Ultimate S13 raditator support mod! 5" from crankshaft with RB25!

[Fibre guy]

I bet some of you guys have been thinking about doing this for some time.I was having cooling issues with my RB under load and just decided to do something out of the ordinary.I don't mind if anyone wants to copy my radiator mount just please be sure to measure correctly and make nice strong welds.

I cut all the rinky dinky metal stock sheet metal away and replaced it with stronger .5" and 2.5" tubing. Overall I only measured a 2 lb increase over the stock mount. (That's with all the metal AND welds)I can stand on it and bob around without any cricking noises or flexing. 167lbs.

Also, I'm going to be making carbon fiber duct work to cover it all up.

So after LOTS of measuring and cutting and welding and remeasuring and a little bit of painting I ended up with this:

Radiator: Mishimoto dual coreFans: DUAL I30 electric (same calsonic fan blades and motor as altima fans)Hose: Cut stock KA upper and lower hoseWiring: +185*F HIGH speed, -175*F low speed key on.Total cost of metal: $25

Test fitting and tack welding:

Paint and assembling:

Whoa! 5" from crank pulley with an RB25!

Without fans higher shot:

Dual I30 fans in:

Massive B&M oil cooler in:

Hood closed, all done:
Modified by Fibre guy at 1:11 PM 10/3/2009

[S13k]

That's actually pritty cool, also scary, the thought of cutting in the middle of the rad support

[SupahTyTeTwoFowty_y0]

that looks GREAT man! any pics of the fab process?

[Fibre guy]

I replace it with a much beefier piece.The old support bar only had 8 .25" spot welds holding it in.The new support bar has 10" of weld bead.

[Fibre guy]

that looks GREAT man! any pics of the fab process?

I tend to forget about pics when I'm concentrated on working, sorry.If there are any specific pics you'd like just ask and I'll try and snap a few.

[Fibre guy]

Just a bump on how these fans run...Cooling: At Idle my 185* on 175* off thermo-switch never pops on, even with 3k revving! The fans pull hard enough on low to suck my hand into the intercooler and the grill opening from 5 in away. Might have to add a screen to keep large debris out. These definably flow more than dual flex-a-lite fans.

Voltage: I'm running the fans with a 20A low and a 10A high fuse. There is not a large voltage drain for the high since the fans are already spinning. The low fans work with a 15A but if the relay clicks on and off really fast it blows and I didn't have any more 15A's.Also, with my sil projector lights on they don't dim or flicker if I turn the fans on low or high.

[meet07]

i too really like this idea. I think ill be doing them thing next year but im going with out the hood lacth. Ill probably do hood pins and a fiber glass hood.

[Fibre guy]

I like the latch because you can only open it from the inside.People being able see the intercooler and oil cooler is already enough for someone to want the 5 finger discount.

[GTR PrYdE]

Pretty sweet, good job!

[White Comet]

looks really good, but am i missing it or is the purpose to move the rad farther away from the motor?

[mRodiek]

looks really good, but am i missing it or is the purpose to move the rad farther away from the motor?

I believe he was simply trying to show there is still plenty of room.

I dig it.

[White Comet]

ok so whats the benefits of this then?

[Coeur de lion]

Nice job dude!

[S13Teddy]

Rad!

Haha.... get it?

[mRodiek]

ok so whats the benefits of this then?

Strength

[Fibre guy]

There are lots of benefits. For starters I originally did this to move the radiator forward 3". I can fit the I30 fans (same as maxima) with plenty of room for the air to travel instead of just hitting the block and making an air dam.Cooling is a big issue when things are cramped like with an RB and you can't fit any type of useful fan in.It is worlds apart from the old support in strength with a relatively equal weight.

I call it a win, it's worth every penny.

[carps13guy]

looks good man. im all about home fab jobs that dont look hacked/half assed. it looks really strong, the only thing i can think negatively about it is if you do slap into a wall it might be too strong and buckle the shock towers. but none the less, nice fab. i like the integrated stock hood latch

[rb25det250sx]

i wanna know where you mounted the bottem of the rad, if you moved it back 3 inches?

[Kalypso]

very nice!

[carps13guy]

i wanna know where you mounted the bottem of the rad, if you moved it back 3 inches?

read the thread! he moved the RAD farther forward because the motor was too close to the rad & he couldn't fit an aftermarket RAD & electric fans. its prob mounted to the 2.5" bar that he says he used but is not visible in the side angle pics he has.

[Kalypso]

you should add some hooks for the harness, and brackets for the radiator...

[rb25det250sx]

read the thread! he moved the RAD farther forward because the motor was too close to the rad & he couldn't fit an aftermarket RAD & electric fans. its prob mounted to the 2.5" bar that he says he used but is not visible in the side angle pics he has.

i read the dam thing. and yeah i know he moved it. but i wanna know how he moved it farter back, and still mounted the bottem and used the hood latch, so the Rad was still up and down, and not tilted sideways.

Just sitting here thinking about it seems almost impossible.

[Fibre guy]

i wanna know where you mounted the bottem of the rad, if you moved it back 3 inches?

Good question. The large radiator support bar was moved forward along with the radiator. Since it was moved forward I had to make new heavy duty brackets for the tension arm braces out of 1/4 bar steel. All I did was remove a little notch to the brackets and the radiator sits nice and snug. I'll try and snap some pics for you.

you should add some hooks for the harness, and brackets for the radiator...

The harness routes underneath the fans, the harness was only there during mock up. There are plastic harness clips built into the fan shroud. Normally they are on the top but since I flipped the fans so the larger one would be on the side that has both rad in & out they ended up on the bottom.The zip ties are temporary. I have an awesome-o carbon cover in the works to make a permanent brace.

[Ghast]

Very Very Well Done

[rb25det250sx]

okay, sounds awesome. very nicely done too by the way.

[steve s14]

You've got skills! Very good work man.

[Flicktitty]

that looks pretty cool.

have you noticed if the temps have dropped at all?

[Fibre guy]

that looks pretty cool.

have you noticed if the temps have dropped at all?

Lets just say that any type of overheating is a thing of the past.

[Flicktitty]

Lets just say that any type of overheating is a thing of the past.

awesome, thanks, i might have to try this over the winter.

[meet07]

I ended up doing the same thing to my front end like I said I was. Here is the link to my build:

meet07-450-500-whp-build-finally-is-her ... 85-30.html