FD Radiator/Intake Combo - RONIN's design

[wickedrx7]

Just to throw this out there, would there be any benefit to using a dual pass radiator with top/bottom tanks like the stock RX-7?  I assume Mazda engineers did this to optimize cooling with such a small opening in the front facia?  Just a thought...

[frijolee]

Just to throw this out there, would there be any benefit to using a dual pass radiator with top/bottom tanks like the stock RX-7?  I assume Mazda engineers did this to optimize cooling with such a small opening in the front facia?  Just a thought...

Interesting thought, in general you get more core area out of the tanks being on the short side since you need a certain amount of width for hose bungs, but given most cars have wide short bumper openings I'd tend to think more vehicles would go this way if it make a significant difference.  That said, I can't tell you quite why Mazda did what they did.  In our case, I really want to use the bitching spal dual fan setup and that drives the core form factor to a large extent.  Add on top of this that the mounting to frame rails also improves with side tanks and I think we'll keep it as is.

[Esser]

The SPAL (30102052) setup is pretty good, I used to run it. But there is a better one out now that's actually cheaper... jegs has their own version of this fan setup with the same cfm, and a much better shroud. The SPAL uses two separate shrouds that are riveted together to make it "dual"  while Jegs uses a single solid piece. The riveted shroud is a little warped (ie wont lay flat on a table) cause its under tension.

I took apart the electric motors in both versions to see what differences I could note.... and the Jegs fans seen to me 90% similar, the bearings are all sealed, the center shaft is the same size, and jegs even balances the blades with small clip on weights. The only downside is the rubber flaps on the jegs version are a little too thick, they wont open as much as the SPAL ones- I swapped them over. And they left a lot of extra plastic on the outside edges for mounting. Just a thought to maybe save some $$$ on this kit.

JEGS 555-52115

[Daniel1286]

Any updates on this? This is all I’m missing for my build and I’d hate to buy a random universal radiator and then buy this one a week later.

[frijolee]

Any updates on this? This is all I’m missing for my build and I’d hate to buy a random universal radiator and then buy this one a week later.

I have a trip to Cali booked for end of April where our goal is to finalize this with product launch to follow shortly thereafter.  Working to release all the cutting files for that now.  I'll try to get some updated renders posted in the day or two.

-Joel

[frijolee]

Climbing on an airplane for the first time in 16 months tomorrow.  Here's the final concept design.  All the piece parts are cut and I'm showing up in Cali to put it together on a test car.  This is a two week trip so expect a serious update right after.  Oh, and the surge tank came out bitching too. 

-Joel






Really proud of some of the details on this thing.  Even if we play with the final positioning a bit having this nailed down vs the theoretical perfects should make iteration super fast.






The surge tank as promised.  This is a clean sheet design, but it should land quite a bit better than the universal Howe that's everyone's been running.

[Cobranut]

Will this have provisions for the A/C condenser that is used with the Samberg kits?

[wickedrx7]

Looks great guys, can't wait to see how test fitting goes! 

Not sure what motor you are using to test fit but remember that they LS3 water pump has the upper connection on the drivers side of the pulley, unlike the LS1 that is on the passenger side. 

[frijolee]

Will this have provisions for the A/C condenser that is used with the Samberg kits?

Yes. We do need to tuck it tighter to the radiator, but the same basic bungs and such will be there.  Samberg used an 11 x 20 parallel flow condenser.  Vertical clearance is likely to be the challenge but I'm going to see if we can fit an 11 x 21 to gain just a smidge of surface area.

Not sure what motor you are using to test fit but remember that they LS3 water pump has the upper connection on the drivers side of the pulley, unlike the LS1 that is on the passenger side. 

Thanks for the reminder.  For the hoses on the test car we're going to build a custom set with silicon couplers and the Gates heat shrink hose clamps (aka Powergrip).  We might need to have folks specify their pumps if we can't find hoses that we know will work for both.

[Jakewah]

Awesome! Does it make any sense to move the air dam walls to the outside to allow for an the maximum ac condenser width? Though the outer inches wouldn't be as efficient, maybe they still add value to help with the condenser overall efficiency since ac condensers are also a side end tank design.

Green arrows below show a visual. (THIS IS THE OLD CAD MODEL)

[radiomike]

Climbing on an airplane for the first time in 16 months tomorrow.  Here's the final concept design.  All the piece parts are cut and I'm showing up in Cali to put it together on a test car.  This is a two week trip so expect a serious update right after.  Oh, and the surge tank came out bitching too. 

-Joel

IIRC the OE side mounts are M10 on one side and M6 in to captive nuts on the other, M6 with a 5mm core looked inadequate so we drilled and re-tapped to M8.

[Turbotronic]

Will this have provisions for the A/C condenser that is used with the Samberg kits?

Yes. We do need to tuck it tighter to the radiator, but the same basic bungs and such will be there.  Samberg used an 11 x 20 parallel flow condenser.  Vertical clearance is likely to be the challenge but I'm going to see if we can fit an 11 x 21 to gain just a smidge of surface area.

Not sure what motor you are using to test fit but remember that they LS3 water pump has the upper connection on the drivers side of the pulley, unlike the LS1 that is on the passenger side. 

Thanks for the reminder.  For the hoses on the test car we're going to build a custom set with silicon couplers and the Gates heat shrink hose clamps (aka Powergrip).  We might need to have folks specify their pumps if we can't find hoses that we know will work for both.

If you guys want to borrow my LS3 E-Rod's water pump for test fitting I can ship it down the coast. I'm in Norcal, so it shouldn't take long to get there. Just message me if interested.

[Exidous]

Making the ducting a little bit wider than I or samberg had would allow for a bigger condenser. I bet you could add at least 2-3" in width I think. Would capture a little more air from the available space the bumper skin provides.

[wickedrx7]

Updates?

[frijolee]

Called a couple fairly significant audibles during the Cali trip but we're quite happy with how it's turning out. 

I'm trying to finishing up modeling of some final tweaks before we present the design (and write up a bit of a trip report) but here's a couple teaser pictures to give you a flavor for things to come.





To some of the chatter above, yes, we are going a bit wider and adding an inch of condenser core.

-Joel