92-95 Civic Half Size Radiator Installation

[bobafett]

the stock lower radiator mounts are just rubber bushings in 'holes' and the posts on the radiator fits into the bushings.

for his setup he has built pvc pipe 'holes' and put the rubber bushings inside the pipe, and the civic radiator posts will fit right into the bushings which are sitting in the pvc holes.

the reason for needing that is because the spacing between the posts is way off obviously since the radiators are completely different widths.

your install shouldnt be any different than his, except possibly installing your pvc tube solution slightly closer to the firewall side of the engine bay, to allow clearance, but i'm sure that part depends on how exactly you rig up your radiator project.

[newaccorddriver]

the stock lower radiator mounts are just rubber bushings in 'holes' and the posts on the radiator fits into the bushings.

for his setup he has built pvc pipe 'holes' and put the rubber bushings inside the pipe, and the civic radiator posts will fit right into the bushings which are sitting in the pvc holes.

the reason for needing that is because the spacing between the posts is way off obviously since the radiators are completely different widths.

your install shouldnt be any different than his, except possibly installing your pvc tube solution slightly closer to the firewall side of the engine bay, to allow clearance, but i'm sure that part depends on how exactly you rig up your radiator project.

i think im starting to get it. so i just bolt my PVC caps to the angle and show the rubber bushing in there?

[bobafett]

u got it!

from the pics, it looks like the rad is too tall, so you need to fit it this way, but I may be wrong, it might have just been easier to do it this way... either way i see nothing wrong with this installation.

[stat1K]

anyone know about the ac "radiator" staying and if it just attaches to the original shroud... cus his setup is minus the ac parts... anyone?

[A20A1]

the stock radiator had all the mounts for the A/C fan... there are plenty of ways to mount fans, just get creative.

I thought the A/C condensor slid into side brackets or bolted to the frame... or used the A/C pipes as a means of keeping it in place.

Seriously though its not like removing the stock radiator is going to stop you from holding up the A/C

[bobafett]

yeah AC stuff stays in place without a problem if I recall. I remember having a heck of a time removing it all! rofl

[Busted_Blue]

The smaller fan is the A/C fan. it is on the drivers side... if you have the US spec car.

hey great job on the civic radiator...but which one did you buy? 99-00 Civic SI and the 94-97 del sol have a dual core radiator that is twice the thickness of the 92-00 civic dx, lx, ex, etc radiator.


Autozone has Del Sol DOHC radiators for $100 with lifetime warranty so that is a good deal.

[newaccorddriver]

hey great job on the civic radiator...but which one did you buy? 99-00 Civic SI and the 94-97 del sol have a dual core radiator that is twice the thickness of the 92-00 civic dx, lx, ex, etc radiator.
Autozone has Del Sol DOHC radiators for $100 with lifetime warranty so that is a good deal.

ive got an all aluminum dual core half size civic radiator coming in for $200CAD(my friend hooked me up with one) and it comes with a lifetime warrenty. i think it was a mistake for me to buy it though as i should have bought the cheapest half size and actually made the mounts BEFORE i bought it. oh well, live and learn i guess, just hope ive worked out all the bugs i might run into

[stat1K]

just got my radiator like two minutes ago and i'm looking at it and this thing is tiny!!! wow i didn't realize exactly how small is was but i was looking at it and i had a few questions... mine has these two little nozzle things on the bottom next to the mounting positions that didn't seem to be on your radiator swap any idea what these are?

[bobafett]

those are for the automatic tranny oil to be cooled. also useful for turbo cars.

[newaccorddriver]

those are for the automatic tranny oil to be cooled. also useful for turbo cars.

how are they useful to turbo cars?!?!(pardon my expression, but im going turbo)

[bobafett]

you would run an oil feed line from SOMEWHERE, onto your turbo's oil inlet port. and then from the turbo's oil drain port you would put the oil line into that port on the radiator. the bottom of the radiator acts as an oil cooler, so it will keep the oil cooler after having been run through the turbo. the then cooler oil goes out the other side and back into your oil pan through the bung that you would have had to make.

in auto cars they need the transmission oil to be cooled to keep the tranny fluid in check (i assume)..

[newaccorddriver]

you would run an oil feed line from SOMEWHERE, onto your turbo's oil inlet port. and then from the turbo's oil drain port you would put the oil line into that port on the radiator. the bottom of the radiator acts as an oil cooler, so it will keep the oil cooler after having been run through the turbo. the then cooler oil goes out the other side and back into your oil pan through the bung that you would have had to make.
in auto cars they need the transmission oil to be cooled to keep the tranny fluid in check (i assume)..

i thought the turbos drain line had to be constantly pointed downwards as gravity is the only thing helping the oil back into the pan?

[bobafett]

good point... i should look at the height of the oil pan vs radiator. my civic race radiator that i am planning on getting probably wont have those, so i hadn't thought too much about it.

[stat1K]

so i got my fan today and i'm not sure how i'm gonna mount it to the rad since the holes are off by a couple inches but i guess i can figure out a way anyone had any experience or knw any tips?? let me know guys!

[bobafett]

you could either take some aluminum/steel/galvy/etc flat bar, mount it to the existing fan mounting points, and then bend it or angle it etc until you can mount it to the fan as well. not sure how far off they are, or if your mount points are on the top of the rad or the front face.

[stat1K]

they're on the front face and they are off diagonally by about 2-3 inches i was just thinking of using flat bar and bolting one bolt into the rad and one bolt with a self locking nut in the fan mount. oh and those auto tranny coolers how do you close those off... with a bolt or something? or just leave em they way they are?

[szvosec]

I was wondering is the proformance the same or better than that of the full sized accord radiator?

[newaccorddriver]

im guessing itll be more efficient and wont turn on the stock fan as long as it normally would. other then that, theres no real performance out of it. im doing it cause im going turbo soon and ill be needing to upgrade my cooling system anyways

[stat1K]

i had a question about the top rad mount... i looked online at some radiator mounts and they are about half and half. some have the rubber grommet inside and some don't... i'm doing this tomorrow and still haven't decided how to mount it to the frame on top. anyone got any ideas?

[stat1K]

so i'm running the new civic radiator got everything in ok and all...

it did fine all the way back to my apt from my parents (35 miles).

but when i got off the freeway it started to heat up.
the fan was running and the hoses are tight no leaks. could it be that i don't have enough coolant in the system? or too much coolant possibly because when we put it in it was dilluded more like 70/30 not 50/50 anyone wanna answer me for once??

[newaccorddriver]

so i'm running the new civic radiator got everything in ok and all...
it did fine all the way back to my apt from my parents (35 miles).
but when i got off the freeway it started to heat up.
the fan was running and the hoses are tight no leaks. could it be that i don't have enough coolant in the system? or too much coolant possibly because when we put it in it was dilluded more like 70/30 not 50/50 anyone wanna answer me for once??

i hate to say it, but it might be for the fact that you got a single core half size rad. its HALF the size of the stock rad. ive got myself a civic aluminum rad with a 2 inch core, so i shouldnt have that problem. its completely your rad, not so much a leak or anything

[Swap_File]

I have my little civic radiator on, and the needle on the gague does not go above half way point EVER. It even worked great during the 100 degree heatwave we had a few weeks ago.

Make sure the fan is adjusted to turn on at a low enough temp, and make sure that you have no air bubbles in the cooling system.

I will get some new pictures posted soon, I just have been busy working on my new truck.

[stat1K]

fan is running constantly and i'm pretty positive no air bubbles... but how can i be certain that there aren't any? in the manual it says squeeze upper hose to force air out how does that do anything?

[A20A1]

is your fan turning the right way?