I need to get better air flow to my radiator in my CRX and thought of this idea as shown in the pics. I need the material to be made of a thin piece of aluminum (not sure how thickness is measured) so it can be flexible enough to conform the shape of the hood once it is screwed on there. The face of the hood is fairly flat anyway so it should be no problem. I will most likely have it black powder coated so no need for any finish work. The hole sizes are 2 1/4". I want all the holes precision cut so I am looking for someone that can access the proper equipment to do this for me. If anyone is interested or knows of a place I can have this one made, please send me the info. Thanks.

 

aluminiun sheet ( your choice of thickness )

1 --- 2.25 inch hole saw,
1 --- press drill...
1--- mesuring tape.
6--- beer and a lill time.

you got it !

jp

 

and your going to cut your cf hood?

 

id take a hole saw to the bumper before i did the hood...more flow across the core rather then the top of the radiator...

 

why not just make a radiator shroud that goes from the top of your bumper to the top of your radiator. and do it on the sides as well.

i would be willing to bet that you have enough air flowing through the front but it just is going of into other parts ofr the engine bay instead of flowing through your radiator.

try it. it should only take a few bucks in materials to make and if it doesnt work, then you can hack up the hood.


Modified by Mr.E.G. at 8:12 PM 6/29/2006

 

That part of the hood there will not be much air flow as the air is flowing over it at a different angle. Hard to explain

 

Cut the inner lip of the Bumper hole a bit and make a shroud from the Top of the mouth to the rad. If u under stand??? Or i can draw a pic and post it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr.E.G. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why not just make a radiator shroud that goes from the top of your bumper to the top of your radiator. and do it on the sides as well.

i would be willing to bet that you have enough air flowing through the front but it just is going of into other parts ofr the engine bay instead of flowing through your radiator.

try it. it should only take a few bucks in materials to make and if it doesnt work, then you can hack up the hood.


Modified by Mr.E.G. at 8:12 PM 6/29/2006</TD></TR></TABLE>

you have no clue how much this works...... Me and a friend (Juncr-x) did this on his crx out of carbonfiber and had unbeliveable effects after it was done. Search his name and you should be able to find pics of his moca CRX....... I dont think you relize how well that actually works for the good.

 

Is your car overheating chris? I would also say to just get some aluminum sheets and make a shroud around the radiator. If you need any help, you have my #...

I'm going to call ya soon as well, about getting your freinds car finished up. I just have one more manifold to fab up, and I'll be ready.

 

Hello chris honda engines dont overheat to easy, I had a situation on my turbo EK were I changed the radiator to a better aluminum radiator and my car started to over heat what I found was that their was air trapped in the system when I changed the radiator so I release the air thru a valve on the back of the block 01 B18c1 and now everything is ok.You should check that the thermostat and I see you have a aftermarket fan check the rotation of the blades some fans you can install the as pushers or pullers but sometimes you have to change the way the blades sits I have a 12" fan inside as a puller works good temp does not get to half sitting still for 45min.If you have to cut holes I would do it on the bumper I dont htink you want to make that CF hood any weaker were the lock is, good luck.

 

Is that a 10" fan? If it is I think the easier solution to try first would be to get a 12" fan that moves a shitload of air before you start hacking away.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Well the car has started to overheat mostly on idle and deceleration. Once I actually start moving forward and gain speed the temps begin to go down and stablizes at the half way point but will still rise occasionaly. The turbo is water cooled as well and I've been told that the excess heat from the turbine housing may contribute to higher temps but should still not cause overheating. So I'm gonna try out what you all have said so far.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr.E.G. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why not just make a radiator shroud that goes from the top of your bumper to the top of your radiator. and do it on the sides as well.

i would be willing to bet that you have enough air flowing through the front but it just is going of into other parts ofr the engine bay instead of flowing through your radiator.

try it. it should only take a few bucks in materials to make and if it doesnt work, then you can hack up the hood.


Modified by Mr.E.G. at 8:12 PM 6/29/2006</TD></TR></TABLE>


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eddie_ek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hello chris honda engines dont overheat to easy, I had a situation on my turbo EK were I changed the radiator to a better aluminum radiator and my car started to over heat what I found was that their was air trapped in the system when I changed the radiator so I release the air thru a valve on the back of the block 01 B18c1 and now everything is ok.You should check that the thermostat and I see you have a aftermarket fan check the rotation of the blades some fans you can install the as pushers or pullers but sometimes you have to change the way the blades sits I have a 12" fan inside as a puller works good temp does not get to half sitting still for 45min.If you have to cut holes I would do it on the bumper I dont htink you want to make that CF hood any weaker were the lock is, good luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The shroud is a great idea and also bleed out the system some more. I think that 1200cfm should be adequate enough as a pusher fan although a 12" might be better and I don't think the Slim Lines require the blades to be repositioned. The stock bumper support is still in there and was cut just enough to allow the 8" intercooler to fit so cutting the front bumper may not yield any better results cuz all that is still obstructing air flow.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bryson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is your car overheating chris? I would also say to just get some aluminum sheets and make a shroud around the radiator. If you need any help, you have my #...

I'm going to call ya soon as well, about getting your freinds car finished up. I just have one more manifold to fab up, and I'll be ready. </TD></TR></TABLE>

For sure call me whenever you are ready to go. I'll be back in town July 13th.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cut the inner lip of the Bumper hole a bit and make a shroud from the Top of the mouth to the rad. If u under stand??? Or i can draw a pic and post it</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah this is even better than my suggestion from the top of the bumper cover.

i tried to imagine your bumper (the actual bumper core) location, and since i didnt really know where it was i drew two versions to account for it.

here is a profile cutaway view of how you should do the shroud.

with out bumper in the way:




here is a version with the bumper in the way of the air flow. i added a little rounded surface to the fcae of it to promote airflow around it. if you have enough room i would make a wing style cover for it so that the air can flow as smoothly as possible around it. if you do that it shouldnt really even matter if the bumper is in the way from an airflow point of view.



the ideal shape for a radiator inlet is small opening/ gradual expansion before the air reaches the radiator. the smaller entrance will make sure teh air enters at a high velocity, and the gradual expansion will allow the air to slow down a little so that it can properly absorb heat from the radiator.

also, this is super obvious and im sure you havnt missed it, but are you sure the fan is blowing the right direction? i did some work on my girlfriends car and reversed the polarity (i wasnt usuing the factory fan plug). i took me a little while to figure that out

to keep this cheap i recommend that you go to home depot and buy some plexiglass or lexan (plexiglass is cheaper) and construct the original mock up out of that. then use that as a template to make the real version later. you can eaily shape the lexan with a heat gun or blowtorch (from a foot away) if you need to make some contours or anything to make it all fit.

when its all said and done, seal all of the gaps to this shroud so that you are not losing efficiency through small crevices.

i hope it works out. keep us updated.

 

Wow.. Thank you for the taking the time to post the diagram. I'll definitely get going on the shroud idea and see how that works out. I'm trying to eliminate other possible culprits but improving the air flow to the radiator is neccessary anyway. Thanks again, here's a smiley for you

 

Chris. Im having the exact same problem as you. Ive tried many things, if i remove the bumper my car runs right at 195deg.

Whatever you do, dont let it overheat, i let mine overheat and i warped the head 3 thous, it was leaking coolant OUT. It will be back together this week, im going to do what it takes as far as cutting, ducting etc to get sufficent airflow to the radiator. Im running a 10" slimfan as a puller. Im considering adding another.. Running 2 fans, 1 as a puller, 1 as a pusher, and i do have a large sheet of thin stainless in the shop i will use for ducting.

I will post up pics once im done, hopefully they will help you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eddie_ek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hello chris honda engines dont overheat to easy.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wish i also could say this, Im having serious cooling issues with mine.. I WILL resolve them shortly, i plan to also heatwrap my ramhorn manifold which i feel is adding to the problem though increased underhood temps.

I may even jack up the back of my hood more, cowl induction to help bring some cool air in.

 

yeah every honda i have ever owned, every single ******* one, has had cooling issues in some way or another. usually it is just something simple like a fan switch that went bad. that happened three times. the good new is that i can diagnoze a honda cooling problem from a mile away.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HamiltonRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Chris. Im having the exact same problem as you. Ive tried many things, if i remove the bumper my car runs right at 195deg.

Whatever you do, dont let it overheat, i let mine overheat and i warped the head 3 thous, it was leaking coolant OUT. It will be back together this week, im going to do what it takes as far as cutting, ducting etc to get sufficent airflow to the radiator. Im running a 10" slimfan as a puller. Im considering adding another.. Running 2 fans, 1 as a puller, 1 as a pusher, and i do have a large sheet of thin stainless in the shop i will use for ducting.

I will post up pics once im done, hopefully they will help you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

im sure you have it planned out already, but if you want any suggestions or anything i would be more than happy to help. i like this kind of stuff.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HamiltonRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Chris. Im having the exact same problem as you. Ive tried many things, if i remove the bumper my car runs right at 195deg.

Whatever you do, dont let it overheat, i let mine overheat and i warped the head 3 thous, it was leaking coolant OUT. It will be back together this week, im going to do what it takes as far as cutting, ducting etc to get sufficent airflow to the radiator. Im running a 10" slimfan as a puller. Im considering adding another.. Running 2 fans, 1 as a puller, 1 as a pusher, and i do have a large sheet of thin stainless in the shop i will use for ducting.

I will post up pics once im done, hopefully they will help you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Im glad I'm not the only one experiencing this problem..I've already pegged the water temp a few times but thank god I have not caused any serious damage. My latest problem now is heat soak from my intercooler pipings and my starter. After about a half hour of hard driving, my car does not seem as responsive and when I shut her down and restart, the starter does not even work. No clicking, nothing. I let her cool down for about half hour and it works perfect. WTF. I finally drove one night with the hood completely off and to no suprise water temp was excellent and it started right up no matter how hard the drive. I'm making every effort now to really control temps under there. At this point I'm not sure what else is getting affected by the heat. I have just insulated the pipings (DEI stuff), wrapped the header and downpipe and angled up the hood. I will baffle the front of the hood as I originally planned and shroud the entire radiator. I will also get an oil cooler just for final reassurance. Definitely send pics of your cooling set-ups. That would be a great help for anyone else that has these problems. Here's a few of my progress..

 

Looks good.

I plan to heatwrap my exhaust manifold as well, I do also notice heatsoak into my starter, when the car got hot, it would not start back up.. But let it cool down and it would be fine.

When i put it all back together for the first time, i plan to take it out without the hood on, just to make sure it dosent get too hot, then put the hood on and see how it cools. I will have updates in a few days.

 

You should always back fill your block when putting your coolant in.....just pull your top hose off at the rad. and pour the coolant in through the top hose until it comes out the top rad. hose neck and then put the hose on and then top the rad. off.

PS....You may have to squeeze the bottom hose a few times when filling also to help get the air out...and always do this when the engine is completely cold.