Custom radiator fitment

[Taistorm]

Hey guys, looking for some advice.

 

I'm now looking to retro fit an aftermarket Civic radiator into my mirage as I'm struggling to find a second hand unit and recore looks to be a hefty cost now (no way near as cheap as it used to be). I'm a bit of a tight ass at times and only want to spend half of what a recore will cost if I can so I'm working out a plan.

 

The idea is to get a cheap aftermarket alloy Civic radiator 'half rad', make some mounts to fit and make up some new hoses. The main issue I'm running into is how to go about setting up a thermo fan. The Civic radiator doesn't include a thermo switch mount so I was thinking to use one of the hose inline switch/sensor mounts  but I'm struggling to find one locally. Another thing is would I need to run a new circuit/relay for the fan or would I be sweet to just tap into the existing circuit and get away with it? If need be I can follow the wires and see the relay setup that they run through from factory.

If anyone has any suggestions on the best and easiest way to do this then please let me know. 

 

Cheers,

Tai

[Nominal]

You can get this sort of thing here in NZ. Might eat up some of your savings though

https://daviescraig.com.au/product/mechanical-thermatic-fan-switch-relay-12v-24v-0404

 

[M.H.]

53 minutes ago, Taistorm said:

Hey guys, looking for some advice.

 

I'm now looking to retro fit an aftermarket Civic radiator into my mirage as I'm struggling to find a second hand unit and recore looks to be a hefty cost now (no way near as cheap as it used to be). I'm a bit of a tight ass at times and only want to spend half of what a recore will cost if I can so I'm working out a plan.

 

The idea is to get a cheap aftermarket alloy Civic radiator 'half rad', make some mounts to fit and make up some new hoses. The main issue I'm running into is how to go about setting up a thermo fan. The Civic radiator doesn't include a thermo switch mount so I was thinking to use one of the hose inline switch/sensor mounts  but I'm struggling to find one locally. Another thing is would I need to run a new circuit/relay for the fan or would I be sweet to just tap into the existing circuit and get away with it? If need be I can follow the wires and see the relay setup that they run through from factory.

If anyone has any suggestions on the best and easiest way to do this then please let me know. 

 

Cheers,

Tai

Is the civic rad aluminium? Get a boss welded on to screw in the original thermo switch

[Taistorm]

54 minutes ago, Nominal said:

You can get this sort of thing here in NZ. Might eat up some of your savings though

https://daviescraig.com.au/product/mechanical-thermatic-fan-switch-relay-12v-24v-0404

 

That link actually shows the inline hose sensor adaptor as an option haha.

 

53 minutes ago, 00quattro00 said:

Is the civic rad aluminium? Get a boss welded on to screw in the original thermo switch

This is a great idea, had never thought about that. 

 

I've just been having a look at the old radiator. I reckon I can bend up some mounts to fit the new radiator to the factory mounts and have our engineer at work weld them on and also weld on a boss. Then I can chop off the original fan mounts and weld on some new ones to suit the new rad and run all the original bits. I'll just need to adapt some hoses to suit. I reckon I can sort all of this for sub $300 haha. Here's hoping.

 

Cheers for the help. Will see how I get on haha.

[Bling]

How much were the recore quotes compared to that cost / hassle? I don't recall exact price of my recore, but it wasn't that much more than that. Was similar cost to an aluminium radiator. So I went recore as it just bolts in.

[chris r]

How is the factory fan switched? Is there a sensor/switch in the rad or is it on the engine somewhere? 

What are you for a ecu? Most aftermarket can trigger a relay based on temp 

 

https://www.speedscience.co.nz/products/epman-alloy-half-size-radiator-52mm-3-core-b-k-series

We have those cheap enough at work, they are due in stock in a few weeks 

[Taistorm]

Cheapest recore I could find was $680. I can find the alloy rads at sub $200.

 

Factory fan is switched from the sensor/switch mounted in the radiator. The vehicle is carb so no ecu. I appreciate that Chris but trying to sort this across the weekend/within the week. Looks like I have everything lined up for this so should be sorted shortly.

 

Cheers.

[chris r]

1 hour ago, Taistorm said:

Cheapest recore I could find was $680. I can find the alloy rads at sub $200.

 

Factory fan is switched from the sensor/switch mounted in the radiator. The vehicle is carb so no ecu. I appreciate that Chris but trying to sort this across the weekend/within the week. Looks like I have everything lined up for this so should be sorted shortly.

 

Cheers.

Wasn't aware of the time constraint. 

The capillary adjustable switches are good and work well, I've fitted a few. They can be a bitch to get sealed though. 

You should get away with using the factory wiring, and using a aftermarket switch in place of the factory one