Here is a few preview pictures of the 3G TL radiator that we have done down at the shop ready for install tomorrow morning. This is the first one for prototype testing. The core is MUCH larger than stock...will hold more fluid as a whole...and should perform superior to the stock unit. Not to mention the bling factor.....looks good!

 

wow it sure looks good. So what can we gain from this?

 

Well...we will soon find out! I expect cooler operating temps as a whole...resulting in less heat sync to the intake and upper end. But again...only testing will tell. So what can we gain from this...knowledge my friend!! Just sharing it with my friends here at AZ as it develops. If gains or some advantage is realized....you will soon see them on the market under our own brand. Otherwise....it will just be another one of my research projects....but obviously I expect some advantage to be realized or I would not have expended the time and effort into developing the idea.

Mikey

 

That there my friend is some coin, looks smokin!!! My griffin is that size in my race car and that keeps temps uder 170 in 100 degree days. Oh yeah it make 900 hp on n20 Great to see it coming through for you mikey. Your motors gonna look hot even without a s/c, but..... if you polished one up and put it on there... HAHAHA

 

Ya....I am working on that supercharger....but when it gets there finally....its gonna hava a super cool spot to sit....no doubt! And yep....these are not cheap to make!! Overall cost would depend to some degree how many are made at a time for economies of scale....but even then they are likely to be expensive.

 

Do you plan on running the fans off of a fan controller or from the factory relays? You are putting a lower t-stat in also correct? By increasing the capacity of the cooling system all your doing is prolonging the time it takes to come to operating temperature. Operating temperature is determined by the t-stat opening and closing allowing the radiator to cool the warmer coolant from the engine, so if the cooling fans are still coming on as intended by the factory then you will still run the same temps. Also dont bother looking at the factory temp gauge as it only has three reading on it, cold, operating temp, and hot. There is no inbetween on the gauge regardless of temps.

 

any weight comparisons to stock? what kind of fans are you using?

you might take longer in cold temps in winter to get up to operating temp, shouldnt be a major issue. depends how much larger you made it.

can i get one for my cl-s? hehe.

 

looks good i want one whenever its for sale

 

I will keep you guys updated.....

 

Hey Mike, is the radiator wider than the stock radiator? You said it is larger. If you are planning on going S/C it can't be wider as you won't have enough room to fit the upper coolant hose due to restricted space with the blower.

 

Yes...it is wider than OEM. I see what you are talking about on the upper hose....but they had a picture of the application WITH the supercharger fit before fabrication started as well as an OEM radiator...so it should work. What they really want to do is to change the places where the hoses come out of the radiator altogether. They are on top of each other....they want to move em to different sides of the rad. for better cooling. (ie...top at one side...bottom on the other) After this one is fit...we will see if it needs tweaked, ect. and what may need to be done further.

 

Great job and thanks for the update. Please keep us all posted of when this will be available. Thanks.

 

Ok...its now installed and I have picked up the car for initial road testing. So far so good. As for some answers to the questions....lighter weight....nope....there is more to this unit. The stock unit has small plastic jugs and epoxied aluminum fin sections, this has dual core full aluminum cores with much larger aluminum jugs that are NOT cheaply epoxied. Yes...we are currently running on factory relays with dual high performance fans. Basically...what we can hope to gain here is more efficient cooling traits. As the supercharger suffers from heat sync probs and due to the location of the rad hoses...we suffer great heat buildup as a whole. This greater capacity should increase the cooling traits of the motor as a whole as well as the HP fans pull WAY MORE air though the rad unit than OEM stock fans do. There are more fan blades in the fan and it is HP fan units also that are faster....therefore....it will cool the water in the radiator more efficiently and faster....meaning you should be exchanging COOLER water as a whole into the motor when the thermostat opens up. On very hot days or very hot conditions when the thermostat opens up and stays open....then this unit will really perform as with a dual core full aluminum unit, its going to be FAR more efficient.

As far as fan relays: Yes....this can be adapted to a manual fan switch fairly easy so you could in effect...run the fans all the time if thats what you wanted to do. Thats not a big deal at all. You would then be in control of when the fans come on if thats what you wanted to do. Or another relay could also be installed to make it trip earlier...thats possible too if thats what you wanted to do. Right now...I am just running off factory relays though and factory thermostat....but I will change out the thermostat myself later at home, which will in effect...lower the operating temp as a whole with a more efficient rad unit...which should be good all around. Bling factor is good too...looks very nice in there. We are going to look into a supercharger application too...one totally different. We will relocate the upper hose altogether to the other side of the rad (passenger side) which will even make the rad even more efficient and get rid of that pesky hose problem at the top hose with the supercharger. That just cant be good to have that hose so close to the supercharger unit. Move it to the passenger side...we are all set! No more hose problem and better cooling to boot!

 

What can we expect as far as price?

 

That is still being determined and to some degree would depend upon how many people would want one. More people = less cost to some degree due to economies of scale. I would expect something in the range of $875...but as I mentioned above...that would depend upon if we cut out the custom aluminum fan shroud...change fan suppliers, ect. We kind of need to find out how many people would be interested in buying in first...

 

Here is a few pics of the rad installed....

 

I took the top rad shroud off so you could see it better.....

 

Dude where do you work? Carbon fiber engine covers...aluminum radiators...what next polyuerathane (s/c) body kits. Nice to see you are step ahead for the 3G's...it is appreciated.

 

Thanks for the compliments. Next project is.....aluminum lower front air deflector. I hate that damn cheezy black plastic thing....plus...at VERY high speeds....it flexes a bit too much for my flavor.

 

Hey Mike, You might want to look into adding the Spoon Radiator cap and a new T-stat. Also add the mugen fan switch. It will help to keep it super cool with that new radiator.

Its look good, and keep up the good work.

Jason

 

wait, you don't have a supercharger........... I don't get why you need a bigger radiator

 

All in good time my friend!

 

Yes....I was looking into that the other day and just havent ordered it yet. Thanks for the tip....cause your right...that should also help.

 

preparation and planning

 

he should flip the spout so the overflow line is facing the overflow tank, all that work and it just looks kinda ghetto like that lol.

 

Yep....that is already in the production design. This is a first, one off....you are gonna run into things like this. As far as looking ghetto....you dont even see the overflow tube that much when the shroud is on...so I just told em to leave it alone and we changed the drawings and specs.

 

I cant edit...so I have to repost...

You know what....your right! That one inch of hose looks so ghetto....I should have never done this project and should remove this thing right now...Shame on me for trying to develop new parts...!

 

^-You dont have to take everything personally. I'm sure most members appreciate your efforts. While I would have phrased the critique a little more eloquently the poster makes a good point - it would look better flipped around.

 

Very nice Michael. I wonder if that radiator will fit on a S/C TL due to blower being right there..........

 

It should fit fine looking at the drawing and comparing it to the pics I have of SC install from the video posted here on AZ and stock measurements of the OEM radiator....but only time and some more $ will definately tell. We can always relocate the top hose too...thats not a big problem. Looking forward to getting the SC upgrade so we can play with it a bit more.

 

Specs have already been changed for that. I just thought to call it ghetto was a bit incorrect/overly strong. Is it perfect the first time out....nope...but not far off from what we were looking for!

 

Whatever, ppl are going to have negative comments, like subinf said best to just brush your shoulders off.... keep up the good work benz!

 

From past experience I know nothing is right the first time out. Glad it that was identified for the second draft. The radiator looks awesome. Keep up the good work.

 

if anyone can appreciate this post it's me, and i don't even have a TL, i was just joking and expected you to say the final production would be flipped. if you saw my car and the things done to it underneath, you might laugh. i don't always have the professional answer, but the 'get it done' answer. well, enjoy, and hope to see more custom products.

 

Funny....I got a bit worked up over this back when....last week I picked up the OEM radiator finally (been at shop for months) I noticed something just as I was setting it down on the garage floor at home....check your OEM rad....thats the same side the overflow tube comes out of that one too? Weird. I will still flip it to the other side on subsequent builds....but cant believe ACURA put it on the wrong side?

 

We will soon find out as it is getting installed right now over at the shop. So far so good!!

 

I think that it looks good facing the wrong way. It goes around and ends up in the same place. With the cover on it looks great.

Props for doing something new and paying the $$$ to get it done right.

 

So anyone saling his old radiator

 

whose making the radiator again? i'm getting one from griffin very soon.

 

Sure...I have two OEM radiators I would sell. If you are interested PM me and I will list it for sale in the private sale section. One brand new (used for model measurements) and the OEM from my car.