2)

What do you think that "dropping air straight on the motor" is going to do for you (or the motor, for that matter)?
Obviously, ducting in intake to force air through through the coolers (rad/oil) is a good thing but any hood modifications would be better aimed at removing the now used/hot air from the engine bay instead of trying to force more air in.

It will take a very good understanding of airflow over the hood/nose of the car to actually achieve either end, although I would guess that venting to remove air would be far easier than trying to cram more air into the bay.

1989_N/A

Well I figured that by ramming more air into the bay it would help cool the motor. But also if its pulling air from the top of the bay and the bottom of the car, then it should in theory, actually cycle air better to provide better cooling. I would think this would work, but again Im no meteorologist so I really dont know what Im talking about. lol. It just seemes to make sense to me.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

If you're really concerned about cooling, keep the stock clutch fan if it still works. Usually it pulls more air than aftermarket electric ones. Now, sometimes people really need the space but in your case it's not necessary. Make sure you have your stock plastic undertray on under the motor because that directs air to the radiator. And don't waste your time with a vented hood, it won't do much. Replace your thermostat with an OEM 180 degree unit because they do go bad.

If you remove the P/S, you might want to consider switching to a factory manual rack. It will be easier to steer than if you just remove the pump off the factory power steering. I've driven both and I will say that the manual rack is noticably better IMO. As far as the A/C is concerned, well you don't need to pull out your climate control logicon. That's a bad idea--your heat would stop working too. Removing your heat is just stupid 99% of the time.

1989_N/A

Well I am plnning on removing the heater unit from the climate control as well. I mean I live in Texas after living in Minnesota for a while so Texas winters are nothing to me. lol. But unless the c/c heater does something for the actual performance of the car, then I really dont need it.

1989_N/A

But by the way, the car doesnt have an undertray on it. I dont think it even came with one when I bought it.

DaBrkddy

In my experence, the car doesn't really need an undertray or belly pan or whatever. I know I'll probably get flamed for this, but I don't care. I took it off to work on mine and got lazy and didn't put it back on. While it was off, I went on a long road trip and my temps were normal... I was passing rigs at 100 mph... it wasn't even breaking a sweat. The car also saw alot of stop and go during that time of laziness. I had it off for about 2 months... Anyways... I've got it back on now... I don't notice a big difference in cooling. The whole car is mostly stock, and has the original fan.

Thats my two cents.

Oh and this car also has the a/c condensor still on it...

1989_N/A

Well the undertray never really did anything to it. What shot the seals was the fact that my step-dad told me to put straight water into my radiator and I did. At least thats what I was told by a rotary shop in my area.

But I am planning on putting lots of extra cooling fans inside the bay and on parts that could really use them to fight the overheating. I am also gonna have custom air ducts put in to shovel air where its needed. lol.

Also, what is the problems that someone above said about taking off the heater element and the whole logicon unit?

Spectator

iTrader: (1)

If your radiator, fan or strp fails, you'll be happy to turn on the heater to save the engine. It's the best weapon most of the time against overheating.

Keep the heater, it might just save you a couple of $$$.

1989_N/A

Well the thing is, the heater doesnt even work as it is. I wuold have to either replace the whole unit or just ditch it.

Spectator

iTrader: (1)

Well, why doesn't it work? Do you know what the problem is?

1989_N/A

I dont have the slightest clue. I was told that the blower motor was gone on the A/C but I dont know if that would effect the heater.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

I think you significantly lower the value of your car if you gut the entire heater system...even if it's not working.
From a prospective buyer's viewpoint it's a lot easier to repair a non-working unit than it is to scrounge up all the parts and then get it functional.
What kind of fans do you plan on using and what engine parts do you think really need extra cooling?

Actually, I think you're throwing Flintstones Bandaids at a fundamental cooling system problem. Extra fans and ducting shouldn't be necessary- especially on a NA- if the stock cooling system is working properly.

1989_N/A

Well, I dont plan on selling the car once I have it rebuilt the way I want. I really want to keep it as my weekend warrior car.

But after being told that the cooling system overheated and was failure causing the seals to go out, I am just wanting to slam all the cooling mechanisms in there that I can. From naturally channeling in cooler outside air, to circulating it all with fans. I am planning on putting two fans on the raiator unless I can get one good one for it. The a fan on the oil cooler and a fan on the trans cooler. That way all the primary fluids going into the motor are extremely cool that way the motor cant really overheat as easily.

But again I dont know. Im just really paranoid about something simple causing me to have to rebuild the motor again later.

1989_N/A

One more thing. I have been told of doing a street port on my own using a porting template. I know PIneapple Racing sells such a template, but I was wondering what it takes to port the engine, where it should be ported, and what kind of gains come from doing a streetport on the motor.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

the undertray doesn't make as big of a difference on a nonturbo. I took my undertray off my n/a and it didn't affect cooling. but it certainly mattered on my T2 with a front mount.

oh and how much water did you put in the rad? water actually transfers heat better than ethylene glycol, although obviously you don't want your cooling system to be 100%. They say 50/50 but you can run more water than coolant, especially in the summer.

1989_N/A

I think I was probably running almost straight water cause I normally do in Texas summers.