project car radiators

[dannyp]

worked myself into a bit of a hole on my golf, long and short of it is there are a set of throttel bodys and a radiator wanting to be in the same place at the same time.

std core size is 35mm deep x525mm long x322 mm high mm

the 322 mm high bit is nolonger an option, i can go wider tho. i've been trial fitting a small fiat radiator thats 220mm high it migth do the job but it dose look a bit small at 500mm x 220 mm

anyone spotted any not so high but very wide radiators on there tinkerings ? or anyone ever had a go at makeing one from bought in bits

 

[reb78]

I've got a recore shop near me. I wanted a fairly bog standard rad recoring, but whilst I was there he got chatting to me about custom jobs he'd done. As long as he could find suitable side tanks, he could make anything up to fit. Might be worth seeing if you have someone similar and local to consult?

 

[andyclimax]

i think i used to use a scirocco rad on carb or throttle body conversions. memory is a bit vague but there is a vag rad that works

 

[dannyp]

i've allready tryed local radiator outfit hereford radiators, even tho i fell out with them some time back as they charged me more to adjust an outlet than recore a radiator, and still got it wrong. but they made it sound really hard work unless i chould find tanks the right size ect

 

[dannyp]

looking around the net it seems everyone chops the lower mounts out and drops the std rad down. i think thats what i'll end up doing

 

[reb78]

i've allready tryed local radiator outfit hereford radiators, even tho i fell out with them some time back as they charged me more to adjust an outlet than recore a radiator, and still got it wrong. but they made it sound really hard work unless i chould find tanks the right size ect

Thats a shame. This chap i was chatting to seemed to really enjoy the challenge and had a lot of tanks on the shelves out the back. Its a shame the company near you was like this as i suspect this is a dying art with the rise of the throw away plastic/ally rads and if they dont encourage tade, they will lose it completely!

 

[armalites]

AH Fabrications on Rotherwas build custom radiators/intercoolers for road/race cars but they aren't cheap. Prices will probably focus you mind on kinding another solution.

I've always fancied having a go at doing an old rad but it seems to be a closed shop and I've had quotes of £300 for cores for an old Landrover so it's not worthwhile. In my mind if they had been £100 I would have a go

 

[500e]

Core prices were never cheap, fitting the ends was not to difficult if you used to soldering.
Cleanliness of the metal is the secret (killed acid flux was what we used) not nice stuff the older ones of us will remember the rad shops with big tanks to clean paint\ gunge then the gas torch rubber aprons, wellies & lots of water, An old tin smith taught me how to do it, he was a wizard at tinning made it look so easy

 

[dannyp]

what is it your exactly doing mate?

i'm tinkering lol. basicly i've got a 2.0 16v ( ABF ) in a mk2 golf i previously had it running on megasquirt 2 with gsxr 1000 throttel bodies on an ACE 2.0 16v but the filters were almost touching the bonnet and it was never as fit as it should have been, so i've binned the ACE motor for an ABF but it's 16mm taller so the filters would now be in the bonnet.

the manifold needed to be longer and better shaped so i've done that this causes the problem of the airfilters or air box wanting to be inside the radiator, more i look at it the more it just says cut the frount crossmember and lower the rad down it appears to be what others have done as well.