1G I want AC! FMIC Ducting and Cooling / Fans

[lasershark]

Erik, i did a similar thing as Donnie. I have a mid 80's Camaro air dam mounted under my radiator to pull air up. You have to trim it to your height but it pulls air in pretty dam good in addition to what ever else you may want to do and is just about perfect width to bolt right up. Some thoughts.

Picture? Seems like a cheapy but goodie!

 

[ErikTande]

The biggest difference I noticed with my setup was to
1)Use the stock ac fan if you have space
2) get rid of crappy slim fans for proper Spal ones
3) extend your ducting below the FMIC to grab air passing under the car to redirect it to the radiator

I can now sit in south Florida traffic with the ac blasting all day.

Stock fans won't fit. Not even close unfortunately. These are the highest CFM fans I could find. (1730cfm) Are SPALs that much better?

 

[red_devil]

It depends on what brand they are. Some suppliers seem to make up cfm ratings.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Picture? Seems like a cheapy but goodie!

Yep had another member ask for pictures so here they are. Like I told him, some may prefer to cut it shorter, it is just plastic but stiff. I leave it full length for the air grabbing and for making a negative pressure area under the car just in case I am accidentally over the speed limit
You can use the stock mounting bolts from the donor car but I have found that they will eventually rattle out so I tack welded some nuts over drilled out holes so I could mount it with bolts not the stock self tapping style of bolts. It seems to be working very well for me.

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[lasershark]

Yep had another member ask for pictures so here they are.

I know what they look like, I have 2 f bodies I was talking more about pics of the piece installed...
I'm more of a visual person
Thanks

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Ok...had to go thru pictures here at work, I think this will show you what you want to see....

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or from the side....at the top of first gear....about 8500... you can hardly see it (or the air dam)

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[lasershark]

Might have to do a junkyard run and try it out, thanks!

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Sure. Its a very easy mod. The donor should have those pointed self tapping bolts so keep them too.
If you dont like it it only takes about 5 min to unbolt it. I bent my first one on a curb so beware.

 

[ErikTande]

I sealed up my FMIC to my AC Condenser/Radiator. I made a bunch of cardboard templates, cut some thin aluminum and finished it off with aluminum tape. There were a couple dime-sized gaps around the AC lines that I couldn't get to, but other than that it is completely sealed (bottom and sides too, not pictured).


Unfortunately, this was still over 210 degrees tonight, I did a 70 mile cruise/car meet tonight and it's only 40 degrees outside. Clearly this isn't going to hold up when it's 90 degrees. So next up I'm going to try some SPAL pusher/puller setups. But before that I'm going to try the Volvo/Taurus fan and see if I can get it to fit. I've heard they're AMAZING and pull a TON of air. Hitting the wrecking yard tomorrow.

On a positive note I got my Eibach springs installed on my Megan Coilovers and they ride AMAZING : D

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[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Are you on a stock radiator? My Mitsomoto X is pretty thick and my spal puller pusher setup didn't like the thick core, just wanted to put that out there. Maybe your shroud will make it work better though. Where did you get your aluminum to make yours out of?

 

[NB4G63T]

Erik those Ebay fans are garbage for what you're trying to do and the cfm they say they move is BS. I've had one before and 8" derale move more air then a 12" ebay POS. But you figured that out. Spal just came out with some low profile fans and I can confirm they move a **** load of air, and only 2" high. You're on the right track with the ducting tho.

 

[doubleclutch]

Yeah, I just made a shroud. I can only fit 1 puller with my setup so I made the shroud and it's sealed up TIGHT, so we'll see how it performs.

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This really doesn't make sense for keeping the car cool at speed. You are drastically limiting how much air can flow through the radiator because it has to go through the fan first. Essentially half the air has to make a 90 deg turn 2x before exiting. Let's just say there is a reason why performance exhausts minimize turns. Can you take a cruise without the back shroud? Front one looks effective.

So i don't come across as a hater, at idle it would be the most effective shroud you could probably have as the air HAS to come through the radiator.

 

[NB4G63T]

Yes I agree and I was going to mention this^^^. Take off the rear shroud and take it for a drive, bet it will cool better.

 

[ErikTande]

^^ Makes sense. I'll take the shroud off and try it again.

 

[ErikTande]

This really doesn't make sense for keeping the car cool at speed. You are drastically limiting how much air can flow through the radiator because it has to go through the fan first. Essentially half the air has to make a 90 deg turn 2x before exiting. Let's just say there is a reason why performance exhausts minimize turns. Can you take a cruise without the back shroud? Front one looks effective.

So i don't come across as a hater, at idle it would be the most effective shroud you could probably have as the air HAS to come through the radiator.

Yes I agree and I was going to mention this^^^. Take off the rear shroud and take it for a drive, bet it will cool better.

Good news! Took the shroud off and I'm running cooler than ever with all that ducting I did. Last night it was 40 degrees outside and I was running 210 on the highway, 220+ after doing pulls. Tonight it was also 40 degrees outside, and I was running 190, sometimes dipping to 186, and only going to 196 after doing pulls.

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I'm going to try the Volvo/Taurus puller fan next and see if I can make it fit. If not I'll got with a SPAL. I'll update again when I make more changes.

 

[NB4G63T]

Nice. Those are the exact temp I see as well. The real test is when it's 90+ that's where a stout fan will excel as it can pull a large volume of air through the rad at an idle and keep you at those same temp. I never see over 200 very often.

 

[doubleclutch]

I guess I did learn something in my fluid dynamics class....

Glad it is working!

 

[ErikTande]

It's 70 degrees today. Drove the car to work today, spent the first 25 minutes in stop and go, and the car got hot (220+) As soon as I got on the highway though it dropped down to 200. So the ducting is working great, I just need a better fan. So I stopped by the salvage yard and picked up a couple Volvo fans (got two cuz they're only $10 each and I might mess one up or in case one doesn't work) They're crazy slim and move A TON of air, if you google Volvo / Taurus fan you'll see they're very popular with the Jeep and off road guys.

Gonna try make one fit tonight.

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[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Let us know how that sucker sucks!!!

 

[ErikTande]

Well, good news is these things blow like a HURRICANE. Bad news is they won't even come close to fitting. I was under the impression that they were 14" fans, which I assumed I could trim and make fit. They're not 14". It's 19" from outer edge to outer edge. The fan blade itself is 15". There's no way to make it fit.

Oh well. No big loss, I'm going to sell them on ebay. I ordered a 12" SPAL puller for the passenger side and I think I can squeeze in a 10" puller fan on the drivers side, so I bought a cheap ebay one to test fit and see if it melts. XD I'll update next week when I get the fans installed.


Oh, and the white line on the radiator on the right side is where my intercooler piping is. So yeah, not even close.

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Size comparison with a 12"

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[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Thanks for the info. I think you will like a Spal, I have them and they really do out perform the normal Ebay fans, which I have had too. I don't think they make one thin enough for me to put one on my Drivers side and even then I would be afraid it would melt as my wastegate and downpipe are very close, that's why I said I might try a little 8" from Flebay and if it melts, no loss, just a test.

 

[NB4G63T]

^^^ So if you do choose an 8" fan go with a Derale and not ebay, I've got both and the Derale puts out a lot more air flow. So I have very limited room too as I run a koyo rad (they're thick) and a punishment turbo mani. I've got 2.5"- 3" of space from my turbine housing to my rad, I run a turbine blanket and all my exhaust piping wastegate included are wrapped in DEI titanium wrap. Ive got a 8" derale now but I'm switching to a 12" low profile fan as the measurements looks like its going to fit. I'm running my AC again and need all the cooling I can get.

Link to the fan
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.com/cooling/dsm_cooling_page3.htm

Space I'm working with

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[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Thank you for the link, I do a lot of business with those guys, they like my money!!! Yes you are limited and it looks a lot like my bay, although yours looks like you can eat off of it. Did you mention in a earlier post about a 2" thick fan?? Something like that could possibly work for me. My Mitsumoto X is pretty darn thick too so every little bit helps when trying to squeeze one down in there and not have it touching a red hot part. I will need to wrap my DP and WG dump for sure.

Love the EXDUCER oil cap!!!!!

 

[NB4G63T]

Thanks Marty! Yes the new low profile fans I linked too are 2" tall and thats pretty low as I have a normal 12 spal and it's almost 3 3/4" tall and is just to big. When I do install my dr side fan I have to install it from the bottom, there's a lot more room lower down on my rad with my setup. Check out the link and the measurements of the fans listed, you should be able to find something that should work. They seem to the shallowest fans I can find that move a decent amount of air. And yes wrap everything and run a turbine blanket if you're not. I ran a summer without one and the heat that comes off that turbine housing is just stupid, it would heat soak everything, those turbine blankets plain work.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I think a 2" fan will clear my DP and WG tube so I will definitely check into them, appreciate it very much! Will a "cheap" blanket work as well as a "pricey" one? I do need to get temps down under the hood, but had heard some stories about wrapping my header and having welds break, ever had any problems Shane??