i have heard of a few guys complaining about getting the radiator heat soaked, and loss of space along with my idea on extra lag....

I would like for people to let me know their experience with the lovefab sidewider all in this thread, specifically the CAST SIDEWINDER

i currently am running a greddy kit but plan to scrap everything and start over.
motor has forged internals without sleeves, built head....
thanks for your insight.

 

he ran the radiator hose under the manifold, like I did myself(untested, just a mockup).

We would be better off running the upper radiator hose outside of the wastegate, toward the passenger side of the car, like below:
(borrowed from DAX, thanks!)

Ive been looking for radiator cores to make a few radiators but havent found much. If you would like me to modify an aluminum radiator for this manifold, I can do so for a small charge.
I think Im going to give Koyo or Griffen a call, see if they can do a small run of custom units so that the radiator hose is nice and easy to do.

Or, you could look into the AC SST/AC Mini-me. More traditional fitments, but a little more $, and waiting period.

As far as my experiences, I noticed excellent spool properties(welded, havent run the cast personally yet), and engine bay heat wasnt too bad. The thermal barrier coating that come standard on the cast manifolds will really help in this department versus a bare manifold.

 

my friend had the same problem in his 92 hatch... basically what we ended up doing was just banging the **** out of the frame and cutting pieces off... just kill whatever you don't really need. the turbo was too close to the radiator but eventually we made enough room for it to all fit in.

 

getting an aluminum radiator and relocating the upper spout would probably be the easiest and most efficeint way IMO if u can weld of course

 

haha thats my engine bay picture cody not dax's...but its cool

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tspkenneth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">haha thats my engine bay picture cody not dax's...but its cool</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I was about to say! But mine is very similar...see:



I have great boost response/spool time with my welded sidewinder. Heat isn't that bad either...and I can also post up a picture tonight when I get to my home computer on turbo compressor/radiator clearance, which is fine. My car NEVER runs hot...the needle is right where it was before the turbo install. I am running a pusher fan setup. In the future I may invest in an aluminum radiator with a modified placement of the neck, but for now what I have works fine. No signs of burning/melting on the hoses [I check daily], and you can see where I added thermal wrap where the dump tube crosses it and also by the wastegate. All in all, I couldn't be happier with my setup...that is...after I replace my block.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tinker219 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">(borrowed from DAX, thanks!)

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn thats a tight squeeze

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tspkenneth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">haha thats my engine bay picture cody not dax's...but its cool</TD></TR></TABLE>
oops. well, I borrow it from you Kenneth!

 

if you can get johnny bravo to take a pic u can see how we did everything, the main problem was the ac lines n all that shoved up against the compressor housing.

 

i have problems because of the upper hose running under the manifold, its heat-soaking the coolant in the hose and making the temps climb, the first time i noticed it the temp needle was 3/4 of the way up the gauge

heres a pic, please dont kill me over the VERY ghetto upper rad. hose im looking for a place locally to get an aluminum one with a custom upper spout(so it comes out at and angle on the far left of the radiator - if looking from the front of the car)

 

realistically cody, what are the advantages of using a sidewinder? I dont think i get it

 

I don't think at the time anyone was offering a full 3" downpipe with AC compatibility. This was the answer to that demand.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't think at the time anyone was offering a full 3" downpipe with AC compatibility. This was the answer to that demand.</TD></TR></TABLE>

and what am i running? auto-zone downpipe no place around here can bend 3" pipe, only up to 2.5...

my dp is more ghetto than my rad. hose, ill just leave it at that

 

Buy JC Whitney bends [what I did]. I'm sure someone around you can weld, can't they?

Don't worry...I got the sidewinder so I could keep AC and 3" DP, and I don't have AC hooked up yet.

 

haha, i took my a/c out when i bought the car(was part of the deal, he keeps the a/c for his car, i knock 300 off the price)

i have since gathered most of the parts to put it back together, aside from a condensor(since the one i had already met an untimely death from a large object(about 40 lbs) falling on it)

im too poor to buy anything right now to make a better downpipe, so crush bent 90's and flex pipe will do for now

p.s. i have a mig welder in the garage...

 

i'll let you guys know about my setup in a bout a week.

 

I'll try and post pics of my setup. I have no overheating issues. Still trying to work out a few other things then shes going up for tuning.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Full-Race Geoff &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">realistically cody, what are the advantages of using a sidewinder? I dont think i get it</TD></TR></TABLE>

i guess the ability to run a tubular manifold and keep the 3" Dp, but so far all the tuners./ installers in my area have looked at the cast sidewinder n call cody crazy.

it may be one of those good ideas that just isnt praised upon cuz its not traditional or seem effective.

 

i KNEW that engine bay looked familiar!!!! hahaha yeah..... ^^^ that's who i was talking about, bang the **** outta that right?! haha

 

dont wanna be mean, but damn! ur stuff looks like a rust bucket! im no hater by ne means, but damn.....that looks a lil ghetto, my bad for spitting that out.....thats IMO tho.

 

I'm curious of the advantages as well. I can see plenty of disadvantages, but maybe i'm just missing the advantages of this manifold?

 

What disadvantages do you see Tony? I mean, besides the inconvenience of the upper radiator hose among other things.

 

Well, the main one is it's a long manifold, alot of heat is lost like that. Heat loss is a BAD thing before a turbo. You have to have a long oil return line, deal with the radiator hose issue, possibly deal with the paint on the hood discoloring from the heat, and akward ic piping. I'd be willing to be that there's a power loss compared to a short runner manifold. I don't buy the quicker spool either...

 

my sentiments are the exact same thing--
im also concerned about IC piping, as well as heat issue, if you think paint is bad- i have a VIS hood

that is composed of fiberglass and CF, im sure that will get warped and melt over the course of hours, i do a lot of highway driving too sometimes for about 6 hrs stright back from school

i could just see my underhood temps.
this also seems like heat will dissipate faster under that ONE long runner to the turbo-- although it is CAST and cast iron can hold heat better than other metals, along with surface area combo--- seems poor,

location of everything throws me as well.

 

the intercooler piping isnt much different than a conventional setup(like if you had a mini-me or the like)

i have a c/f hood and the wastegate makes contact with it(havent trimmed the frame of the hood yet) and it hasnt melted or anything