Fluidyne Half Size Rad doesn't fit. 91 CRX

Okay. I bought a Fluidyne half size rad for my CRX that was advertised as being for the CRX. Wow, I should have done some research :)


Anyway, the rad doesn't fit. First of all, the bottom mounts don't line up, of course. It's half the size :) (I knew this and was prepared to move them).

Also, the top mount will have to be fabbed or one can be taken from a 5th gen civic and all is good. (Again, I knew this)

The real bitch is that the Fluidyne radiator is quite a bit taller than the stock, so the hood wont close (I didn't know this).

So, I did some measurements. The hood will close if you remove a small portion of the hood support that is tacked to the underside of the hood. You have to remove portions above the rad cap and the mounting support. Or, you could shave down the mount a bit and it would clear.

This is what I did:

Moved the bottom mounts to the correct position. The rad is positioned toward the passenger side of the car, close to the battery. (Making room for the turbo :) )

Used foam that had adhesive on one side. I put the foam where the radiator might touch the condenser or where the rad touched the upper cross member where the hood latch is.

I drilled holes through the stock fan cover to use zip ties to mount it to the rad. I also cut out a grove in the bottom of the fan cover to allow the engine mount to clear the bottom. I then made sure the fan wouldn't touch the engine mount. Also, the fan has to be mounted sideways. Otherwise, it won't fit between the upper and lower rad outlet/inlet. At least, it wont fit unless you cut off the fan mounting points.

I drilled a hole for the upper mount into the cross member. Threaded it, and bamm, good to go. Shaved the mounting point down on the rad so it would clear the hood.

Last thing. You have to cut a hole in the support brace in the hood to allow the rad cap to clear. The hole isn't big, but to make it look good, you need to measure exactly where the rad cap meets the brace. I used a dremel cutting wheel then went through about 15 sanding wheels. Looks good, then covered it with a coat of high temp black paint (my car is black).


At this point, my hood closes, it looks pretty good, and I don't have to worry about the hood flying open (I drove the car a few days with the hood not fully closed).

The car runs good, doesn't get hot (I live in texas where it's a good 95 degrees or more here at the moment).

When doing this setup I suggest a real water temp gauge. The stock gauge has a redline of about 260. Really, you don't want to cross 230.

Jim

Sounds good. Can you show us some pics? I'd like to see this custom job.

One question, not sure cuz I've only owned one crx. Is the fan itself plastic? Mine is but may be aftermarket flexlight... very small very light.

Also, I drove from NJ to SC when I first got my car with the hood not fully closed all the time because I didn't know that the little spring release in the catch that kept sticking (so the hole to latch the hood shut was completely open) and had to stick my finger underneath the support to pull the thing back. Now it's second nature for me... haha...

sounds like it might have been a 5th gen radiator; same mods have to be done to the stock EG/Del Sol radiators to fit them into CRX's. i think C&R is the only company that makes half-size radiators specifically for the CRXs called the Shorty(?).

I just did a Full size KOYO Radi swap and had similar problems but only with the fan mounts. A/C Fan i removed cuz i new i was taking it out later, so i removed thoughs mounts and the bottom mounts for the engine cooling fan but left the top ones. suprizingly enough that was all i had to do, oh yeah i had to cut out a notch on the fan housing to allow the O2 sensor to clear for replacement. But damn it looks nice under there now. I would post pix but it seems i would have to have some sort of website to load the pix from. Unless someone knows how to post them otherwise.

thats why most people just lean the radiator back some and fab up a top mount for it and it works good

Sounds good. Can you show us some pics? I'd like to see this custom job.

One question, not sure cuz I've only owned one crx. Is the fan itself plastic? Mine is but may be aftermarket flexlight... very small very light.


Yep, plastic :)

Also, np, I'l post some pics. I'l grab them after I post pics showing what some jerk did to me yesterday.


thats why most people just lean the radiator back some and fab up a top mount for it and it works good

Ya, I've seen the leaning radiator trick. I was gonna go that route but I would have had to buy a new fan.