Cooling the Z Car

[evildky]

ust wandering for some of you hopped up turbo guys, what temp thermostart are you running? and are you running stock radiator and fans? my 71 stays cool enough but I'd like it to be cooler, it's topping out at about 210 degrees at autocross events, I was contemplating trying to find a 160 degree thermostat? I have twin electric fans taht run all the time, my waterpump and radiator are both new so it's gflowing just fine I would just like to keep it under 200 degrees, or am I expecting too much?

[nsrZ32]

Think you might be expecting a lot out of the stock cooling system. On most cars is decently sufficient but once you start tracking the car its working overtime. I upgraded a lot in the cooling department on my car as I wanted it to be able to stand up to anything I could throw at it but for most all of this isn't necessary. You can pretty much pick and choose a few main components. Here's what I've done with the cooling system on my Z32......-Koyo Aluminum Race Radiator-Nismo Radiator Cap (to increase system pressure and raise boiling point)-Samco Hoses and elbows-FAL BlackMagic 150 Fan w/ Painless wiring assembly and thermostat (the biggest one we could custom fit to flow a lot of CFM's)-Aluminum Radiator Hoses (to replace long sections and reduce flex under strain)-Billion 65 degree C Thermostat-Cleaned out and opened up the water passages in the motor-New OEM water pump-Redline Water Wetter in the mix

If you have any questions on cooling or need advice or anything, don't hesistate to hit me up.

[cville300zx]

Straight water with red line water wetter. Should cool you down by about 5-10 degrees. Just make sure that your car isnt hitting the boiling point for water or that its not going to freeze outside. Antifreeze doesnt keep your car cool water does. Antifreeze does nothing but really raise the boiling point of water and lower the freezing point.

[nsrZ32]

Straight water with red line water wetter. Should cool you down by about 5-10 degrees. Just make sure that your car isnt hitting the boiling point for water or that its not going to freeze outside. Antifreeze doesnt keep your car cool water does. Antifreeze does nothing but really raise the boiling point of water and lower the freezing point.

Antifreeze is anti-corrosive....water can cause corrosion. I run 70% water, 30% antifreeze, and a bottle of Redline WW.

[cville300zx]

True it is anticorrosive.

[Exar-Kun]

And a lubricant for your water pump...

Running 70/30 (water/glycol) is about my upper limit for keeping corosion and lubrication abilities in check..

redline WW is always a welcome addition.,

Cooling panels, upgraded radiator and an oil cooler (can keep your cyl. head temp down an additional 10degress in most cases) would be total bonus for both reliability and some slight power increases...

-Chet

[nsrZ32]

Agreed on the oil cooler....I have the Nismo upgrade, its huge compared to stock, and noticably dropped temps.

[evildky]

I am already running an Oil cooler, although a better one would no doubt help a bit, also I think I need to get an OE thermostat as the opening in them is larger and flows better, I am hoping to find something in a lower opening temp, viewing the datalogs the temp stays pretty close to 200 peaking at only 21 and thats with intake temps of over 220, I really gotta get an I/C sometime soon