salival

Yeah, Kind of.. Think of it as an "exfoliator" for aluminum. It heats the metal and pushes all the crap out. We use it every day, worth its weight in gold. It does dull the finish, though. We use glass beads at work for sandblasting, Not good for welding aluminum unless you grind the area after sandblasting.

We have an acid at work, it's basically mag wheel cleaner (I work for a radiator shop) I sand the runners about 5-10mm down from where i'll be welding and dip the who9le runner into the solution and clean it off. I have 0 issues welding cast. I only use 5356 for cast welds, 4043 for everything else. My cast to runner welds are 5356. http://skeleton.net.nz/~oiad/skyline/plenu...25/P1010704.JPG

That's what I would refer to as the coolant drain

Hey guys, I actually work for a radiator shop AND build alloy radiators so I think I have a bit of knowledge in this area The thing that kills alloy radiators (re: about 2 weeks i've had one of mine come back from new) is Electrolysis (Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) due to an electric current being passed through the water.) Anything electrical that isnt grounded correctly can emit stray current into your cooling system. We see this alot on bodged up drift cars and Taxi cabs that are put together cheaply. This can kill a brand new alloy radiator within weeks. Corrosion from coolant related mixing is also very bad for a radiator but does take longer. Copper Brass radiators are alot more resilient and repairable from corrosion. My suggestion, Ground everything as much as you can. You should be able to drop into your "friendly" local radiator shop and ask them to do a stray current test. Will take about 30 seconds. They hook up alligator clips to the + and - terminals of your battery then put a probe into your cooling system (in the top tank normally) and it will give a "pass" or "fail" if the cooling system does or doesnt contain stray current (about 50 Milliamps from memory) Sorry for the ramble Cheers

There's an excell spreadsheet for calculating the pie cut size/shape. Allows you to make perfect pie cuts pie_cut_calculator.xls

Hi, Just grab a GTR/GTS4 or stagea aluminum sump and have it modified by an aluminum welder to have the transfer case cut off/welded up. I've done a few of these now (about 30+) and it's easy and the best way to fix your problem.

I should be using 5356 as per what kristafa said, but I've always used 4043 because it's there and I dont have to go get it out of my filler wire tubes.. I've welded close to 30, never had one crack or break yet..

Hi there, Good luck finding the grade of alloy.. I think you'd just be guessing.. I've welded ALOT of these and I can say they weld perfectly, not like the magnesium filled sumps you normally find

double post fail

This is not with the standard radiator but with the 42mm thick aluminium radiator I made for my R32. This fits 2 14" fans side by side, The side bands have circular wings to prevent leaking of air being drawn by the fans

Hey buddy, I got all excited when I read this topic as I have a set of defi gauges sitting in the wardrobe waiting to go on.. But I only have boost/water temp Water temp is a two pin plug, Blue with two black wires (Helpfull) Boost is a white 3 pin plug, Red White then black is the order this goes in. This is kind of in line with your picture, I hope this help.. I've always worked on trial and error...

Starter motor loose maybe?

I assume this would be the same with an RB25det manual gbox?

What injectors is it running now? Just the stockers till you put the 700's in?

Hi guys, I actually make radiators for a living (aluminium) It's a simple technology, air passing over the fins, water passing through the tubes. Chinese radiators dont look as good as hand made radiators by quality fabricators, but they do work. Materials may not be as good, tank folding or tank welding may not be up to scratch and general fitment problems... You do pay for what you get. I'm running a chinese radiator core with my own hand folded and welded tanks.. works good.

Hi, I actually make alunimium radiators for a job, mainly for performance cars.. I would *not* recommend this, stick to a front mount setup or if you want to go something different, go water to air..

Modified a few sumps now since i'm an alloy welder by trade.. Takes me about 2.5 hours to cut, clean and weld a gtr/gts4 sump from start to finish.. That would be cheaper than a $600 adaptor imho.. But yes, dropping the front diff would lose you ALOT of weight..

Hey, The tanks are 2mm folded, same with the side plates.. The header plates are typically 1.6-2mm thick as well..

Customer is drilling and welding his own fitting, Only a matter of time before he brings it back in because it's leaking

Hi guys, some of you have seen my previous posts, thought i'd take some more pics of a radiator I made.. I work for a radiator wholesale provider in Christchurch, New Zealand. I make alloy intercoolers/oilcoolers, radiators and pretty bling stuff, Would love to get into ss manifolds and so forth but I only do alloy.. Tanks welded on ready to pressure test to 20psi. Closeup of weld before sideframes are put on In fresh clean water with tankblock (kills acids in radiator test tanks, but it really helps find small pinhole leaks) closeup of said picture with sideframes on and bonded to the core with epoxy closeup for sideframe to tank weld close up of header plate to tank weld And last of all, my baby! I need to clean her.. Comments and critique?

Hi Robots, I actually build alloy radiators for a living, here's my thoughts. I like big tubes, The wider the tube the more fin contact and the more heat gets pulled out/dissapated I would rather go with 2x27mm tubes over say 3x19mm tubes. I dont like 3 row cores, All our cores are 2 row 57 thick, Which is 2 tubes at 27mm thick. Our radiators will NOT work with the standard clutch fan, though, It's just too thick. I think a 42mm would be best for a street driven car that gets a bootfull every now and then. Thanks, Scott

From what i've been told, abs is a bigger bore, but has more ports.. I could be wrong on this though.. Just stick with a non abs 15/16" bore.

Hi Byron, After just helping ben with his brakes and my own experiences.. Non abs car, use a non abs m/cyl.. GTS are a 7/8" M/cyl bore (14/16") gtst/gts25 are a 15/16" bore. 1/16" of an inch makes a huge hydraulic difference..

WOW that tank looks hot, I wonder who made that

This is my baby.. For the flange -> runner extensions i'm using 5356 1.6mm filler wire, it's best for welding cast alloy, for the rest of the chamber i'm using 4043 1.6mm filler wire.. I havent completely welded it yet, but that will come soon, just been very busy with work.