R32 GTR - Aftermarket Radiators and Factory Shorud

[WantGTR]

R32 GTR - Aftermarket Radiators and Factory Shorud

Hi All, 

 

Have been looking around and it seems some of those with aftermarket radiators have hacked up/no shrouds and others have them intact. Who here has a aftermarket rad with a factory shroud that fits?

[HarrisRacing]

Koyo radiator, factory fan and shroud. No touch. I also installed new radiator bushings and pulled them all the way forward on install. Worn bushings could have caused mine to hit. Another option would be to machine some offest bushings pulling the radiator further forward

[r32-25t]

You need a radiator that's 42-43mm wide, if you get the 50mm ones everything needs to be hacked up

[Dan_J]

or just ditch the clutch fan and shroud, run a thermo fan with "S" type blades, not the straight type.

it all works fine  

[bcozican]

sometimes that chopping etc of the shroud/ rad from the fan comes from worn / broken engine mounts when the car brakes etc the engine can move forward hence closing the gap / changing the alignment of everything... been there !

[jmknights93]

34 minutes ago, Dan_J said:

or just ditch the clutch fan and shroud, run a thermo fan with "S" type blades, not the straight type.

it all works fine  

Yuck! You'll have nothing but regrets...

[GTSBoy]

14 minutes ago, bcozican said:

sometimes that chopping etc of the shroud/ rad from the fan comes from worn / broken engine mounts when the car brakes etc the engine can move forward hence closing the gap / changing the alignment of everything... been there !

Engine mounts maybe.  In my case and at least a couple of others I've seen it's simply the radiator getting sucked back towards the engine by the engine fan.  It doesn't seem to happen with stock radiators, so maybe they are just too thin (to take up the room) and too thin (to put up enough resistance to airflow) to move far enough against the rad mounts.

 

I just jammed some more rubber into my upper mounts (on the back side) to pre-load them and prevent it moving back.....well, after it has already sliced a line through my shroud!

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Worn upper mount rubbers will attribute to fans kissing the radiator shroud at high RPM & high vehicle speed.

[SimonR32]

Koyo rad, new Nismo engine mounts and factory shroud/fan only causes munching.

Tried new everything, still went munch munch...

Swapped to a GKtech fan and adapter and all is well  

[niZmO_Man]

Is that because fan is pulling less air?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

49 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

Is that because fan is pulling less air?

Nailed it

[TXSquirrel]

Anyone tried Mishimoto radiator?  They look to be slightly thinner than Koyo.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

nope, don't like their welds

but they're massive up your way, Ryan Tuerck uses them... if you're bored... go compare the welds on a Plazmaman FMIC and a Mishimoto

[CEF33Y]

I've got a cefiro, so not a gtr. But, 

 

I run a 52mm rad with the stock shroud and fan. Had a few drama's with the fan hitting the shroud.

I machined some new lower bushes out of nylon, and made new brackets for the top with no bush.

 

Haven't had a issue since. Car is used for drifting so gets a bit of a thrashing. Tried twin thermo's early on, and they were shit.

Granted, they weren't expensive ones, but stock fan and shroud is simple, and it works.

 

Oh and don't underestimate how much the stock fans flex, I had a Z32 fan (greater offset, but had one lying around) on after the thermo's shat themselves , had a decent 15mm gap fan to rad and it still grabbed the radiator at high rpm.

[TXSquirrel]

What is the thickness of factory radiator?  Mishimoto is only 32mm so it should have fewer clearance issues, and 10% cheaper than Koyo here.  They also have great lifetime warranty that even covers collision.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

I would go 43mm, more cooler is better than less cooling.. 

[WantGTR]

thanks for the replies. will opt for a 43mm rad.

 

not really interested in thermos. too much conflicting information. stock fan works great just want bigger cooling capacity.

[Dan_J]

On 8/29/2016 at 2:27 PM, jmknights93 said:

Yuck! You'll have nothing but regrets...

well i personally dont, but hey each to there own....

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

1 hour ago, Dan_J said:

well i personally dont, but hey each to there own....

only if done right.. and 9/10 times it is done wrong...

Most owners just hard wire their fans OR use shitty fan controllers that turn off and on constantly like a strobe light.. followed by those who just hook it up to their OEM overheat fan relay/thermoswitch.

You need a proper fan controller either a standalone unit OR through your car's aftermarket ECU to set OFF and ON points followed by some form of hysteresis - only then would that be consider an appropriate installation.

[GarettH]

I have a koyo rad, factory shroud, new clutch fan and nismo engine mounts and needed no trimming.