shawnc16

Anyone leaned their radiator forward instead of back? I'm in the process of building my turbo car and I need some extra room between the engine (LS) and the radiator due to turbo placement.

I took some measurements and the standard 31x19 wont fit between the brackets for the headlights on my camaro. I was thinking about a 28x19 core leaned forward (removing the factory hood latch) Will I have an issue getting the heat out from under the hood. I'm also running a 4" cowl. Thoughts?


Current setup: Not much room and I'd really like the clock the turbo and hotside for a more direct path.

novaderrik

why not just move the whole radiator forward? get the whole thing up under the hood latch and you'd have about 4" of extra clearance...

shawnc16

Either way I'm looking at a smaller dimension radiator. I'm not sure how much air will kick up into the radiator with it being that close to the intercooler. I think I'm just gonna do it and report back with the results. Why not right?

novaderrik

make it so that the air that goes thru the intercooler then goes thru the radiator, with the gaps sealed up between the intercooler and radiator so that all the air that goes thru the intercooler goes thru the radiator... you should have enough cooling capacity to do that, and it's the way the GN guys do it when they go with a front mount intercooler....

shawnc16

I'm gonna order up a new radiator this week and see how it fits in there.

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

I leaned mine forward in my old 370 Turbo LS, needed the room for the T6 Turbo. Seemed to work fine in the car. Constant 80-82*c cruising. I think the rad was 30x19 overall.

I also didnt have anything blocked off (top/sides etc). I would show a pic but my work blocks photobucket!

Jay

topradman

Here's what I did on my 92. Major surgery but might give you some ideas. Looks like you are already modifying the radiator support ( not afraid! ) good job. As far as tipping the radiator either forward or back, neither will bother performance as long as you get air directed through the core. The core for the charge air cooler I built is for my F1 and core alone is 20 x 16 x 5" thick. With the mods I did, still had room for a radiator core only size of 26 x 16 x 3 1/2" thick. I made the hood latch bolt to the charge air cooler by making a heavy plate and tig welding it to the core rail itself. Not pictured but I also cut out the center grill where the bowtie was and made an aluminum grille & powder coated black. It was tight but still got the ac cds in the middle between the radiator and the charge air cooler. I made an aluminum sheet metal cover for the whole thing over the top with the hood latch bracket sticking through. A lot of work but got it done. One thing in your favor is that LS engines run a little cooler than traditional sbc. How much boost are you going to try for?

shawnc16

No cooling issues with that setup? I've got 8 lb. springs in the gates to start with, beyond that I dont really know but I'd like to try 15 lbs. I'll start building a 370 once I get this setup going.

Jay, If you could post some pics that would be awesome. I remember seeing your build thread a few years back.

topradman

[quote=shawnc16;5626841]No cooling issues with that setup? I've got 8 lb. springs in the gates to start with, beyond that I dont really know but I'd like to try 15 lbs. I'll start building a 370 once I get this setup going.

I have been in the radiator business since 1981, I built the radiator & the charge air cooler and did all the sheet metal & tubing work. Had dual oem fans except w/92 corvette blades and motors until last week. Ran a little warm in town (215 max), 160 on the highway. Just made dual fans shrouds and installed 2 Derale fans last week, but haven't had a chance to drive the car yet. Radiator is 3 rows of 1" tube core, charge air cooler is 2 rows 2.375" extruded tubes ( not inner fin type, too much pressure drop for 15lbs boost ). Running e85 which helps. Charge air induction system very well planned out and cac computer sized for this application. Makes 782.8 rwhp last pull. New exhaust mods may bring this up as high as 850 or so. Based on everybody's overheat problems on these threads, no, it does not run hot and should run cooler with heavier fans. Oh, also have a small fan on front but that is for the TOC. That set up your doing should kick butt. The LS choice will definitely be in your favor from a cooling stand point.

shawnc16

That's a badass setup! I did plan on stuffing a trans cooler in there too.

shawnc16

Well, check this out! Tons of room, it's just sitting in there, gotta buy some metal and build a mount for it.

topradman

A little hard to tell from just that angle but that might just work pretty good! Try not to get your filler too much lower than the water outlet on the motor or you may have a little trouble getting air out .

shawnc16

It will come up some. It's just sitting on blocks.

83RDRACR

The radiator core is 28x19 or the overall outside dimensions? I will be doing a similar mod on my Z this winter. I'll be following along to get some tips.

Justin 87 GTA

iTrader: (3)

when you cut the upper support out, I would be concerned with strength....

anyone find a slightly smaller radiator to put where the condenser was? I need to do this soon... need more blower pulley clearance.

86trbota

The top radiator support is very flimsy and made out of very thin metal. Ive had mine gone for a few years with no problems.

shawnc16

Sorry guys. Havent been on in awhile. The overall dimensions are 28x19. I have zero motivation to work on the car this winter, way too cold out lately.