Close up of the finish.

 

Likewise a vented hood with the IC on top would also significantly reduce heat soak. The many negative aspects of having the IC mounted on the bottom far outweigh the only negative aspect of having the IC core mounted on the top, which may not prove to be an issue at all most of the time.

I just got done assembling my Knight Sports V-mount kit and I can honestly say trying to mount things the opposite way would be a NIGHTMARE, and not worth the hassle. Who's to say the extended piping you'd have from the IC being on the bottom wouldn't get heat soaked somehow? And realistically what is the big deal with some elevated IAT's when standing still? It would not take that long once you get moving to cool the IC back down again which is really where it counts. Going to all that trouble to POSSIBLY reduce standing IAT's seems like a lot of work for nothing.


Here's my setup as it sits:


Waiting on some stuff to come from hose techniques before I can finish up the other charge pipe. And I just got done mocking up most of my ducting, should have that done pretty soon, mostly just need to figure out how I'm going to bolt it to the chassis.

 

Even with ducting you might still have problems with that setup, the entire face of that IC is having hot air from the radiator blown directly onto it. You might have been better off with a ducted XSPower setup that isn't facing almost directly at the radiator fans. I'd be curious to see what kind of air temps you see with that setup after you get some ducting to it, as it sits I'm sure they are through the roof .

Also are you running no PS? Threw me off for a second looking at that tensioner pulley on the wrong side of the belt . You should ditch the AC too, cleans up the engine bay SO nice not having the PS pump or the AC compressor over there .

 

has anyone made their own vmic using an unmodified radiator? do the endtank locations make a difference if you just change the position of the radiator?

please correct me if im wrong but people relocated their end tanks to make the install easier and for less piping correct?

also has anyone tried modifying the greddy FMIC to work as a vmic? jt the one with the white fd and the ic through the hood did right?


last q... what size piping are you guys using? does it make a huge difference what size the outlets of the IC are?

 

Rotary-works makes the intercoolers and v-mount configurated radiator for reall cheap, you can make a whole v-mount for less than $700.00, check out their website...

 

Thanks, I emailed them. That throttle body is sexy. Don't know about titanium studs as titanium can get brittle from heat but titanium makes me drool.

 

1) Yes, people have. yes and no on if it will make a difference, you have a lot more failure points in your cooling system but I don't see it adversely affecting the efficiency of the radiator itself. I'm of the opinion that you should just do it right the first time, so get a radiator with modified end tanks, you'll be happy you did in the long run.

2) yes

3) I'm sure they have, seems like an expensive route to go though when you could pick up a cheaper intercooler that would work just as well.

4) My piping is 2.75". I would shoot for AT LEAST a 2.75" outlet, my 35R has a 2.5" outlet so it wouldn't make a huge difference to have that same size inlet, but uniformity is the best route to go.


I have my Knight Sports V-Mount finished now. Still working on finishing up the ducting work but the pipes are done and it is working great. Lower overall temps in every day driving (typically in the 20's-30's), and up in the 40's during auto-x's if I don't ice the IC down between runs. This is also with a huge gaping hole between the IC and radiator though, temps should drop even more after I fill that in.

Here's the most recent picture of the engine bay, excuse the dirt, it's not a show car

 

kai, thanks for the info.. anyone used rotary works rad? do the stock fans fit in without any modification?

jhew- thanks for all the help! but why would an unmodified rad be have more of failure points? only one i can see is the bottom endtank will sit lower to the ground... but thats all determined by the placement of it.....

 

 

this is final moc up befor taking aprt and having everything coated clack

 

It really doesn't have anything to do with the actual radiator, and everything to do with how much extra water hose you will have floating around. Every extra coupler, inch of hose, etc is just one more place that could spring a leak, get damaged, whatever. It's not something that I would be hugely concerned about, but it is something to take into consideration with an engine that cannot afford to be overheated.

At this point there are quite a few places selling converted radiators, I also went to a local radiator shop and it was even cheaper to have him make me one. In my opinion it just makes sense to do it that way as opposed to having a bunch of water hose running around that really doesn't need to be there.

 

Mine(without clamps!)



Koyo N-Flo rad with lower outlet chopped and alloy pipe run half way up the back.
Stock fans (trimmed), generic core modified, 3" pipework.

Turns out I should probably get rid of the cardboard for better cooling :shrugs:

 

nice and clean!

 

SiH, did you tuck your wires away or something? That engine bay looks VERY clean!! I like it!

 

I think 3 things contribute to his engine bay looking so clean.

1) it's RHD
2) he has deleted MANY factory options (airpump, AC, PS, ABS etc)
3) it's not finished, in this picture at least .

It is very sharp though, one day I hope my engine bay can be that spartan .

 

Cheers dude
Yup, stuff is tucked, trimmed, and hustled away under covers

You got me there Almost
A lot of stuff has gone thanks to UK laws being a bit more 'flexible' (to an extent ) But it's still very much an uncompromised car in terms of performance in my eyes (just mine, obviously different people see things differntly )

PS is still there, but now powered by an electric pump from a french hatchback
The only thing not finished in that piccy is that there's cardboard on the IC, and that hoses don't have clamps on them.
AC had to go, ABS is gone.
Everything else is 'as is', and started up for the first time at the weekend, on the second turn of the key
It is very nearly finished, all it needs is:
- WI installing when run it
- Vac lines tidying on the firewall
- TB and Alternator spraying
- Strut brace bolting up.

Other than that, it's good to go

 

my set up it was a diy job these are pics from when i was doing the body work check my profile pics to see the car finished

 

Oh yeah, didn't mean to imply it was far from completion, definitely seems to be mostly all there . I noticed the charge pipe clamps first, then noticed the missing upper rad hose clamp, then the throttle cable, and I also didn't see an overflow hose, is that just not there or are you doing something else? I was also surprised at how clean the firewall was, but then realized that being RHD a lot of that crap isn't even there, then the ABS delete pretty much cleans up the rest. I do really like the way it looks though, I would love to have mine be that clean.

I'm diggin the electric PS pump, I just ditched mine altogether for a Maval conversion. And the US has a few states that aren't too strict about cars, MI is luckily one of them . I'm single converted, with almost as much as you have deleted, with a full turbo back straight pipe exhaust, haven't gotten in trouble yet :crossesfingers: haha.

 

is that a greddy core?

 

nope its ebay one

 

assuming u just added you own inlet/outlets?

 

okay okay.. seriously... i'm deleting the AST this weekend... Can i just run the line to my ast straight to the overflow? Or can I just Cap off the AST Nipple right at the fill cap and get rid of the resevoir down by the pasenger side headlight?

 

You need to buy an FC filler neck, at least the top part of it. then you cap off the one nipple on the thermostat housing and run the line from the FC filler neck to the overflow bottle.

 

alrighty thanks!!

 

it was actually a front mount for a srt4 (Ebay) i cut the brackets off and yes did my own pipes. the drivers side i cut the existing pipe and moved it towards the front more i patched the old hole and mounted my ait sensor there. it barley fits had to relocate wires though no cuting. the end tanks were perfect though.