Radiator Intercooler help Needed

[Kovmat]

Need some help with my Hybrid project.

I need to decide what to do with the radiator and intercooler setup. The picture below is what I have to deal with. As you can see I have a lot of depth in the front shroud to work with but not a lot of width. The dx between the front fenders is approx 26”.

I met with a radiator guy the other day and he suggested using an aluminum g-body radiator (core dimensions are 20.75X17x1.25) and a separate oil cooler. I can’t go any bigger than this, I don’t have the room.

My options are:

Put the IC in the stock location, if I do this, It will come very close to hitting the front axle. I will need to move it forward a little for clearance. As you can see in the picture, there is a frame cross member that I will have to cut in to and it will block some air from getting to the IC.

The other option is to put it in front of the radiator, run the piping up and over the radiator and come into the shroud where it angles down. I may even be able to use the stock IC for this. I have 2 concern with this option and would like some input. First, since I am limited to a smaller size radiator, I am concerned that there will be too much heat going through that area and it may not cool the engine well enough. I will have AC. Also, since the IC will have to mount to the shroud, it will be fixed and as the engine torques I am concerned the flexing of the plumbing will cause a problem.

Any input you guys can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Kovmat]

Hi, never got an answer on this, but I was able to figure out how to fit the IC in the stock location so I just need to make sure I have a good enough radiatior. My guess is that most of you Hybrid guys have enough room to fit the larger radiator. If any of you Hybrid guys were not able to use the stock rad, plese let me know what you used and if it cools OK.

Thanks.

 

[CTX-SLPR]

With the room freed up by the V6 you can just take the whole mess out and stack the setup in the space taken by the shroud currently. Best idea would be to get a front mount that is barely wider than the radiator so the pipes reach around the side tanks then mount the radiator behind it. If you cut that shroud assembly right you could drop it over the top of the stack and have the IC outlets come out the sides then air go through the whole thing. The key to getting it to cool right will be to put enough of a fan on the back of it and keep the air that goes through the grill going into the radiator and intercooler cores.

My Riviera will be doing a simular setup where I put the intercooler out frount then the AC condensor then the radiator and the whole assembly will cheat backwards into the space vacated by the front 2 cylinders of the V8 and the mechanical fan.

 

[Sleeper]

I didn't have room for a larger rad, so I first went with a overdrive water pump pulley, a Flowkooler H2O pump, and some RMI-25. I finally got my rad re-cored to a better setup (fin count, core size setup for an electric fan) and got rid of the in-tank tranny oil cooler, and went with 2 B&M external coolers) and put in a Ford Taurus 2 spd fan. Made a huge difference. My biggest problem is getting the hot air out of the engine compartment. I made the hood louvers 100% functional, and removed the cowl weatherstrip. That helps a lot, but I need to make some sort of road draft tubes to help suck some of the hot air out from underneath.

Paul

 

[CTX-SLPR]

My biggest problem is getting the hot air out of the engine compartment. I made the hood louvers 100% functional, and removed the cowl weatherstrip. That helps a lot, but I need to make some sort of road draft tubes to help suck some of the hot air out from underneath.

Paul

Removing the cowl weatherstripping won't help, it might hurt. That's a high pressure zone that would be pushing air under the hood rather than letting it out. I actually got that tech question published in CC asking if it would work or not and the answer from Jeff Smith was no. He did agree with your road draft tube ideas.

 

[Sleeper]

Removing the cowl weatherstripping won't help, it might hurt. That's a high pressure zone that would be pushing air under the hood rather than letting it out. I actually got that tech question published in CC asking if it would work or not and the answer from Jeff Smith was no. He did agree with your road draft tube ideas.

I had read that as well. It helps during city driving though. I may put it back in and see how much difference it makes on the highway.

Paul

 

[Kovmat]

Thanks for input. I talked to 2 different local radiator guys both with 20+ years of experience. One guy suggested the aluminum radiator with the dimensions I posted, it is an off the shelf radiator. The other guy suggested a custom 3 row that is 3" thick. I was very surprised that I got such conflicting opinions on this from guys with so much experience. That is why I turned to you guys here with the real life experience.

I was leaning toward the off the shelf option but making the shroud such that I could use the custom if I needed to, but after reading what Paul posted, maybe I should just bite the bullet and do the custom. I did recently find the info on the Taurus fan, I have not been to the salvage yard yet, but that also sounds like a good idea.

This project is a Willys Pickup truck and have talked to some guys with v-8's in them and they had to put louvers in the hood to keep it cool, I really do not want to do that, and would be interested in more info about the road draft tubes, where would I find more on that?

Thanks and please keep the opinions coming.

Matt