As most of us know, it can be very tough fitting a large turbo setup in a FWD SR20 car with a stock radiator. There are quite a few solutions to the problem ranging from switching to slim fans or even running half width radiator. On our b13 project, we decided to run a slightly shorter width radiator and scoot it forward, mounting it where the AC condenser used to sit. The main reasons we choose this method are that at this stage, the car was setup for drag racing. We moved as much mass as we could forward and as kept it as low as possible trying to minimize weight transfer. We also wanted a radiator with a decent amount of surface area to keep temps in check as the car is occasionally driven on the “warm” streets of Arizona. Finally, we wanted to keep the fog lights functional on our Sunny bumper.

The all aluminum radiator fin surface area measures in at 213.5 .in^2. This is a dual pass design with both the inlet and outlet on the passenger side. Mounting the radiator in this location  requires removal of the stock hood latch.

We decided to pair the radiator with a Mezeire electric water pump. We fabricated a mount from chromoly and positioned the pump near the passenger side frame rail. The low pressure pump inlet is located beneath the radiator outlet, so it always gravity fed.

At this point, everything was headed towards the custom route, so we decided to go nuts with the cooling lines. We ripped out the stock cooling lines along with the thermostat housing and fabricated hard lines from stainless steel tubing. These lines are 1.5 in. w/ a 0.065 wall, so they flow a decent amount of fluid. The coolant flow is setup for bottom to top operation e.g., coolant flows through the block first and then exits through the head. An inline thermostat w/ bypass ports will be installed when winter rolls around.

Next up is the surge and overflow tank.  We fabricated these bits from aluminum. The surge tank has (2) bleed ports and (1) drain port and is mounted up high near the firewall. This is also were the radiator is topped off . The overflow tank is on the left.

Here you can see the surge tank drain line returning back into the low pressure pump inlet. You can also view where we have mounted the coolant temp. sensor.

The radiator also has coolant ports built in for water cooling the turbocharger.  One of the ports is high pressure and the other is a low pressure so coolant is continually flowing through the center section keeping the bearings happy. Unfortunately, I could not find any pictures of these lines and the car is currently in pieces. Overall, this setup performs very well and keeps coolant temps in check when driven on the street and drag raced.