Re-positioning the rad

Fats · October 22, 2006, 03:45:11 PM

Does any of the companys on the front page sell the brakets to mount the rad up right or will i have to knock up a few brakets my self, and can i use the standard coolent hose\'s to re-postion the rad or do i have to buy new hose\'s??

Cheers

Warthog · October 22, 2006, 10:00:23 PM

First Q\'s, WHY are you trying to move the rad.

There is one over-riding factor with a Rex and that is keeping the engine cool. Mazda found the perfect position, why move it!!!! The other thing is that you leave the undertray alone as it is designed to greatly assist engine cooling.
I have modded a stock twin FD to the British Record and managed to keep my engine temps perfect. I now run an RE engine that will see 500bhp @ the rear wheels and although I upgraded the std rad to a PWR one it has always remained in the stock position. There are a number of things you can move but do not move the rad. HTH.:wiggle

mullins · October 22, 2006, 10:17:12 PM

There\'s more than one way to skin a cat as they say.

allstaruk · October 23, 2006, 12:13:44 AM

Unless your putting an intercooler in the way the rad is in the purfect postion why do you want to move it?

Smifta · October 23, 2006, 09:25:13 AM

I\'m not sure I would agree that mounted at 45 degree\'s in the optimum position for the rad.... Sure, if you\'ve got an airbox and a standard intercooler then it might be best. Hence why Mazda put it there like that, and hence why the undertray is so important with that rad not perpendicular to airflow.

probedb · October 23, 2006, 10:05:18 AM

Don\'t you move the rad when you go V-Mount? I thought it was basically flipped from it\'s stock position?

Fats · October 23, 2006, 12:14:50 PM

Sorry my bad for not explaining why im moving it, i\'ve got a blitz front mount ready to fit just need to move the rad, i could get away with moving it up about 20 to 30 degrees, just wanted a bit of info really, so would i need a set of brackets then???

Cheers

antnicuk · October 23, 2006, 12:29:02 PM

in answer to your question, i would make your own up as every set up seems to be slightly different and they are really easy to make. You will have to suck it and see with the hoses, you may be able to just cut them and extend them with a piece of ali tubing, or shorten them the same way.

As for moving the rad, i have never found a problem. I have to disagree with john, there a lot of things that arent in the best position for working well, but are put there as a compromise between working well, space, styling and price. for a start it works a lot better without all the crap behind it that stops the air getting out the otherside. Everyone knows the stock i/c cooler is crap, why should the rad be considered perfect? the whole systems works adequetly well for what mazda designed it for. Thats about it though in my opinion.

We all know if mazda wanted the RX7 to be perfect, they would have stuck the RE Engine in it with a T51 turbo and a motec :Ladys-man

rmagictastic · October 23, 2006, 12:33:54 PM

Quote from: antnicukin answer to your question, i would make your own up as every set up seems to be slightly different and they are really easy to make. You will have to suck it and see with the hoses, you may be able to just cut them and extend them with a piece of ali tubing, or shorten them the same way.

As for moving the rad, i have never found a problem. I have to disagree with john, there a lot of things that arent in the best position for working well, but are put there as a compromise between working well, space and price. for a start it works a lot better without all the crap behind it that stops the air getting out the otherside. Everyone knows the stock i/c cooler is crap, why should the rad be considered perfect? the whole systems works adequetly well for what mazda designed it for. Thats about it though in my opinion.

We all know if mazda wanted the RX7 to be perfect, they would have stuck the RE Engine in it with a T51 turbo and a motec :Ladys-man

Bang on matey..

I have fitted a Blitz FMIC, i made up my own brackets (bent iron bar!!) the rad now sits upright behind the IC, temps are fine (85Â°C), you just gotta make sure that the air goes through the rad and not round it (Angle of the rad is completely irrelevant.)

Rmaj

Fats · October 23, 2006, 05:14:19 PM

Quote from: rmagictasticBang on matey..

I have fitted a Blitz FMIC, i made up my own brackets (bent iron bar!!) the rad now sits upright behind the IC, temps are fine (85Â°C), you just gotta make sure that the air goes through the rad and not round it (Angle of the rad is completely irrelevant.)

Rmaj

how did you get on fitting the intercooler, i\'ve got the intercooler and pipe work but no fitting kit

Cheers
Andy

rmagictastic · October 24, 2006, 08:39:50 AM

i took off the nose, removed the rad and air con rad, the offered up the IC on a jack and fitted its pipes, with it in the mock position, you will see that there are loads of screw threads in the chassis to bolt things to.

i got the IC sorted first, then just put the rad in somewhere appropriate.

i did dump my AC, just cos i couldnt be bothered with it.

Rmaj

Fats · October 24, 2006, 08:46:50 AM

I was thinking about dumping the AC to, save\'s a little on weight suppose

rmagictastic · October 24, 2006, 08:59:12 AM

Quote from: FatsI was thinking about dumping the AC to, save\'s a little on weight suppose

to be honest buddy, its more that its a pain in the ar*e to move about and youve gotta be carefull with the ally pipework.

dont worry about weight saving, you have got to save ALOT of wieght to make any sort of difference to a car.

and be carefull when you dump the gas from the AC, do it outside, loosen a joint of the pipework, hit it with a harmmer to open the joint and run like hell!!! It wil scare the sh*t out of you, did me hehehehe.

then leave all of the gas to disserpate for an hour. DO NOT SMOKE NEAR THE AC GAS IF YOU INHALE THE GAS THROUGH A FLAME IT TURNS TO CIANIDE (sp) i believe THIS WILL KILL YOU!!!

Rmaj

Smifta · October 24, 2006, 09:02:42 AM

Quote from: rmagictasticloosen a joint of the pipework, hit it with a harmmer to open the joint and run like hell!!!

Is that a quote from the Mazda service manual !!!

To be honest I am planning on ditching my a/c, for airflow purposes. Did you remove the pump/compressor at the same time? Did you also remove all the piping and stuff too? I suppose if you just remove the a/c-rad you could always refit and refill later?

Cheers,
Alex

rmagictastic · October 24, 2006, 09:07:20 AM

Hmmm,

being a fully qualified toolmaker and a fully qualified aircraft technician i am obviously carefull and neat in all my handy work.

Na i just ripped out the rad and snipped the pipes of down by the AC pump.

Then main reason i didnt take the whole lot out is i didnt have different belts etc.

Plus if it really need to go back in its not too much of a hassle, just need a few bits of pipe etc.

Rmaj

Re-positioning the rad

mullins

probedb