Fluidyne would not fit
05-28-12, 10:27 PM
#1
Fluidyne would not fit
Bought a Fluidyne radiator from Summit Racing which when installed gave several fitment issues with other parts, airbox, etc. which I could not resolve. Summit gave me a refund with absolutely no problem (I was out the shipping charges).
I spent a lot of time trying to make the Fluidyne work with no success, so I thought I would write up what I found. As tight as everything is under the hood of the FD it looks like there are several crucial specs that must be right to avoid fitment problems. I have close to a stock setup – stock airbox and IC and I have air conditioning.
Had these fitment issues:
AC dryer - With the radiator installed the bottom of the AC dryer hit the fan assy. and the hood would not close. This was without the IC duct installed. The dryer sitting in the pocket of the stock IC duct would push it even a little higher.
Front fusebox – Hit the top radiator hose. Would have to be spaced at least ½” higher.
Stock airbox – Would have to be spaced at least 1” higher to accommodate the top hose.
Inspection of the radiators revealed the following which would need to be correct to avoid a rad causing fitment issues with other parts (pics and detail for each are in separate sections below):
Angle of the inlet
Skew of inlet with respect to core
Height of inlet
Position of mounting tabs
I spent a lot of time trying to make the Fluidyne work with no success, so I thought I would write up what I found. As tight as everything is under the hood of the FD it looks like there are several crucial specs that must be right to avoid fitment problems. I have close to a stock setup – stock airbox and IC and I have air conditioning.
Had these fitment issues:
AC dryer - With the radiator installed the bottom of the AC dryer hit the fan assy. and the hood would not close. This was without the IC duct installed. The dryer sitting in the pocket of the stock IC duct would push it even a little higher.
Front fusebox – Hit the top radiator hose. Would have to be spaced at least ½” higher.
Stock airbox – Would have to be spaced at least 1” higher to accommodate the top hose.
Inspection of the radiators revealed the following which would need to be correct to avoid a rad causing fitment issues with other parts (pics and detail for each are in separate sections below):
Angle of the inlet
Skew of inlet with respect to core
Height of inlet
Position of mounting tabs
05-28-12, 10:35 PM
#5
Height of inlet
There needs to be some spec for the absolute height of the inlet pipe. I guess there are various ways you could take this measurement. I tried to measure this from the mounting tab. Doing so I thought would relate the inlet to the body of the car, since the other items that a rad might interfere with are determined with respect to the car. I measured the height from the mounting tab to the top of the inlet pipe. Because the pipe is angled you have to have a specific point on the mounting tab. I chose to go from the top of the bolt hole in the tab up and over at a right angle to the top of the inlet pipe. This is not the height of the inlet at its tallest point. It is just a measurement of its height at a specific point. When I tried to do this on the Fluidyne the tube was just not that long. It is shorter than the stock.
I got 77mm for this measurement on the stock rad but I made an error. The horizontal straight edge in the pic is about 3/16” thick. This made it hit the pipe at a higher point. Thus, my measurement is too high by around a few mm or so but it is at least an idea .
There needs to be some spec for the absolute height of the inlet pipe. I guess there are various ways you could take this measurement. I tried to measure this from the mounting tab. Doing so I thought would relate the inlet to the body of the car, since the other items that a rad might interfere with are determined with respect to the car. I measured the height from the mounting tab to the top of the inlet pipe. Because the pipe is angled you have to have a specific point on the mounting tab. I chose to go from the top of the bolt hole in the tab up and over at a right angle to the top of the inlet pipe. This is not the height of the inlet at its tallest point. It is just a measurement of its height at a specific point. When I tried to do this on the Fluidyne the tube was just not that long. It is shorter than the stock.
I got 77mm for this measurement on the stock rad but I made an error. The horizontal straight edge in the pic is about 3/16” thick. This made it hit the pipe at a higher point. Thus, my measurement is too high by around a few mm or so but it is at least an idea .
05-28-12, 10:36 PM
#6
Position of mounting tabs
These should be ok as long as they are somewhere near flush with the backside of the core. In the pic you can see that one tab is this way and one is positioned near the middle of the core. The left side tab positioned too low made this side of the rad too high, causing the fans to sit too high. The bottom of the dryer hit the fan assy.
If the one tab had not been out of position on my unit the rad might have worked for someone not running the stock airbox as long as the front fusebox was spaced upward.
These should be ok as long as they are somewhere near flush with the backside of the core. In the pic you can see that one tab is this way and one is positioned near the middle of the core. The left side tab positioned too low made this side of the rad too high, causing the fans to sit too high. The bottom of the dryer hit the fan assy.
If the one tab had not been out of position on my unit the rad might have worked for someone not running the stock airbox as long as the front fusebox was spaced upward.
05-28-12, 11:59 PM
#7
Wastegate John
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I had the same problem with the water neck being bent at the wrong angle.
I used the socket with an extension to bend the pipe to make it fit properly. It is very frustrating considering how expensive it is.
I used the socket with an extension to bend the pipe to make it fit properly. It is very frustrating considering how expensive it is.
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05-29-12, 12:08 AM
#8
You got the one with the longer neck. Mine had the shorter neck which would have made bending it tougher. Since there are two types of necks I thought that the difference meant that they had made a modification to fix the problem, but I guess not.
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