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radiator upgrade in an LC

Started by _LC2250_ , Oct 07 2006 03:58 PM

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12 replies to this topic

#1 _LC2250_

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Posted 07 October 2006 - 03:58 PM

I haven't looked particularly hard but after the problems I've run into in adding possibly a clutch fan in the extremely limited space between the water pump and the radiator I've been thinking it might be an idea to upgrade the radiator to keep the temp down on those warm days a bit better.

edit: the car is an LC with a 202 in it ...

Anyone got any suggestions in regards to what fits well in the space with minor modifications. Are there any other things that need to be taken into consideration with such a mod?

Cheers
-Al

also I'll probably end up adding a thermo fan to keep the temps down at idle as I've found at speed it manages itself a bit better than stationary but meh...

Edited by LC2250, 07 October 2006 - 03:59 PM.

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#2 _gtr161s_

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Posted 08 October 2006 - 09:54 AM

when i was younger i had access to endless parts at a wrecking /holding yard so i played with heaps of radiator combo's.

The biggest and easiest to fit into an lc/lj was a p76! but i guess there's not to many of those around now so go for a 3core heavy duty, any rad shop will upgrade yours.

I never needed a thermo, ran the correct thermostat (180o)and radiator cap.

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#3 _JBird_

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Posted 08 October 2006 - 03:44 PM

Get a good shroud, make sure you have a thermostat, run a 6blade clutch fan. If your engine doesn't rev past 6000 you should have no probs with a plastic one.

I have a V8 6 blade clutch fan atm, early opener thermostat, stock 6 cyl Radiator, haven't had any overheating problems yet. If I was to upgrade I'd get a shroud made up (if your handy with a welder or know someone shouldn't be too expensive or hard). Most people run two 10" thermo fans, these can be bolted directly into your shroud. Run either a switch that you can turn on and off at will, or one of those automatic ones that run through the top rad hose.

Read This

That has some good info. Also does your water pump have a spacer on it? that might be the limiting factor in running another fan..

Edited by JBird, 08 October 2006 - 03:57 PM.

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#4 _LC2250_

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 10:34 AM

The problem with the LC is the complete lack of space between water pump and radiator but there are some good ideas put forward here ...

Apparently a flex fan instead of a clutch fan may fit and not be a bad idea ...

That or the 3 core 6cyl fan and if as it says (on that other topic) they're avail on other later Toranas that shouldn't be too difficult to source. Does anyone know if these are as simple a job as just bolting in? For example straight into an LC. Or does it like the V8 radiator require some slight modifications?

At the moment I think I shall experiment with a thermo fan to keep it down at slow moving speeds or a flex fan (or 6 blade holden fan) for the same reason. If this doesn't work (which I'll sure be able to discern on thurs and friday which have been forecasted at over 30 degrees C) I'll be back. :mellow:

Cheers
-Al

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#5 _LC2250_

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 10:40 AM

On further reading in that link I'm starting to wonder if getting a 3 core will be enough? You know I don't think I'll be that fussed doing some modifications to fit something bigger in, so my question is will a 253/308 radiator be of significant improvement over the standard one in the LC?

This is all new to me as I've never dealt with cooling before now so sorry if I'm a little slow to take this all in.

Cheers
-Al

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#6 _JBird_

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Posted 10 October 2006 - 12:29 AM

I find turning the heater on helps. I mean in summer, my windows are down anyway. I will try take a pic of the fan I have, I had to knock the spacer off to get it to clear the everything. I know what you mean about space. Mines fits nicely and it sucks quite a bit of air in, the 4 Blade just didnt cut it. I moved from LC fan (not curved) to LJ and now to an unkown ( I think its off a V8) 6 Blade. I'd be keen to try out those plastic ones as they seem to be an ideal replacement and easier than trimming/fitting a different radiator. At the worst you lose 20 dollars. Like I said, a Shroud will create a vacuum making cooling that much more efficient and that should probably be the go before changing radiators. I think you mentioned your motor is fairly stock and not hotted up at all, so I think a new fan and/or shroud will be sufficient. Those plastic fans tend to break when the motor spins past 7500, it happened to a friends toyota sprinter - luckily the shroud took most of the damage and the radiator needed a Flat head screwdriver + 2 hours to make right again.

Good luck

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#7 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 10 October 2006 - 05:34 AM

Shrouds.........there's possibly a good reason why they are never fitted with fixed blade engine fans..........

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#8 Dangerous

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Location:Adelaide, SA
Joined: 14-November 05

Posted 10 October 2006 - 10:32 AM

I have an HQ triple core radiator in my LC. The radiator support panel has been cut on the left and right to allow more airflow into the core (core is bigger than original radiator hole in panel), and the mounting straps on the radiator have been cut down to let it fit in between the chassis rails.

Originally, I could just fit a standard fan in the space, with no fan spacer fitted. Unfortunately, when I had the radiator recored a while ago, the new core was either slightly thicker, or mounted slightly rearwards of the original, and the fan would no longer fit. I am now running a single front mounted thermo fan. Normally I wouldn't run just a thermo fan, but the car very rarely sees stop-go traffic use, so it's not really an issue. The triple core radiator and single thermo fan just copes in slow moving or stopped traffic. On the other hand, when cruising, I never have the thermo fan on, and it runs right on the thermostat temperature - no probs.

If you're only running a mild motor, I'd stick with the standard size radiator, stock engine fan, and not too high a percentage 'coolant/anti freeze' in your coolant mix. Water does the best job at cooling, and the more ethylene glycol you add, the less water volume you have.

With LC/LJs, it's also important to get all of the air out of the heater core, which is difficult as it sits up quite high in the cooling system. I usually remove one of the heater hoses from the engine, temporarily block the engine coolant hole (a mate's thumb works well

) and pour water slowly into the raised heater hose until all bubbles are removed from the core. Squeezing the other heater hose and radiator hoses can also help to remove more bubbles. When this is done, stick your thumb over the heater hose end, and quickly push the hose back onto the engine coolant outlet - remove thumbs first :tease:

Also, if you have a mate with a very steep driveway (so that the radiator cap is by far the highest point in the cooling system), park the car on it, let it cool, then check the radiator coolant level from the radiator cap.

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#9 _wildsix_

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Posted 10 October 2006 - 03:05 PM

Put a commodore vk 6cyl in.

Fits with about 2mm each side.
Its taller.
Run with 2X 10" offset davies fans.
Make up some simple brackets to hold the thing in.
Couple of flexi hoses.
You will have to cut the battery tray a bit.
No engine fan.

Did this mod myself, did not cut any radiator panel to make it fit, allowing me to re-install the original radiator if I ever have to. Biggest mod for me was to relocate the battery to the boot, which is optionalal for you. You could use a differant type of battery if wanted( one of those skinner ones). There's about 10-15mm clearance between the radiator and the water pump pulley bolts.

My motor is heavily worked and would not run cooler with the triple core and 12" thermo AND engine fan, stopped or running at speed.

Other option is to get a full alloy one for around a grand.

hope this helps

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#10 _jklumpp_

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Posted 10 October 2006 - 03:58 PM

^^ Why did you have to relocate the battery, if the radiator is no wider than original??

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#11 _wildsix_

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Posted 10 October 2006 - 04:20 PM

vk has side tanks. not sure with clearance on a 2 door torrie, but my 4 door battery tray was in the way. Like I said you can use a skinner battery but I wanted the engine bay free of clutter, so the battery went in the boot.

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#12 _LC2250_

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Posted 12 October 2006 - 10:24 AM

I think I'm first going to try with the VK radiator thing ... I dont mind cutting the battery tray really.

Depending on the difference made there I'll purchase some thermo fans for the radiator and remove the engine fan as I'm quite confident the overheating problems only really arise at slow speeds, while on the freeway it consistently drops back down to a safe temperature

I had a go at parking my car on a massive incline and there definitely was a bit of air in the heater system which I can't believe I never thought of that or noone had ever mentioned it to me before as it is a fair bit higher than the rest.

I would still be interested to see pictures of this shroud even though I don't think it will be the course of action for me at this time. If it's too much trouble don't worry too much about it.

Thanks for all the input

one more question I have for you wildsix ... how difficult was it to fabricate brackets to hold the VK radiator in the old spot? I can't weld ... will getting some blank metal plates or brackets from a hardware store and just drilling the holes be good enough?

Cheers
-Al

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#13 _wildsix_

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Posted 13 October 2006 - 02:42 PM

I had my top mounts welded together to suit the commodore rubber brackets, but you could quite easily bend and bolt together some steal peices. The bottom brackets are just straight pcs of steel with the original rubber grommets from the commodore used. The commo radiator has pins and cant be "bolted" directly to the radiator shroud. Go to the wreckers and have a look, you'll understand once you've seen one. Its not hard. Just have good think about it.