Alternate radiator options

[Destrto]

Hey guys, had a quick question that I couldn't find an answer to from searching the forum. Maybe I missed it, it's possible.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any alternate radiator options that are thicker than the stock ones for our cars? And what I mean more specifically, is a radiator originally meant for another vehicle, that would still fit our cars.

You know, like, how for the people going with an E-fan swap sometimes grab the fans off of a Nissan Maxima or Ford Taurus SHO, since they seem to match the mounting holes on our radiators. Are there any radiators any of you have found that would be thicker than our stock models and still fit where are our stock location is?

I'm just looking for some insight before moving on to looking at the more expensive performance radiators for our cars.

[NolimitZ32]

I used to run a 99 Volvo S80 oem e-fan on my TT which almost fit (I had to do a little trimming) so i assume the radiator would fit as well, at least dimension-wise. You have a little more play with a NA since you don't have to worry about clearance for the charge piping. Ultimately you would be better off with getting a performance unit built for the Z32 or getting a custom one built if funds allow.

[Destrto]

I used to run a 99 Volvo S80 oem e-fan on my TT which almost fit (I had to do a little trimming) so i assume the radiator would fit as well, at least dimension-wise. You have a little more play with a NA since you don't have to worry about clearance for the charge piping. Ultimately you would be better off with getting a performance unit built for the Z32 or getting a custom one built if funds allow.

That's along the info I was looking for. Other make and model vehicles that may work as far as what fits in the same space. There's got to be other stock style radiators that are thicker than the .75" one like the N/A

[LIBRILZ]

honestly there isn't any point unless you track the car, the fan on the VG moves a lot of air and even though the rad is kinda on the thin side, it is decently wide and such

I used think it was a worthwhile upgrade, but unless you need a new radiator I would stick with what you have

[Destrto]

In all fairness, I was looking for those that had found alternate options.

I did, however, find out that an old post stating that an electric fan from a maxima would fit right up to a stock radiator, was mistaken. Because I just got one in the mail and it doesn't match up at all without modifying the mounting points and the lip on either side to mount to the sides of the radiator.

So that'll make even more work when I get time to make it fit.

[NolimitZ32]

I guarantee you 100% that no radiator or fan from any other car will fit perfectly and without some amount of work and trimming, and massaging, and making new brackets.

[Destrto]

I guarantee you 100% that no radiator or fan from any other car will fit perfectly and without some amount of work and trimming, and massaging, and making new brackets.

The old thread I read through mentioned that it was a direct fit. But that was obviously not the case. I have since gone back to the stock clutch fan until I find a better wiring option for the E-fan.

[NolimitZ32]

Can I ask why you want an e-fan? I ran an e-fan for some time and went back to the factory manual fan.

[Destrto]

Can I ask why you want an e-fan? I ran an e-fan for some time and went back to the factory manual fan.

It was just to give me something to work on and try on the car. I'm used to my old 3000GT breaking down every paycheck. And this one doesn't need anything currently. So I get antsy with project stuff to change or modify on the car.

i was actually able to get the E-fan to fit pretty well. The only issue I ran into, was that for whatever reason, I couldn't get the fans to run at 12 volts through the toggle switch. Off the battery directly, they ran at 12 volts just fine. But not through the toggle.

I also could not for the life of me figure out how to get them to work through any relay on the car, so that they would turn on with ignition and turn off with the key out. I tried both ignition relays already in the car, and a standalone relay. Couldn't get that working.

[NolimitZ32]

My suggestion to you would be to leave the fan alone and screw with aesthetic stuff if you have an itch. To have an e-fan perform on par with the OEM unit you need to have a shroud sized and sealed to the radiator, also the e-fan will complicate the already cramped access at the front of the engine. Just speaking from experience.

[Destrto]

My suggestion to you would be to leave the fan alone and screw with aesthetic stuff if you have an itch. To have an e-fan perform on par with the OEM unit you need to have a shroud sized and sealed to the radiator, also the e-fan will complicate the already cramped access at the front of the engine. Just speaking from experience.

The E-fan I used was already a pretty snug fit to the radiator. It was a set that had the whole built in shroud to it and all that jazz. It was just that the fans wouldn't run at a full 12 volts with the toggle I had. If I could find a way to correct that, and have them run only when ignition is on, I think they would have worked pretty well.

As far as access to the front of the engine bay, it was a bit of a wash for me compared to the clutch fan setup. More access to the belts and such with the E-fan. More access to the radiator side with the stock clutch fan.


As far as cosmetics to fix up or change, the only pieces that i would even want to change would be the interior where it's that pleather material. It's peeling away, and I don't know how to fix that without replacing it.

[DCaff300ZX]

Personally I am with NoLimit here as in my experience researching, I've never seen a good reason to go e-fan and a ton or reasons not to with the issues of fitment and actual performance the main issues. Rad air flow and cooling is achieved from a lot of different things coming together just right, as NoLimit hints at with the shrouding and flow comment, all of which takes time and experience to make it all work correctly. I've seen several builds on youtube where getting the airflow correct on swaps and such takes nearly as much time and effort as the turbo cooling setups, and sometimes more time/effort.
The issues with the Z32 cooling do not come from a lack of cooling equipment, it's a failure of one of the units involved and/or an overall cooling issue where pressure builds and destroys the rad seals and allows air into the system, and higher operating temps. Fixing the problem is the solution, not over-cooling it- my point is that getting better cooling via airflow mods and such is possible with the OEM system and that take it beyond what is needed, and for far cheaper/easier than swapping on some foreign stuff and cobbling it together to work and with unknown airflow characteristics.
When I had a similar situation as you (itch to scratch, and Z money to do it with) I spent it on maintenance jobs such as new injector connections/etc., and replacing EVERY stinking stupid corroded electrical item in the engine bay...a LOT of them to be done, and the results are generally awesome.
Have fun!

[Destrto]

Personally I am with NoLimit here as in my experience researching, I've never seen a good reason to go e-fan and a ton or reasons not to with the issues of fitment and actual performance the main issues. Rad air flow and cooling is achieved from a lot of different things coming together just right, as NoLimit hints at with the shrouding and flow comment, all of which takes time and experience to make it all work correctly. I've seen several builds on youtube where getting the airflow correct on swaps and such takes nearly as much time and effort as the turbo cooling setups, and sometimes more time/effort.
The issues with the Z32 cooling do not come from a lack of cooling equipment, it's a failure of one of the units involved and/or an overall cooling issue where pressure builds and destroys the rad seals and allows air into the system, and higher operating temps. Fixing the problem is the solution, not over-cooling it- my point is that getting better cooling via airflow mods and such is possible with the OEM system and that take it beyond what is needed, and for far cheaper/easier than swapping on some foreign stuff and cobbling it together to work and with unknown airflow characteristics.
When I had a similar situation as you (itch to scratch, and Z money to do it with) I spent it on maintenance jobs such as new injector connections/etc., and replacing EVERY stinking stupid corroded electrical item in the engine bay...a LOT of them to be done, and the results are generally awesome.
Have fun!

Yea i definitely feel that the general consensus is to just simply not mess with what already works. It wasn't that I was having trouble keeping the car cool with the stock setup. I just wanted to use swapping to the E-fan as a project and see how it would work.

I would really like to re-do those interior pieces though with something that doesn't look like it's falling off, haha. But I'll have to do some searching around for alternatives to that. I have looked through most of the harness connectors that are within sight for corrosion, and so far they all seem to be ok, minus a few connectors that have those metal clips that are missing, or the connectors with the slip on bracket that's broken.

Doing any of that would be a slow process, however, because this is my daily currently. So I don't get much more than a day or so to look over anything. And all my projects usually need to be working in under 24 hours so that i can get back to work the next day.