Hey Gang - Well I was on borrowed time with my original radiator now 25 years old (230K), last week the brass top tank started fatiguing and developed two hairline cracks causing the car to loose coolant and of course run hot.
As we all know, you cannot buy a new radiator for these cars anymore and I confirmed this by calling several large radiator warehouses across the country. I could have had the radiator fixed, re-cored and then pressure tested locally but wanted to try something different and more compact to accommodate a new larger intercooler that I am in the process of designing.
I decided to upgrade to all aluminum 2-row Koyo Radiator designed for a 1992-2000 Civic with a B-Series swap (Koyo Part Number: C1570). There are literally hundreds of aluminum radiators that you can purchase off eBay and other vendors, but I chose Koyo and paid a few extra $$ due to their reputation, quality, finish and the fact that they are Nocolok brazed (anti-corrosive flux used during manufacturer). I paid $227.
I also purchased a Flex-A-Lite Electric Fan designed for the Civic Radiator (Part No: FLX-125), which is much powerful (1350cfm) than the OEM fan. I paid $200 for it from Summit Racing
Another reason I went with this set-up is because I had installed it on a Turbo Toyota Corolla AE86 (270whp) that I built several years ago which I punished and that car never ran hot once.
As a bonus this set-up is 11lbs lighter than the OEM set-up and only weighs 10lbs!
It took me a full weekend to install this set-up which included the time for me to fabricate the three (3) mounts for this Koyo radiator using only the factory holes on the chassis of the car. I would like to emphasize I did not drill the car at all. My moto when modifying my cars is "let the parts fit the car, not let the car fit the parts", so it is time intensive with lots planning and fiddling.
I also re-used all the factory wiring to trigger the Flex-A-Lite fan by welding a new bung on the Koyo radiator for the Mazda radiator fan switch, so no cutting or hacking wiring either. I bought a new Japanese made fan switch ($35) by Wells (Part No: SW563)
Here is the start of the project all parts laid out:
New bung TIG welded and tapped on the Koyo radiator for the factory Mazda radiator fan switch. I farmed this out to a well known local performance shop (Power Fab), as their fabrication skills are excellent:
I trimmed the brackets supplied with the Flex-A-Lite fan to make the fit "cleaner" and added a notch for the lower radiator hose:
I added some aluminum spacers at the top between radiator and the fan to assist with the fitment:
Weight of the new Koyo and Flex-A-Lite fan combo:
Weight of the OEM Mazda radiator and fan combo (21lbs) including the brackets:
Side by side:
Side By side:
You can see how much smaller and compact the Koyo radiator is compared to the factory unit, lots more room for a new intercooler
Top bracket:
Bottom bracket (left):
Bottom Right bracket:
Fabricating the brackets took me easily 7+ hours and required lots of mock up due to tight fitment and avoiding conflicts with the sway bar, the air conditioning lines and the center engine mount which all had to be avoided plus building brackets to utilize all the factory holes on the radiator support on the car. I made the brackets using 3mm thick aluminum to keep everything strong.
I was not able to re-use the top radiator hose and luckily I had a box of old hoses (another reason to keep junk around) and eventually found something that worked well. The OD of the necks on the Koyo radiator is slightly less than the factory but I cinched down the clamps accordingly.
The bottom hose is too short to reach the Koyo radiator so I used some aluminum pipe that I had lying around as a bridge and trimmed it to fit:
To connect the two wire Honda connector on the Flex-A-Lite fan to the factory harness I jumpered them by using two sections of wire with the female spade connector crimped on. When I have some time I will make a neater harness connector between the Honda fan plug and the Mazda fan harness plug (a trip to the scrap yard ).
Connecting the new fan switch installed in the Koyo radiator is no different than with the stock set-up.
I tested everything today, it was 85F today in Houston and I drove the car in rush hour stop and go traffic with the A\C on full blast and the engine temp never got over 180-182F based on a digital pyrometer that I have and used to record the engine temperatures. I am pleased with how this install went and hope this is helpful for others looking for an excellent cooling option.
Regards - Yasin
As we all know, you cannot buy a new radiator for these cars anymore and I confirmed this by calling several large radiator warehouses across the country. I could have had the radiator fixed, re-cored and then pressure tested locally but wanted to try something different and more compact to accommodate a new larger intercooler that I am in the process of designing.
I decided to upgrade to all aluminum 2-row Koyo Radiator designed for a 1992-2000 Civic with a B-Series swap (Koyo Part Number: C1570). There are literally hundreds of aluminum radiators that you can purchase off eBay and other vendors, but I chose Koyo and paid a few extra $$ due to their reputation, quality, finish and the fact that they are Nocolok brazed (anti-corrosive flux used during manufacturer). I paid $227.
I also purchased a Flex-A-Lite Electric Fan designed for the Civic Radiator (Part No: FLX-125), which is much powerful (1350cfm) than the OEM fan. I paid $200 for it from Summit Racing
Another reason I went with this set-up is because I had installed it on a Turbo Toyota Corolla AE86 (270whp) that I built several years ago which I punished and that car never ran hot once.
As a bonus this set-up is 11lbs lighter than the OEM set-up and only weighs 10lbs!
It took me a full weekend to install this set-up which included the time for me to fabricate the three (3) mounts for this Koyo radiator using only the factory holes on the chassis of the car. I would like to emphasize I did not drill the car at all. My moto when modifying my cars is "let the parts fit the car, not let the car fit the parts", so it is time intensive with lots planning and fiddling.
I also re-used all the factory wiring to trigger the Flex-A-Lite fan by welding a new bung on the Koyo radiator for the Mazda radiator fan switch, so no cutting or hacking wiring either. I bought a new Japanese made fan switch ($35) by Wells (Part No: SW563)
Here is the start of the project all parts laid out:
New bung TIG welded and tapped on the Koyo radiator for the factory Mazda radiator fan switch. I farmed this out to a well known local performance shop (Power Fab), as their fabrication skills are excellent:
I trimmed the brackets supplied with the Flex-A-Lite fan to make the fit "cleaner" and added a notch for the lower radiator hose:
I added some aluminum spacers at the top between radiator and the fan to assist with the fitment:
Weight of the new Koyo and Flex-A-Lite fan combo:
Weight of the OEM Mazda radiator and fan combo (21lbs) including the brackets:
Side by side:
Side By side:
You can see how much smaller and compact the Koyo radiator is compared to the factory unit, lots more room for a new intercooler
Top bracket:
Bottom bracket (left):
Bottom Right bracket:
Fabricating the brackets took me easily 7+ hours and required lots of mock up due to tight fitment and avoiding conflicts with the sway bar, the air conditioning lines and the center engine mount which all had to be avoided plus building brackets to utilize all the factory holes on the radiator support on the car. I made the brackets using 3mm thick aluminum to keep everything strong.
I was not able to re-use the top radiator hose and luckily I had a box of old hoses (another reason to keep junk around) and eventually found something that worked well. The OD of the necks on the Koyo radiator is slightly less than the factory but I cinched down the clamps accordingly.
The bottom hose is too short to reach the Koyo radiator so I used some aluminum pipe that I had lying around as a bridge and trimmed it to fit:
To connect the two wire Honda connector on the Flex-A-Lite fan to the factory harness I jumpered them by using two sections of wire with the female spade connector crimped on. When I have some time I will make a neater harness connector between the Honda fan plug and the Mazda fan harness plug (a trip to the scrap yard ).
Connecting the new fan switch installed in the Koyo radiator is no different than with the stock set-up.
I tested everything today, it was 85F today in Houston and I drove the car in rush hour stop and go traffic with the A\C on full blast and the engine temp never got over 180-182F based on a digital pyrometer that I have and used to record the engine temperatures. I am pleased with how this install went and hope this is helpful for others looking for an excellent cooling option.
Regards - Yasin
Comment