Radiator Shroud

[karlos]

Getting ready for the radiator install and need to cut the hole for the fan in the radiator shroud. Seems like most folks end up with a fairly elaborate cut out with flats, tabs for the mounting bolts, etc. Curious why this seems to be the preferred approach as opposed to a simple circular cut out. Yeah, a circular hole will be a bit smaller, but not by much. And it'll be a whole lot easier to make with a jigsaw. Is the extra 1/4" really all that important?

A minor detail I realize, but want to understand before I take a saw to anything

Thanks.

-Karl

[Gumball]

I have the Breeze radiator shroud and didn't do anything elaborate. Just traced the footprint of the FFR-supplied fan - so it's mostly a circle with a few places where there is a little more material left (to intrude in the circle) for the place where the fan mounts. No tabs, straps, or anything else.

Sorry, but no pics of that - it was before I was putting digital photos on photobucket - but I'll see if I have one somewhere and scan it.

[edwardb]

I too just traced around the the FFR supplied fan. I installed nutserts for the mounting so the fan could be removed without taking the whole shroud off. So added bump outs in those places since they were pretty close to the edge. 5-10 minutes to cut out with a jig saw and a few more minutes to clean up with a file and sandpaper. Sure you could cut a slightly smaller hole and be completely round. I would imagine the loss is little/none. But not how I did it. Call me crazy. I kind of enjoy little details like this.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Update%2009192015/IMG_3363_zpsdcu1txjv.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Update%2009192015/IMG_3363_zpsdcu1txjv.jpg.html)

[Gumball]

^ that's exactly what my cut-out looks like.

[karlos]

Thanks for sharing the photo. Looks good. What you've done is exactly what Breeze recommends. Left to my own I'd probably just cut a circle with a diameter that's the same as the measurement to the innermost part of the bump outs for the fan attach fasteners.

I definitely get it about working the small details. I spend way more time than I should worrying the small stuff myself. But usually when I see something like this I don't understand there's a good reason for it. Want to make sure I'm not missing something here.

If the shape is primarily stylistic, that's cool. Given that understanding I can decide whether to follow suit.

Thanks for the info.

[michael everson]

I just do a circle that is the same diameter as the inner diameter of the fan. Flip it over and you will see what I mean.
Mike

[Avalanche325]

Here is mine. FFR fan. Made my own shroud.
http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/Avalanche325/IMG_0228_zpse4a9d3f5.jpg (http://s1061.photobucket.com/user/Avalanche325/media/IMG_0228_zpse4a9d3f5.jpg.html)

[Duke]

Just make sure if you are drilling or cutting the fan shroud you take it off the radiator first. On my last hole to enlarge the fan shroud mounting holes for a nutsert yesterday the bit caught and pushed into the radiator, putting a nice hole in it. Doh. That stupid move cost me a few dollars, but thankfully Courtnie had new ones in stock and has it in the mail to me today.

[karlos]

Here's what I ended up with. Traced the outline of the fan, marked the center, then drew a circle that just touched the flats on the left and right sides.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55671&d=1467494074


Resulting hole is still larger than the diameter of the fan blades, but not so large that there are edge distance issues with the mounting bolts.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55672&d=1467494075


If you use the Breeze shroud along with the stainless steel mounting hardware, make sure you lubricate the threads. I had two of the four fan mounting screws seize up before I could run them down tight. Stainless nut on a stainless screw is wont to do that. Spent some quality time with my cutoff wheel as a result.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55673&d=1467494075


Here's the assembly mounted to the radiator and to the car. Turned out just fine.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55674&d=1467494076


A shot of the installed radiator.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55668&d=1467494073


Used the Breeze upper and lower mounting hardware. Great stuff!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55669&d=1467494074


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55670&d=1467494074

[boat737]

Nice and Clean.

I have two questions for you. Did you have a rough idea on where to put those lower radiator mount brackets? They have slots, so they will adjust, but I was waiting to get the body on, and the body-to-fan panels mocked up before I drilled the lower radiator bracket holes in the 3/4 x 3/4. I'm not brave enough to hope they will be in the right position and the radiator at the right angle, until I get an idea of what the body and panels will line up to.

Secondly, I am currently redoing the hoses from my CNC reservoirs to the Brake and Clutch master cylinders. I'm not having much luck finding brake fluid compatible hoses. I think Wilwood may have something but not sure yet. I see it looks like you have braided hoses. Can you post a picture(s) of your setup and any info on it?

Thanks. Good job.

[Alig2]

Nice and Clean.
Secondly, I am currently redoing the hoses from my CNC reservoirs to the Brake and Clutch master cylinders. I'm not having much luck finding brake fluid compatible hoses. I think Wilwood may have something but not sure yet. I see it looks like you have braided hoses. Can you post a picture(s) of your setup and any info on it?

Thanks. Good job.

You need EPDM hose, search the auction sites for 3/8in EPDM rubber agricultural hose, I found a place that sold it by the foot, also can be found as farmers supply stores.

[karlos]

Did you have a rough idea on where to put those lower radiator mount brackets? They have slots, so they will adjust, but I was waiting to get the body on, and the body-to-fan panels mocked up before I drilled the lower radiator bracket holes in the 3/4 x 3/4. I'm not brave enough to hope they will be in the right position and the radiator at the right angle, until I get an idea of what the body and panels will line up to.


I used an angle finder to set the radiator at the specified 51-degree angle from horizontal. This should match the angle of the radiator cowl aluminum that goes on later along with the body. And as you point out the brackets will allow some adjustment, so I can tweak it later as necessary. The instructions that come with the lower mount kit specify that the brackets be installed nearly vertical. I placed them as close to vertical as I could get them while simultaneously maintaining the 51-degree angle and getting a good fit between the cross bar and the radiator channel.




Secondly, I am currently redoing the hoses from my CNC reservoirs to the Brake and Clutch master cylinders. I'm not having much luck finding brake fluid compatible hoses. I think Wilwood may have something but not sure yet. I see it looks like you have braided hoses. Can you post a picture(s) of your setup and any info on it?


Good eye on the brake hoses. They're teflon-lined braided stainless with AN fittings, made by Aeroquip. Available at the usual places (Summit, Jegs, etc). A couple pictures are included below. I passed the brake lines through the front of the footbox via AN bulkhead fittings, and then continued on to the master cylinders with the same style (but separate) hoses. Did the same for the hard lines, which you can see in the last couple photos. Had to flare the hard lines at 37 degrees to match the AN fittings, which required a new set of dies for my Eastwood flare tool. Kind of unusual, but necessary because I had trouble finding bulkhead fittings with a standard 45-degree flare.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55685&d=1467522166


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55686&d=1467522167


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55687&d=1467522542


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55688&d=1467523238

[rich grsc]

Nice and Clean.

Secondly, I am currently redoing the hoses from my CNC reservoirs to the Brake and Clutch master cylinders. I'm not having much luck finding brake fluid compatible hoses. I think Wilwood may have something but not sure yet. I see it looks like you have braided hoses. Can you post a picture(s) of your setup and any info on it?

Thanks. Good job.

You can buy EPDM hose at Lowe's, or Home Depot. It's air hose sold by the foot.

[Duke]

My Breeze shroud came pre-cut:

http://i.imgur.com/EYHv7bo.jpg

[boat737]

Thank you very much Karlos.

It looks like I can tackle the breeze mounts with a little more confidence now. I have the same setup, plus the Breeze shroud temp sensor. The original builder put the radiator top bracket (hinge) and shroud on, but not the bottom bracket or temp sensor. I'll have to pull the radiator and shroud back off to get that sensor in.

I tried to copy this part of the thread to a new thread, but I don't have the skills.

On the brake lines, he had hoses with barbs on the 3 M/C's and 3 Reservoirs. Problem is the two brake reservoirs are drilled for 1/4-18 NPT (clutch res. is 1/8-27 NPT) in addition to just passing the hoses through the firewall through rubber grommets. This has turned into a major retrofit for these hoses. I really like your hose setup, I'm just not sure how I can get it done on my parts. What's the longest those hoses come in? (I'm about 30 inches from res. to M/C) What lengths do the hoses come in?

I should also ask, is Teflon the same as EPDM, and is Teflon Brake Fluid Compatible?

I tried to upload a couple of pictures to show what I'm up against, but again, I don't have the skills. Bummer.