i dont know...maybe my car is different somehow, but it doesnt appear to be as straightforward as everyone is claiming. the brackets seem to place the radiator, WAY too high up, and barely fit anyway. i have no idea how you guys are doing this w/ the stock brackets but id love to see pictures..... it will be a bitch to track down some sheet aluminum and make new brackets right now, as i dont have many metal cutting tools with me at the moment... but as far as i can see there is no other option. pictures would help, and ill take some of my predicament. -heath

 

Keith,

MAke sure you got the plastic in the front, or it'll seem like the brackets aren't working right.

 

chuckle... the Koyo Radiator with the Apexi GT FMIC ... now that was a tight fit. I had to buy 2 slim fans to make it fit. Its definitely tight, but no squeaking or anything.

 

i got the koyo, and it was well made and fit just fine in the engine bay with no stock intake box and with the stock IC. a little hammering on the brackets when screwing them in was pretty much all that was needed. it was also cheap

 

clayne... i notice that your rad. is BELOW the black plastic... the lowest my radiator will drop before it contacts the AC condensor is just above (resting on) the black plastic piece that you cut. i know there were 2 different versions of AC components (by 2 different manufacturers)... i wonder if mine is somehow different??? i dont know, most people say that they dont have any problems... but this is looking pretty bad at this point, as it doesnt look like my stock IC/ducting will fit with the current position of the radiator. im not being a wuss... im just having some serious problems that many other people seem to not encounter

if i cant get this to fit easily in the next 2 days ill just have to put the stock rad. back (then i can save $350 on buying another koyo for the project FD). im sort of thinking about the fluidine route as well... i just want to get this car back on the road since its been down so long

 

Rotormotor!

welcome to the koyo!!! I read all of the "it was a snap" threads and thought I could do the install in an hour.

I like you had something not quiet fit well...hard to explain but something is just different.

In regards to the AC there are Denso and MANA units....I don't remember the AC unit causing a problem...

I eventually got it to fit but it was never perfect....I would get the airbox and stock IC rubbing the hood liner...

 

ok well finally i got it to seat somewhat properly, but i am still having problems. i had to cut off 2 sections of the small "lip" on the sides of the radiator to get it to clear the AC condensor brackets... once that cleared i had to significantly bend down the bottom mounts. then the top of the radiator contacted the black plastic piece that attaches to the bumper supports, so i shaved a bit off of there. then.... the stock mounts needed to be modified... i switched the 2 sides, and flipped them, but it raised the radiator too high up... so i took the mounts off and had to drill new holes for the bolt to the radiator... i drilled them higher up (closer to the bend of the bracket) to get some more reach so the bracket would sit on the upper mounts.

the radiator is as low as it can possibly go.... but still the bottom of my stock intercooler contacts the back of the right fan. its maybe 3/4 of an inch too high... so my IC and duct sits slightly cockeyed. i have no idea if i will run into trouble when it comes time to put the top plastic shroud over the IC/battery box.... maybe everything will squish down a bit more... maybe my hood wont close all the way... who knows.

anyway, the moral of this story is: if you are trying to keep your car "stock" (stock IC, etc etc) DO NOT get the koyo radiator... it interferes with too much stuff for the added cooling capacity. if you if your car is more modified (aftermarket IC, ducting, etc) and you can justify needing that extra cooling capacity (versus say the fluidine) then you probably will have a little extra room to play around with. similarly, if you are going FMIC then this is a great radiator. however, if your car has all of the stock components, i would STRONGLY recomend against the KOYO... its just too big of a pain in the *** compared to the fluidine. i still have no idea whether the plastic pieces will line up properly now, or even if the hood will close. that being said i plan on buying another koyo for my 20b project FD (which will be using a front mount IC) -heath