custom radiator ducting - chapter 2
 

I refined the original design a bit and also am making the templates to reproduce my radiator ducting. Here are some pictures, you can clearly see the air seperator i have on the side that directs some air up to the filter area:

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build1.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build2.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build3.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build4.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build5.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build6.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build7.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/rad_duct_build8.jpg

I plan ot make mine out of carbon fiber sheets. I'll post more info as it develops.

Dang that looks nice! I would probably be up for one that fits the stock front bumper if you make one. It looks like you will never overheat with that thing, the radiator is getting so much air, especially with that bumper.

Very nice.... it's too bad you dont have a duct that would fit my mods... I'd pay for one :)
I was thinking about somewhat of a similar design though with a flow path to the intakes.
Perhaps maybe consider a ramp or incline so that the air is directed towards the filter??

>>.... it's too bad you dont have a duct that would fit my mods... I'd

what mods?

>>Perhaps maybe consider a ramp or incline so that the air is directed towards the filter??[/

there ia already a 'ramp' int eh design, you just dont see it in these pics, its in the old design and stays in the new diesign too.

koo man

very nice Damian.. You guys making it out of the Teklam material? How is the splitter holding up after a few track events now? Not to change the topic.

Will this attach to the splitter at all or just flush mount against it? And one mpore, are you doing teh oil coolers too?

You guys do nice work up there in snow country.

looks good Damian...

>>very nice Damian.. You guys making it out of the Teklam material?

thanks, and nope, as i said above, "I plan ot make mine out of carbon fiber sheets."
the side walls will be just thin carbon sheets, the bottom needs to be stiffer so it will be a bit thicker and probably carbon laminate with balsa core or somthign like that.


>>How is the splitter holding up after a few track events now?

I LOVE the splitter, it has held up fine with all the track driving and street driving to/from the tracks. i am in the proccess of converting the prototype shape to a file we can use to have them precut. I'll start another thread on that as it develops.

>>Will this attach to the splitter at all or just flush mount against it?

the bottom of the rad ducting actually sits a bit higher than the bottom of the nose, so there is a gap between the rad ducting base and the splitter base, they do not connect to each other in any way, and i wanted it that way so that if your splitter got taken out for some reason, you would not loose your rad ducting too. :-)

>> And one mpore, are you doing teh oil coolers too?

I already made 'half-azz' oil cooler ducting with a few stock oil cooler ducts, and my oil temps are way low, so i really need to do anythign there.

>>You guys do nice work up there in snow country.

hahah , thanks :-) i need somthin to do while its frickin freezin outside!!!

thanks... the final carbon fiber version should be very sweet. Strong and sturdy, yet weight probably as much or less than the foam core material I used to mock it up :-)

I have an HKS FMIC with a koyo RAD. both are vertically standing... kind of obvious I guess hahaha .. with the oem front bumper. I don't plan on going past the oem front... I just like it too much ......
I was thinking of the mazdaspeed front end like your racecar. If I did, I'd pay for a duct from you and modify it to fit the mods.

Oh well, I'll fab one up one day or another :)
In the mean time.. keep the track videos flowing :D

ahh ,.. Thanks for the comments. I thought the last sentence was part of the sig.;)

The idea to leave them seperate in case the splitter gets ripped off is great. I knew there was something i overlooked with the one i made. That is it. And know that i am thinking about it, it would rip the front clip off the car completely!!:( Probably should modify that eh?:Dthanks for the ideas and the latest video was great. One of the best i think

Damian...I like the ducting man! Looks nice. Got my eye on this thread ;)

Ok, I have a good source on teh materials now and should get the raw materials in a few weeks.

- the base will be "sandwich" material with a polyester core and carbon fiber 'skins', between 3 and 5 mm thick

- the side walls and air seperator will be solid carbon fiber sheets about 2mm thick.

- they will be held together by carbon fiber "L" brackets

After I get the materials it will only take me a day or two to get the duct cut and together. I'll post pics once I have the final product.

Looks great.

I hope it will be able to fit the stock bumper.

:-) neil

dunno yet, I will have to test fit a stock bumber after i get it together.... but im guessing it wont fit without modification, i may need to make a seperate template for the stock bumper.

IF you could make for the C-west bumper that would be cool, I need something to direct air into my rad

it may fit a cwest bumper without modification sicne the cwest bumper has a bigger openign liek the msgt nose.

However, the other issue is the actual radiator, i made my template to fit with my mazdacomp radiator, so I will need to check its fitment with a stock radiator and possibly the other big name radiators, like fluidyne, et, et.

do you think i could use the oem underbelly pan as the bottom piece then use sheet aluminum to make the sides and rivit it in?

im still using the stock radatior

I made my whole underbelly / ducting contraption out of aluminum with side panels and riveted it all together. My design is similar to the design of damian's aside from the separator. Works like a champ too.

Ya sounds like a plan but if i can avoid making the bottom piece and just rivet the side pieces to direct the air then it will probably be easier for me no? Im just curious cause this is what i was originally gonna do when i put my vertex front bumper on.

if your not looking for my entire kit, then just use aluminum sheets and make side panels.... my kit is ment to replace the stock rad ducting since it tends to fit poorly with aftermarket noses.

Damian, any update on the undertray? (I know that's a diff thread...)

i still need to check on the cost of getting it pre-cut and need to make the template file for it.

And you're waiting to do this because...? LOL j/k :p: Me just super anxious hehe :)

cuz i am doing 10 things at once with the car and my brain can only handle 2 things at a time ;-)

Damian, I totally understand and appreciate how busy you are. I can only imagine how long it takes you to edit all those awesome track videos :bigthumb: I'm just being annoying haha.

lol hahaha

I would buy it but i plan on changing my radiator and intercooler down the road and i dont know exactly what im gonna do so i was gonna set something up for now

the mazdacomp rad is thicker right, if so then all i would have to do it trip around it a bit, and seal with some pipetape, let me know if and when your gonna sell this.

I'm interested :) anything to get the car to run a lil cooler.

Agreed! I am very interested texas isn't so friendly when it comes to temps, I need all the edge I can get :)

im supposed to get the materials shipped to me next week, ill post pics once i get the duct together with the cf materials.

Nice...how's the undertray project comin along?

im workin on it, have to convert the shape to a file i can send to teklam to see the cost on the cut

update on the radiator ducting:

I got the material today and made the carbon fiber version, here are some pics:

http://www.myrx7.com/images/cf-ducting-1.jpg
http://www.myrx7.com/images/cf-ducting-2.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/cf-ducting-3.jpg


more info to follow.

looks koo

looking forwad to see it installed on the car

keep up the smooth work

i look forward to seeing more pics of rotoboys avatar :o

and of course, pics of it installed on your caR!

ok, here are pics of the final carbon fiber version of the template i made from foamcore that can be seen in the pics in the first post of this thread.

notice the air duct on the left that seals and leads up to right where my air filter usually sits.

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_1.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_2.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_3.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_4.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_5.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_6.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_7.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_8.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_9.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_10.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_11.jpg

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_cf_radducting_12.jpg

Very nice looking... I guess you really wanted to ram some air up at that air filter even if it compromises radiator airflow a little but. But I think judging by your very large front opening you won't have a problem.

It looks like you're using a mech grill too? This too will impede airflow but once again I imagine your opening is large enough that this shouldn't be an issue.

I have the stock front nose so I'm always careful to do everything to keep the air flowing well to the radiator. I'm sure you have a lot more flexibility using a nose with such large intakes.

Wow Damain, looks great. You'll have to keep us posted how it preforms. I'm actually working on something similar for my V-mount setup.

John, Since this car is used mainly for track use I would say the mesh grill is there to keep as many rocks as possible out of the radiator, which could dent the fins. I would say the performance loss (if any) due to the mesh grill is worth it for extra protection.

Dan beat me to it...this setup looks AWESOME, but I'm going to be going w/ a V-mount, so I'm not sure how the duct would have to change...

Ramy, the ducting is about the same for the v-mount from the pictures Damian posted. The upper ducting only has to go to the frame rail, and the lower ducting attaches directly to the radiator mounts.
Edit:

Damian, why didn't you create plate across the top to make sure the air is going where it is supposed to? I guess it shouldn't really matter, but I wanted mine to be as sealed as possible.

:worship: :crzyeye: :bigthumb:

Mad props Damian. That intake duct is a PERFECT fit.

Jeremy

Ugh. Damian is still such a ricer.

Is this mod due to a concern with current temps? I know it'll help cool the car and keep air-flow at a better pace. But is this for piece-of-mind? Or just cause?

I only ask this b/c it'd be nice to consider that if I ever follow in your footsteps as far as buying a race-prep'd FD (I already have a MBM Daily ;) )...that I wouldn't need to do any fabrication (for the sake of time) to have it running "right"...

:)

Oh, and nice work!

hey john,


>>I guess you really wanted to ram some air up at that air filter even if it compromises radiator airflow a little but. But I think judging by your very large front opening you won't have a problem.

yep, I didnt have any real coolant overheating issues with the first version of the duct I made so i decided to keep that in the design of this cf one.

>>It looks like you're using a mech grill too? This too will impede airflow but once again I imagine your opening is large enough that this shouldn't be an issue.

yep, ur on the money, my nose has such a huge opening that I can get away with some mesh there, but at least i moved fromt he 'flat' thick mesh that was on there when i got the car, to the thin 'rounded' mesh for better flow. ;-)


>>I'm sure you have a lot more flexibility using a nose with such large intakes

exaclty, and not to mention that the car it always going pretty fast when im pushing it (larger open road tracks) so I get massive airflow constantly to the nose.

if i had a vmount car around here i would make one for it :-)

I don't doubt that for a second :bigthumb:

you should make a kit and sell it!!! stock nose first so I can buy it ;)