TitaniumTT

I want to say that it is a 26X19X3

Whil haveing a Tig and having the ability to weld aluminum is a huge plus, it isn't necessary @ all. THere are a few guys over on TeamFC3S - ccfc3s in particular - that did a VMIC without welding one little bit. He fabbed up some brackets and went to town on it. I hate couplers, I'd rather weld a bunch of stuff together than make a bunch of potential leak points.

Shainiac

iTrader: (7)

Does the 26" core actually fit in the stock body or was the opening widened? IIRC, the last time I measured the stock rad, it is only ~22" wide.

Jezzza

iTrader: (1)

thanks rotarymike

TitaniumTT

I'll toss a tape across it later on tonight and give you the exact dimensions. I had to cut the rad supports a little and the clearance between the frame is TIGHT!!! but it does fit. My reasoning was I only have so much air coming in and I'm more limited on IC size than Rad size. I plan on putting a splitter in so I wanted to be able to pull more air AWAY from the Rad and push it towards the IC. Less air = more surface area needed. WHen I opened the box I ed because I new I would have NO cooling problems

TitaniumTT

The core is 21" across, 19" tall and 2" thick. With the endtanks the Rad measures 26". It fits between the rails

rotarymike

iTrader: (1)

got a chance to look at my engineless FC this afternoon (and didn't find my tape measure... damn woman... always filching my alignment tools...)

I think if you can plan to start the bottom end of the rad just under the lip of the nose, you should be able to tilt it back so the top end is about 2" from the water pump pulley boss. That leaves plenty of room for an IC - I have a modified mitsu starion core, and it fits in there perfectly.

Just measure, and call your local speed catalog. I've had great success using summit racing and jegs, but no idea who you've got in Oz. My Aussie mates are not car people although they do tend to speak Japanese.

When buying the rad, think about inlet/outlet position. The FC uses top and bottom tanks with the hose connections all on one side. Domestic (for us, GM, Ford, etc... probably the same there... maybe some neat Holden parts?) tends to have L/R tanks and therefore differential inlets. You will need either a long hose for one of them or a few 90* hoses and a length of pipe. I will be using the upper pipe from the Starion which happens to be the right diameter and aluminum.

For bracketry, a few sections of angle bracket can be bolted together to form a lip in which the radiator 'sits', connected by a few bolts through the rad lip holes, and then hold those at an angle to the bottom of the frame rails. If you're having difficulty visualizing, take a 3" piece of angle, and put in on the lower inner side of the frame rail (one leg of the angle will be under the car, and one will be towards the center of the car). Then hold a piece of angle up to that first piece, so that one leg is pointing up (and flush with the inner-leg of the first piece) and the other leg forms a ridge to sit the radiator on.

If you don't get it, I'll attempt some Paint hackery. I'm no engineer though.

Mounting the IC is then a matter of joining them at the point of the Vee (with weatherstripping or something) and making simple flat brackets to go from the original rad support crossover to the IC. Use roofing tin to fill in the sides, and you're good. Again, remember to leave a hole for the air intake... don't ask how I know you need one.

as I mentioned earlier, some time laying on the creeper under the car with a pencil, notebook, measuring tape, and quizzical expression will serve you well, as will making a mockup of the radiator out of cardboard to test bracket ideas.

Shainiac

iTrader: (7)

Do you think the stock battery box would need to be relocated?

TitaniumTT

I wouldn't put it that close to the front lip for a few reasons. Bottoming out, rear ending someone, some ******* backing into you in a parking lot. I don't think it would take much to potentially rupture a radiator rendering you looking for a flatbed.

Also - it was very VERY strongly suggest to me by the guys at Griffin that the radiator NOT be mounted directly to any solid metal directly mounted to the car. Vibrations. They said to get some strip rubber or some isolators in there.

Also - I think this is the most important - if you're going to be welding brackets and crap like that to frame rails, I would make tham as strong as possible but out of material that is significantly weaker than what it's being attached to. I would hate to see a 3" angle iron get snagged on something @ higway speeds and bend the frame. My mounts are being made from 1/2" 16 Ga steel and welded to the round support where the oil cooler originally mounted. I'd rather the radiator and the mounts get destroyed that bending frame rails and other important pieces


That is awsome

TitaniumTT

I have no idea. My battery hasn't lived there for a decade. Do you have a tape measure?

Shainiac

iTrader: (7)

It's not terribly important right now. Anyways, my car is a hundred miles away back home while Im in school. Damned wheel hop killed the tranny. Anyways, I dont plan on going V-mount since I lack a turbo, but I am interested in retrofitting a Griffin of that size for track use.

TitaniumTT

Call up griffin and talk to Benny. He is a former rotard. That unit that I have is custom to my specs. They have a bunch of different core sizes available and I believe they have one specific for the FC, I could be mistaken though. Since I've bought the rad though I've welded a bunch of **** to it and I'm waiting on some bungs to come in so I can finish mounting it. Such a beautiful rad. Mig welded too

Jezzza

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys thanks for comments once again..

Ive run into a major issue.. with my homosexual turbo being highmounted which I never thought about after ripping it half apart..

I have pics but cant get them on the computer so I will have to work out a way to do this :\

Im still keen on the v-mount (very few in WA aus), throttle response and cooling =]

Hopefully this high mounted turbo issue is just a little hurdle.