badjuju Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I currently have an intercooler in front of my rad, and after having to cut the holes bigger to fit my 2.5" IC piping, I think that the whole rad support, top to bottom, looks like ass. Has anyone attempted this that would like to drop some knowledge? I am comfortable that I can complete this project, but I thought I'd throw up a flare and see if anyone has some reason why I oughtn't do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raven12 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 What do you have in mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Are you planning on taking the rad support out and starting from scratch? That would allow for whatever you want and will be a vast Improvement over stock stiffness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 What does it look like now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsonian Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I saved these pics of other members rides, which might be of visual help if you do decide to fabricate your own rad support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktm Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I currently have an intercooler in front of my rad, and after having to cut the holes bigger to fit my 2.5" IC piping, I think that the whole rad support, top to bottom, looks like ass. Has anyone attempted this that would like to drop some knowledge? I am comfortable that I can complete this project, but I thought I'd throw up a flare and see if anyone has some reason why I oughtn't do this. I am trying to figure out why you cut your radiator support for 2.5-in. piping. I ran 2.5-in. piping for my IC (on my old turbo setup) which was in front of the radiator and did not have to cut anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 I cut it because i was 19 or 20 at the time and was more concerned with getting it up and running. I'm going through and ironing out my fuckups now. I was thinking more plate than your pics, Nelsonian, but that's because I hadn't considered doing tubes. that looks fanfrickintastic! That's about what I'm thinking now. Thanks for the input! I'll post updates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 "I cut it because i was 19 or 20 at the time and was more concerned with getting it up and running. I'm going through and ironing out my fuckups now." Hahaha! You mean "the fat old white dudes" might have been on to something? LOL Nelsonian has the right photos... I have seen people use stuff from strut bar braces to nice boxed tubing. Run a strut bar on your towers, triangulated to the firewall and the sway bar mounts first...then you can literally cut everything off in front and replace it with FRP as all your torsionals are taken care of already. In fact most of those shown are likely grossly overbuilt from aesthetics, rather than a functional requirement of stiffening if the strut towers are properly braced. I've seen cars in Japan with 10mm tubing (think Maserati Birdcage) in front holding up components like FMIC, Rad, oil cooler, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 FRP? And if I just build a triangle between the firewall and strut towers, I can just cut all that crap out in front and run whatever I want? And yeah, the fat old white dudes were right. ... This time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Fiber reinforced plastic. There really isn't any load transferred across the radiator support. Once the strut tower to firewall to frame is braced/triangulated you can run whatever you want. All it is supporting is the hood hinges, grill, radiator, and in your case intercooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You will find...more often than not, when coming to going fast and structural integrity, the fat old white dudes got it nailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 There really isn't any load transferred across the radiator support. Look at the upper frame horns going from the cowl to the core support. The core support is one end of the box that's the engine compartment and even with STBs the core support adds to the rigidity of the front end of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domzs Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I saved these pics of other members rides, which might be of visual help if you do decide to fabricate your own rad support. Yours looks awesome ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I stand corrected, as long as you box the portion you cut out you can run whatever bracketry you want to your new core supports replacements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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