LT1 radiator

I have an LT1 in an 83 944 with the ron davis radiator plus a remote oil cooler. Will the turbo radiator buy me anything? I'm in florida and the summers are pretty hot. The present set up hasn't been cutting it. Any comments welcome.

jim

What thermostat are you running?
Do you have a shroud?

You need air. In the front of a stock 944 theres a rather large triangle shaped boxing of sheet metal that passes from left bumper shock mount to the right. This passes right in front of the radiator and really hurts airflow to the radiator especially when you need all you can get. This wasnt a problem for the 4 cylinder but for a V8...killer deal.

What I did was cut that boxy thing outta there and replaced it with a tubular one.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I also replaced the crack head fan from ron davis with a lincoln mark VIII fan. This fan has an integral shroud that with minimal work, fit the radiator perfectly and shrouded the entire radiator's air through the fan that can pull upwards 4500 CFM!! Cost was 30 bucks at a junk yard or ebay. The drawback is that the fan, when at top speed, sounds very similar to an F-16. If you stand at the drivers or passengers door, you can feel air blowing on your feet which is weird.

With that boxy x-member cut out, a 160 t-stat and a ford shroud/fan, you should be at 190-200max all day.

I cut the old thermostat out. Just have the seal in now. I was using a 160 before - that's on the bench. I've been trying to avoid taking the front end apart. I also have dreams of hooking the air up. maybe it's inevitable. Looks like your radiator is much further forward than mine. I assume the fan wouldn't fit in mine as is. how thick is it. I tried a tuarus fan but it didn't fit. I think somebody here was selling that cross memeber. do you know who or did you make it?


Thanks for the help

jim

Phatjimmy wrote:I think somebody here was selling that cross memeber. do you know who or did you make it?

Jim,

There's a link in the nav bar at the top of the page to 944hybrids.com.
You'll find the crossmember there.

Greg

Put your T-stat back in. A 195 will do just fine. The Wahler 195(190?) has the most cross sectional area when open, of the 3 types I bought and measured. Higher GPM water pump, I have electric.
A thicker 951 style rad, tipped forward, will work well with the stock 6 blade fans and shroud. A secondary cooling system will also help alot.

Read this [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

See my secondary cooling system.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


Paul

I have a oil cooler laying down in front kinda on the lower air dam. I also have a heater coil from a corvette hooked to the heater circuit mounted near the spare under the rear. Do you think the 951 radiator will do any better than the ron davis. It's cooled off alittle now down here so it's not bad but in the summer when it's 95-100 and I'm sitting in traffic the temp goes up and never comes down.

Do you think I can get the sheet metal out and put that cross member in without taking the center panel off? The 83 has it spot welded in.

Thanks for the help

Phatjimmy wrote:I have a oil cooler laying down in front kinda on the lower air dam. I also have a heater coil from a corvette hooked to the heater circuit mounted near the spare under the rear. Do you think the 951 radiator will do any better than the ron davis. It's cooled off alittle now down here so it's not bad but in the summer when it's 95-100 and I'm sitting in traffic the temp goes up and never comes down.

Do you think I can get the sheet metal out and put that cross member in without taking the center panel off? The 83 has it spot welded in.

Thanks for the help

Regardless of the type of radiator, it is important to have the air from the nose of the car fully ducted to the radiator. If it is ducted well a bigger rad, like the RH, should be better than a stock 951. The belly pan should be installed as it will help with cooling at speed. I can't say if your rear mounted unit will help.
What oil and coolant temps are you seeing? Anything under 260(Syn oil) and 230 coolant is OK.
I think

The heater coil in the rear helped alittle. It gets pretty good airflow when moving. I'm probably under the 230 most of the time. I had the gauge pinned a few times this summer in traffic on 95. I'll probably take the front end apart and get the cross member. Like I said it's cooled off alittle so it's not as big a problem.

Thanks for the help. I'll get back if/when I do the front end and post the differance. It seems that will solve the problem

Thank again
jim

Phatjimmy wrote:I have a oil cooler laying down in front kinda on the lower air dam. I also have a heater coil from a corvette hooked to the heater circuit mounted near the spare under the rear. Do you think the 951 radiator will do any better than the ron davis. It's cooled off alittle now down here so it's not bad but in the summer when it's 95-100 and I'm sitting in traffic the temp goes up and never comes down.

Do you think I can get the sheet metal out and put that cross member in without taking the center panel off? The 83 has it spot welded in.

Thanks for the help

I have the same radiator and my car barely reaches 200* (bad air in traffic) in 110* weather. In town it's a consistant 185*. There is something wrong with your fan.

That may be. When I origanilly hooked it up I remember being really annoyed at how lowd it was. Having taken the motor out a few times now it doesn't seem to be bothering me as much. I'll look into that.


Thanks

Jim

The more powerfull fans are loud!!!
Are you using the factory dash gauge? If so, buy a stand alone unit. The factory dash should be used as a ref, if at all.

I have a dakota digital fan controller that has a digital readout that was close to the readout on the computor interface but its buried behind the radio now. I kinda calibrated to the dash gage. I'll have to play around alittle to get it out or hook the laptop up to the car to get a good reading. Ill check the fan. I've had to connect and disconnect the wiring alot and don't remember how I did it.

Thanks for the help i'll keep you posted may take alittle time to get at it.

jim

Phatjimmy wrote:I have a dakota digital fan controller that has a digital readout that was close to the readout on the computor interface but its buried behind the radio now. I kinda calibrated to the dash gage. I'll have to play around alittle to get it out or hook the laptop up to the car to get a good reading. Ill check the fan. I've had to connect and disconnect the wiring alot and don't remember how I did it.

Thanks for the help i'll keep you posted may take alittle time to get at it.

jim

Don't you have an LT1? Why aren't you using the stock factory PCM fan wires???? What does Dakota know about keeping things cool? It's always cold there.

I like the late S2 cabriolet radiator, it is bigger than the turbo. Otherwise a good quality radiator that will fit in the stock location.
I had decent luck with temp control with the Ron Davis radiator until it started leaking out of almost every weld. Griffin and C&R both good luck with.
As stated in the previous posts air intake size on the 944 is an important factor. Most of the 20 year old AC cores that are in front of the radiator are beat to $#** and mostly plugged up, thus restricting airflow. No matter how good or high dollar you new radiator is if it is blocked by the AC core it will not cool.
As a matter of course on the 944 or any 20 year old car many cooling problems can be solved by replacing the condenser core. Last one I bought for a 944 was around $150, I think.
One problem I discovered early on was removing the chassis heat shield on the right side. Discovered that on some dyno tuning. The reflector on the right side produced some funky fuel trims.
Again as stated earlier keep the underbody trays, if they are missing buy them. I found on a track car they can make a 20 plus degree difference.
By all means get a good oil cooler, and not a $39 one you strap in front of the radiator. Plenty of places with nice air flow on the NA and the turbo. On the NA right below the left headlight, you can to a little trimming in the bumper cover opening and move some air.

944v8inDFW wrote:I like the late S2 cabriolet radiator, it is bigger than the turbo. Otherwise a good quality radiator that will fit in the stock location.
I had decent luck with temp control with the Ron Davis radiator until it started leaking out of almost every weld. Griffin and C&R both good luck with.
As stated in the previous posts air intake size on the 944 is an important factor. Most of the 20 year old AC cores that are in front of the radiator are beat to $#** and mostly plugged up, thus restricting airflow. No matter how good or high dollar you new radiator is if it is blocked by the AC core it will not cool.
As a matter of course on the 944 or any 20 year old car many cooling problems can be solved by replacing the condenser core. Last one I bought for a 944 was around $150, I think.
One problem I discovered early on was removing the chassis heat shield on the right side. Discovered that on some dyno tuning. The reflector on the right side produced some funky fuel trims.
Again as stated earlier keep the underbody trays, if they are missing buy them. I found on a track car they can make a 20 plus degree difference.
By all means get a good oil cooler, and not a $39 one you strap in front of the radiator. Plenty of places with nice air flow on the NA and the turbo. On the NA right below the left headlight, you can to a little trimming in the bumper cover opening and move some air.

I bought the "450hp" oil cooler from summit and mounted it betwwen the 2 bumper supports behind the bumper. Works well.