So as we all know Honda/Acura's don't have very much room in the engine bay and turbo charging them makes the engine bay more crowded. Adding a turbo setup that utilizes an intercooler also makes it much more challenging to keep coolant temperatures down when pretty much blocking most airflow from your radiator. Besides airflow restriction you also add really hot up pipes, down pipes, turbo manifolds, a turbo exhaust housing next to your radiator which again puts stress on the coolant system.

To make things worse, as you may try to opt to buy a much better puller fan, fan shroud you run into space issues. Sometimes you can't run the size radiator fan you want because it hits into something else blah blah blah.

So after talking with a few people who have made the conversion to a rear mounted radiator setup, they have said that for drag racing purposes they don't see temperatures above 170 degrees after making a pass. I currently can see 200 to 213 degrees after making a pass and some of the guys I know who have a full sealed front end are reaching temps above 230. I would also think that this setup would benefit many others who live in hot climates that daily their car, road race etc.

I am going to keep a log of how I am going to set this up and also provide pictures, costs and the parts I use. Once everything is actually running try and log the type of results I get from doing this to see if it actually makes a positive impact or not.




So the first thing I did was went underneath the car to look for a good spot that provided space and a flat surface. Once I found that, I started looking for a tucked radiator that would be able to fit those measurements. After some searching I found this CSF tucked radiator on Summit Racing. Now this specific package came with the radiator, the o'ringed AN fittings for either a slid over or an actually AN fitting. It also came with brackets and a Spal fan setup so I thought I would have the entire setup as far as radiator, brackets, fan and fittings.


COSTS
CSF Radiator 7065 Setup from Summit Racing: $489
Spal Fan 063-30102061: $147
Davies Craig Electric Water Pump DC-8160: $186
Meziere Honda Idler 22 Tooth WP50022: $170
Speedy Metal Aluminum Round Tube 6061-T6511 1.25 6 foot length: $45 each so $90
Summit Racing -16 Braided Nylon Hose SUM-240720B: $189
Vibrant Performance -16 90: Quantity 5: $26 each
Vibrant Performance -16 45: Quantity 2: $22 each
Vibrant Performance -16 Straight ORB: Quantity 2: $12.95 each
Vibrant Performance -16 Straight: Quantity 3: $17
ICT Billet Weld In -16 bung ICB-AN970-16A: Quantity 6: $7
MSD Solid State Relay PN 89612: $32
Race Spec 10AWG M22759/16 Tefzel Wire: $130 red/black 50 feet each
Nitrous Outlet 2 Pin Deutsch Connector Kit PN 00-52034-2: $16
Mishimoto Filler Neck and Cap Small: $40

Total Costs of Parts is about $1781 for what I spent, can it be done cheaper yes. I think if someone makes their own radiator and fabricates more of the aluminum tube to cut out the needs for all the extra hose and hose ends you can trim that price down maybe $500 bucks. You can also gut a stock water pump which will save you close to $200 bucks.

Benefits: So far I filled up the radiator and lines and got over two gallons of water not including whatever the block takes. I got over a gallon of extra water with all the length of tube and hose over what a stock system will hold. My water pump will pump 30 gallons of water per minute which I think will keep water moving much faster then a stock setup. The hopes are that by moving the radiator to the back it will have a lot more air flowing around it then being stuck in the bay. It will also free up much needed space under the hood and will look way damn cooler LOL.











So the package arrived and the quality looked pretty good, the radiator looked a bit smaller than what I thought it would but the tanks on it looked super fat like it could handle a decent amount of water. The fitting were good and the brackets are fine if you are going to mount vertical in the front of your car, so the brackets really didn't work for me. The Spal fan that came with the radiator fit just fine but on Summits website they don't really give you any information on the fan itself like a part number of CFM rating. Come to find out this 9 inch fan that comes with the radiator pulls 530cfm which is not as much as I hoped for. Now the only problem is that I literally have to use a 9 inch fan, so I went to work on trying to find the best 9 inch spal fan or any fan I could that pulled better than 530cfm's.














So after some research I found a much heavier duty Spal Puller fan, now it says that it pulls 755cfm but after talking with a rep they said it can actually pull over 800cfm. Now this is the best I could find, obviously you can get more CFM if you went with lets say a 10inch but looking at the measurements I just could not fit anything bigger than a 9 inch so fingers crossed that this is going to pull enough. However this thing looks freaking sick and is a pretty beefy puller fan. Next was doing research on finding a good water pump, now with some quick searching I found a Meziere water pump and they actually have a Meziere water pump kit that comes with a water pump block off plate with idler. After some further research I saw bad reviews on the pump from other Honda guys who used them and from there I consulted with my Joe who told me they are junk. Joe previously was running a Davies Craig water pump on his air to water intercooler setup and said the Davies Craig pump is very reliable and pushes a good amount of water. So with that said I ordered the Davies Craig Water Pump and Spal puller fan.

















Next on the list was what do I need to tie all this together as far as fittings, piping, weld in bungs, how am I going to connect everything together. So I figured for the cars tunnel section I would use an aluminum piping and create tabs to tie into the roll cage. So I was looking around online for a company and found a place called Speedy Metals Online. I found 6061 outer diameter 1.25" wall thickness .065 and Inner Diameter of 1.12, the inner diameter was important because a -16 weld in bung outer diameter is about 1.12 so it would be close. Any who it was about $45 bucks for a 6 foot piece so I would need two because the total length in the tunnel section is about 5 feet.

The rest of the line I was going to do it in -16 since that is what the fitting are for the radiator and the fittings are for the water pump. Not to mention that is what most use to create a custom filler neck and water tube. Now I originally ordered 10 feet of hose but I actually needed 20, I will end up having a few extra feet but I could always use some in the future.

Fittings is next on the list, you will need a good amount LOL.














Now for some of the random things I needed, knowing that I would need to build a filler neck which I haven't done yet but the plan is to utilize the stock water neck and use my left over aluminum round pipe to build a custom filler neck. However I did need to buy a weld in filler neck and cap so I went with a mishimoto weld in filler neck and cap. I also had to think about wiring, I will need to run my radiator fan wiring to the back of the car as well as wire up the new water pump which is next on my list but I started to buy some of the necessary items.

Because I don't want to use some cheap junk wire I ordered the same stuff they used to build my Rywire Harness. The wire itself is freaking expensive but I guess I will have some leftover for some other projects. I got 10AWG Tefzel wire which is 65 bucks for 50 feet, I saw some other places trying to sell it for over a $100 I just ordered it from Race Spec. I also needed a solid state relay and 2 Pin Deutsch Connector Kit (10-12ga).













Lastly the tools needed that I mainly used was a tig welder, Nut Cert Gun, 6mm Nut Certs and some P Clamps.












Now onto the setup, fabrication and installation: First thing I did was got some aluminum angle from Industrial Metal Supply so I could fab up some mounting brackets. I also drilled out 6 holes and did a 6mm nut certs which holds our common 10mm bolts. Once done I mounted the radiator up for a test fit which seems to be hold super strong. Now if I have any issues with the nut certs I can drill them out and use a bolt and nut combo because the bolts can go directly into the truck where I can reach them.












With the water pump they didn’t provide any type of mounting brackets or plate, so I built my own plate to mount the pump to. I also wanted it at the lowest point so it wouldn’t scavenge for water. I also notched out a section where the LCA’s connect and boxed it in so the lines would have a straight through path.












Gutted thermostat and modified thermostat housing.

 

Woot!! With that killer 1800 GPM water pump, I wouldn't expect ANY temps above ideal . Lol! Looking forward to this writeup!

 

I hope you are right, I figured I would give a little write up on this because as I was looking for examples I didn't really come across anything that helpful.

 

I hear ya. The same for me when I initially looked up info on building the D-series. LOTS of outdated info, broken links, and nonexistent pics.

 

Yeah I figure I am going to start out the thread with a list of parts/parts numbers and costs.

 

Thanks for doing this. Those fittings will get you...they surely do add up quick. Even -6AN and -10AN. I can't imagine the added cost of -16AN, lol.

 

nice, how do you plan to tell if the pump dies?

 

this is a dope thread! Like what I see so far! I actually like the idea of it and the price comparison isn't far off from what the SpeedFactory tucked kits go for. If I had the money I would possibly try this! How low is your car? Any worries of the water lines catching anything?

 

The pump will be controlled by the Motec ECU but I’m not 100% sure if will tell me if it dies. I will find out more this weekend about the wiring situation and how it will be controlled.

 

So the lines in the tunnel area will be covered by the flat bottom leaving just the line at the trunk area exposed. As long as some crazy sharp crap doesn’t come flying under the car destroying them it should be fine I think. I will get some pictures of the tube which could be fabricated all the way back if someone wanted to do it that way.

 

Any worries with the rear flexing now that the rear cross member is notched? Maybe weld/bolt a plate across the bottom to tie it back together (that way the hoses pass through a "tunnel")?

 

It is boxed and welded, I will get a closer picture so you can see it. It may look open but I spayed the metal black.

 

Cool thing about those water pumps too, since you have a legit ECU setup - you can use a PWM out and set up a map with rpm and temp axes to keep the the flow where you want it (and also the electrical load as low as possible). They are good reliable pumps, they were pretty popular with the FSAE teams back when I was still in school.

I imagine, for a drag car at least, the extra heat capacity from all of the extra water/pipe is going to help a lot too but I'm Interested to see how the rad does without direct airflow. Cool setup all around.

 

Exactly, my tuner was telling me that he can control the pump through the ECU and basically set it to run slower once it fires up and turn it up and down based on temperature.

OP I asked if there is anyway to know if the pump stops working and the answer is you see your temps rising.

 

Outstanding and beautiful work. I appreciate the thorough post about the project. Any bay shots now without all the cooling stuff?

 

The motor is currently out but once it’s back in I will get some bay shots.

 

Damn, dude.. This like, the 4th time in the last 6 months the engine has been removed? You got those quick change mounts? Lol!

 

LOL, I can have everything out of the car in about 3 to 4 hours myself. When I had help we had everything out in 45 minutes. We pulled the motor for the head gasket and the bearings will be checked since the cylinder had water in it.

 

Lol! Yeah, it's not too bad really. Even on mine; a few coolant hoses, a few harness connectors, exhaust, shift linkage, axles, and BAM!

 

I love it. Great work.

 

Thanks man, just hope it makes a difference!

 

Got everything wired up, radiator is wired up and the water pump is wired up to run off the Motec ECU. So now the water pump will come on during ignition and can be controlled to flow based off whatever parameters we want.

On a side note I was wanting to get a new overflow bottle, something better than the plastic one. Everything I see online looks okay but nothing is setup to allow the radiator to pull the water back in. Every overflow bottle has a barb fitting on the side of the can to allow the radiator to push water into it but they want you to either have a drain plug or empty the can which is stupid.

So I went online and bought a few items to build my own overflow bottle that I can build out of aluminum but function like an OEM overflow bottle. I will get some pictures of the materials I bought that I think can make this work well and is cost effective. The cool thing about building my own is that aluminum will look a lot better than off white plastic and you can also design it to fit in any location you want.

 

So I was able to finish up the cap for the overflow bottle. My buddy gave me some random fittings he makes so I could try and make a stock like cap. The one AN to barb fitting is some random fitting he makes for GTR’s and the other again is just a random fitting that has 1/8 NPT female threads. From there the two fittings were weld together and I drilled a hole into the cap to drop the fitting in and weld it on. I ordered a 90 degree 1/8 NPT male to a barb for the overflow line. So now I just need to get the material to build the overflow bottle and figure out where I want it.

 

Interesting, are you just going to use a length of hose down into the bottle, as opposed to say a small aluminum tube?

 

Yep, since the fitting has a barb I am going to attach a hose to it just like a factory one. However you could do it that way as well, I guess I could have found a small aluminum tube and welded that and it would have worked just as good.

I just pieced together stuff laying around that would do the trick. My main objective was to just have an actual functioning overflow bottle. Every nice aluminum option overflow bottle I found online was basically just a catch can that you had to empty.