salival

Hi Guys, bit of an update.. I ended up selling my rb20det and i bought a rb25det instead.. so I've kind of given up on this.. I think i'll just finish welding this, test it and sell it locally.. Anyway, pics!

Hi SK, Wondering how you ended up getting on with the chinese plenum? I can make my own (As per photos in Fabrication forum) but this would be a crapload easier, especially since I can make test plates to pressure test/weld leaks my self. Would one of these flow just as well as a greddy/so forth?

Ah, but you see.. there is a flaw in your plan.. I love welds

I'm not using trumpets on this particular one.. I've welded inside/outside of each runner where it meets the backing plate.. I'm going to machine a radius on each runner so it merges nicely..

Hiya, I'll pressure test it to 25psi.. but flow test? no.. It's only a poxy rb20.. I mainly want it for the look and the reduced pipe work.. I do all this work on saturdays at my work.. so it's costing me nothing (including materials)

Hi guys, After my radiator build and my surge tank build, I thought i'd show you the plenum i'm building, or what I have so far atleast. It's an RB20DE bottom half with the runners cut off, I've then welded in 50.8x3mm wall 55mm long extensions then welded on 5mm plate as my backing.. I haven't had much time to do much else yet, but I'll get onto the rest soon.. but I thought id give you some tease pictures.. I cleaned the plenum up, wire buffed the gasket goop off and used the chemical I normally use to clean alloy with.. Before welding it all together, I preheated it in our big bake oven to 380deg c for 15 minutes to stop any potential warpage. Anyway, onto the porn.. As my last posts of the stuff i've made, comments, complaints or anything.. Thanks, Scott

Higher pressure caps will find the weakness in your cooling system.. either old heater hoses will pop, or the top tank will or turbo lines will or a heater core will leak.. As far as i'm concerned if the radiator has never been serviced and you put a higher pressure cap on it.. you're asking for trouble.. sure it may work fine, but its only a matter of time..

Hi guys, thought i'd share my .25 cents. I make alloy radiators for a living and service radiators.. Stick with 0.9 bar, if you're having over heating issues and need to go up in pressure, something isnt right.. The reason bass junky's radiator exploded was he would have had an old top tank on the radiator, these are always seeing the hottest water and if the motor is overheated at some stage steam kills the plastic in the tanks.. after years of hot/cold/hot/cold/steam cycling, the plastic gives away.. it's a simple fault.. some radiators being cheaper to fix/repair obviously. I have an R32 GTS w/ rb20det in my skyline with a standard R32 GTST radiator that has been rodded out and a new top tank on it.. I can sit on the spot for hours with NO overheating problems and NO radiator-exploding-on-skid-pan problems re: bass junky. Also, alot of the "greddy/trust/nismo" radiator caps are rebranded denso caps.. I will only ever use a genuine denso cap for my cars (0.9bar)

Hi, I make radiators for a living out of alloy, I'd never do this.. especially in a performance car.. The radiator needs to be rubber mounted (which it obviously will still be) but the engine/radiator needs to move independently.. which this would not allow or would severely hamper.. Stick with standard rubber hoses.. if you want bling, buy a ford falcon.

Hi, Common problem.. are you sure you don't have the rubber boot around the wrong way? Puzzled me for ages...

Hey, I installed a Daiken Excedy HD clutch into my skyline (R32 gts w/ rb20det in it) when I first installed it the clutch was fully bled but would NOT engage gears.. I took it to several clutch shops who all agreed the clutch was fully bled but the clutch plate is just "too" thick to start with.. After about 1500km of gear crunching the clutch is a breeze to drive with no issues.. although, the damage to my synchros is another story.. I can EASILY hook 3rd gear and the car is sideways now, the clutch is a dream.. but I t hink the clutch plate was too thick to begin with.. or spacing the pressure plate out would have helped. just my observations, may be wrong.. Thanks, Scott

I live in my beanie.. If you had ginger hair, you would, too! In reguards to the spal fan.. I would think that's a problem with the fan.. the base should be higher than the blades for that reason.. design flaw?

Hi, Every skyline I have had has had this exact problem.. take the switch apart and "emery" the copper contacts.. it's just a buildup of dirt/scum on them.. works a treat! Thanks, Scott

Heh, I don't smile, much! I dont know to be honest.. was a thursday afternoon.. I must say.. when I got the radiator back from the polishers I *had* to show everyone at work.. was so excited!

Greetings Roy, long time listener, gimme your rb20+td06 We can pretty much only source US cores (which are predominantly cross flow) so I use these, we generally don't have any issues with them apart from they are thick with a tight fin pitch, so without proper ducting they are hard to get air through.. I would personally like to go a 42 thick top to bottom radiator for a street car.. but I can't get any "decent" cores.. we have a shipment coming soon that should fix this problem, but till then I have to stick with these.. Alot of American/Euro manufactures use cross flow with great success, so I don't see why it would be a problem.. especially with the pipes on the right hand side it lends its self quite nicely to the cross flow arrangement. Thanks, Scott p.s offtopic, but Roy.. what BOV do you use in your videos of you at "sandown" I believe? (PI 31-3-07 2.2.avi PI 31-3-07 4.avi)

We use 2mm for all our alloy radiators (tanks/sides) Next one I make i'll take pictures of it being produced.. just finished an oil cooler for a customer today, we make them out of 6mm plate for the tanks.. Non turbos don't have a thermo boss in the bottom tanks but the turbos do, identified by the green plug, I think this was used as well as what you said for switching the A/C fan on in the turbo models? All my non turbos have had no thermo fans apart from the standard viscious fan on them, I love the viscious fans, but dislike the load they place.. but for airflow they can't be beaten IMO..

Greetings, The temp sender I use nowhere connects to the ECU. This goes to an external relay to switch the fans.. I've never used standard wiring to control fans in any of my skylines (I've only had GTS's) The senders I use are for instance: on at 98deg off at 91deg.. From memory the Nissan one is 70ish degrees. Thanks, Scott

Hi, This is a custom core, 560x463x57.. I use OEM ones occasionally if I cant find something for a specific job. I use the temp sender in the top because I use OEM honda ones, you can get differing temperatures for them, I'd prefer it came on when it was "HOT" and not the "COLD" side.. if you get what I mean.. Everyone has their own idea on where it should be placed.. I see alot of manufactures having them in the bottom and alot in the top (esp honda etc).. so.. 6 to 1 half a dozen to the other, I guess? Thanks, Scott

I havent gotten that far yet unfortunatly, I had to borrow some cash off a mate to buy another shell (reshelling mine after it was stolen/stripped ) so i'm down on funds at the moment to buy a fan.. I'd estimate it would get close to the crank pully but not close enough to "have a mischief".. The shroud will probably be about 10mm from the core tapering out to about 15-20mm then the fan would add another 70mm or so.. The trick is to get the shroud/fan as airtight as you can..

Greetings, It's designed for an electric fan, standard viscious fan will NOT come close to fitting.. over all (tank size) is 70mm thick, the channels sit flush with the tanks but the core is 57mm thick.. I'm going to use a high performance A/C fan (I work in the business, they outflow anything) that's 16" wide and make a shroud for it (radiator + fan + no shroud == useless). I sell these retail for $650+gst NZD.. I'm not looking to "sell" them as such.. this is just one for my own personal car that I thought you guys might like to see.

About a day solid working on it with no workmates wanking on about how their mrs is annoying them =).. Most of the work is in the prep, really.. with tig welding everything needs to be as clean as possible, I have skyline radiators down to a fine art, though.. I lathe all the mounts for them, the sender bosses etc.. the billet filler necks we buy in.. It's hard over here in New Zealand really, we (radiator shop) have to compete with mass produced chinese goods (no offence to anyone) that can be made with little profit margins.. where as our product is alot of labour/prep..

Greetings, I work for a radiator shop but I do all the alloy work there.. We quite often weld up cracked sumps and gearbox casings.. this would be easily welded but it's very possible the box would have to be stripped and the area machined or re-tapped.. I dont believe the box is a throw away unless you've done something more sinister.. I would suggest seeing a mechanic, if someone can tig weld it in place (it would need to be very clean with all fluids drained) you could be fixed cheaply.. Otherwise it's a "drop the box" issue. Thanks, Scott

Hi Guys, I just thought i'd show you some radiator fabrication/porn.. This is the radiator i've made for my r32 gts w/ rb20det in it.. I do these for a job, but this ones for my car! I got it polished as well.. I'm going to run a single 16" fan pulling from the motor side with a shroud (obviously not pictured) as my fan has not arrived, I'll make the shroud unboltable and get this polished at a later stage. I have no pics of me making it, I didnt take my digicam to work, but it's straight bolt-in to an R32.. It's a 57mm thick 2 row core, Double pass with a baffle in the drivers side tank. Standard skyline pipe sizes with a M16x1.5 thermo boss.. and standard skyline mounts for OEM fitment. I hand fold/weld the tanks and weld the tanks to the core, The side bands are 10mm folded channel to give strength.. these are built really well.. Although, The standard viscious fan can NOT be used.. Pressure tested to 20psi no problems.. Once again, as per my surge setup, I'd like to see what you guys think/hate. Thanks, Scott =)

Also, while thinking about it, this setup works flawlessly.. I had my doubts at first that the non turbo pump could handle the jandle.. I used to get really bad surge/cutouts when doing donuts at the burnout comps here, it's rather embarrasing.. now I get none of this, car skids like it should do.. Just wish the tyres would last longer or I had more power so I can do 3rd damn rb20det! I really think this is a worthwhile investment for anyone that's pushing a bit of power or is smart about reliability.. Basic outlay was for the pump ($325+GST NZD) and 4meters of fuel hose ($40 NZD).. If I had more money I'd go braided lines.. as it stands I'm remaking the main fuel line from tank > engine bay out of larger stainless steel piping so I can go -8 from tank to engine.. it's way overkill, but oh well!

Hi, The negative wiring is red with a black conduit on the outside of it, you just cant see it because it's "taped" with loom tape.. The setup works really well, just to tidy it up more to my liking i'll extend all the wiring and hide it when I redo my boot lining (The car was stolen and strippd a while back, bastards!)