ducting for the S13 radiator

[McCoy]

Since this doesn't come up to much, I thought I'd just post up some pre/post pictures of some basic ducting on the front of my 240. This is my first time doing this, and need to do a bit more for blocking the sides between the radiator/intercooler... maybe tomorrow once I have some material to work with.

Pre ducting...

Passanger side, there's a nice big gap there.


Looking down between the radiator and IC... more ways for the air to go.


Not really having time to go shopping for material, I'm using what I have around the garage and will plan on getting some thin-gauged sheet metal tomorrow for what I have mocked up with cardboard.

From work, a very dense foam that doesn't have much give, but does cut well with a saw blade.


After spending some time measuring, cutting, and repeating multiple times I got the sides pretty well blocked off and the foam is not going anywhere.

Passanger side, it took alot of effort to get the foam into place.


Driver side. (looks hacked together... it is)


The lower one was pretty easy to do with cardboard and should be just as easy when I get some metal to cut/bend.

[McCoy]

Got alittle more done today.

A trip to the local ACE for some rolled up sheet metal... or whatever they call it.


I used the cardboard piece as a template. Basic tools being just tin snips, gloves, straight edge, and some pliers to assist in small bends where needed.


And the mostly finished product...




next will be a little ducting on the sides... between the IC and radiator. Maybe tonight if I have time.

[2Fass240us]

Good stuff, Monty. I will probably be doing some in the off-season with a gigantor sheet of aluminum I bought a year ago.

After looking at it for some time now, I can say that not having the center radiator support and latch mechanism helps tremendously. I also don't have an intercooler there *yet*, which would also help.

[McCoy]

After looking at it for some time now, I can say that not having the center radiator support and latch mechanism helps tremendously. I also don't have an intercooler there *yet*, which would also help.

I don't think the center support hurts that bad, can't say the same about the IC though .

I'm thinking that I'll also cut out the upper section of the opening on the bumper... this should help push extra air up and over the IC and into the radiator from above. This should provide better cooling than cutting a bunch of holes in the front of the bumper, me thinks. Currently it's a tight fit right up to the IC, so only the lower 1/3 of the IC is getting air passing through it. Shouldn't take much more than a few minutes with the jigsaw or razor blade tonight before I button it back up.

[2Fass240us]

Monty, have you thought about getting a front lip?

It looks like you have the OE undertray too, which helps.

[McCoy]

Ducting seems to have helped some. On the hwy (95F day), the water temps sat right at 175... typically there around 185-190 on this hot of a day.

For track it is hard to tell, this was the hottest track day I've done yet in the 240 and have nothing to compare it to. At 7psi, water temps never broke 220F by much. I want to do alittle more ducting on the sides, and maybe add a lip to get alittle more air into the lower inlet, besides that I don't think I need to add holes or go with a different bumper at this time.

[Benito Malito]

Those wheels look massive. What about the fog light holes? Some ducting through them?

I know you said no bumper skin but the pignose bumper is pretty cool man...

[Def]

Your water temps will drop WAY down with an oil cooler. Do you know what your oil temps are?

Once they cross about 200 deg F in the pan they start really heating up the water in my experience. I would hit 230+ in the pan and have to turn on the heater to keep things below about 210-215 in the neck(where I'd start getting nervous).

[McCoy]

At 11psi I was hitting 270F for oil, yesterday I was seeing upwards of 250 at the end of a session.

[Def]

Yikes... you'll like things a lot with the oil cooler on there.

[McCoy]

Those wheels look massive. What about the fog light holes? Some ducting through them?

I know you said no bumper skin but the pignose bumper is pretty cool man...

The fog light holes run into the tires and will be used for other things. The passanger side hole will be used for the oil cooler and the drive side one will be for a PS cooler (300zx oil cooler).

I'm thinking a cheap ebay lower lip is in order... the pig nose is to hard to find around these parts.

[McCoy]

Yikes... you'll like things a lot with the oil cooler on there.

I really hope so too! On Wednesday after I turned the boost down I never saw over 220F water and the oil stayed between 220-230F most of the time. Of course I was running with the heater on high too or things got much hotter.

Things would have been hotter if I was going WOT down the front straight and back straights though, I was holding off at 5.5K in 5th on the front and letting off early on the back straight just to keep things from getting to hot.