Gti6 Radiator Clearance

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Fitted my inlet manifold today, then went to put the rad in and it literally sits against and touches the inlet at the left corner.

 

I didn't think radiator clearance was usually much of an issue, the threads I have read people have not needed to lower the radiator, only on Mi16 conversions.

Edited October 19, 2011 by chipstick

[damien 22 1 Cars]

all the pics ive seen on here show the inlet very close/toutching the slam pannel, but cant remember reading about problems with the rad.

i know someone on here does a rad lowering kit, mite be worth looking into that. i was planning into looking for a smaller/thinner rad

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Just trim back the fan cowling, I gained over an inch of clearance

[boldy205 75]

Man up and stick a set of carbs on?!

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Pfft carbs are soooo 8v

 

Just trim back the fan cowling, I gained over an inch of clearance

 

 

Where did you trim it exactly? Mine has several cracks and I imagine if I cut it too much it would actually fall apart

[Josh_Quant 27]

i move rad forward on mine

[harryskid 193]

Lower it!

[Masekwm 2]

Mine didn't fit in 1 shell, moved to another shell, it fitted in with clearance.

[harryskid 193]

Been here befor?

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=131535

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Told you theres no right or wrong answer as to whether it needs lowering I think. Its the same reason why 205's are one of the only cars with adjustable strut braces. Peugeot can't stamp out 2 cars the same (or couldn't) so some need lowering like myself and brumster (reading that thread we've done it in exactly the same way as well!) and other don't.

[Anthony 1,003]

Yep, tolerances are a joke on 205 shells and when it comes to 16v conversions, you really can't judge what will fit/work on your car by what fits/works on another. I'm not kidding when I say that there can be an inch or more difference in places between one shell and another in the engine bay, and that's before you even get to the issues on crash repaired cars

 

Quick and easy way is to just trim the radiator cowling like Paul says - there should be plenty of pictures floating around from Mi16 conversions where that was the standard way of doing things. You'll find that you need to remove what seems like an awful lot of plastic, but it's not an issue - just keep an eye on the clearance between the radiator and the fan(s) and you'll be fine.

 

Otherwise, go down the lowering or custom cradle route for the radiator.

 

If it's on Group N engine mounts, you'll find that the engine doesn't really move much and thus you don't need much in the way of clearance - 10mm is fine. With standard mounts that allows the engine to flap around like a fish out of water, you'll want more clearance than that to be sure that you don't clout the rad.

 

Also, odd as it sounds you'll find that different brands of radiator are slightly different dimensions, which again effects clearance when running 'valvers.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Eventually found a good thread about this.

 

Link to help others in future with searches

 

I started to cut my couling down bit by bit as I would rather take a little bit off each time than too much straight away

 

I have marginally better clearance already, and will continue to remove more material in order to get even better clearance.

 

One thing I have found though, is the bonnet release pull part now pushes down past the radiator fins and I worry about damage. When I cut even more material out, this is gonig to get worse and looks like the release may actually rest on top of the radiator.

 

How have people got around that?

Edited October 25, 2011 by chipstick

[welshpug 1,662]

I don't know if the 2.0 MI head is different in depth to the gti6 one, but I had no major issues getting one to fit with a gti6 inlet, as has been said clearances vary quite a bit

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

A bit?

 

I was lucky with my master cylinder and I hardly needed to bend the manifold at all to get it to clear the bulkhead. Didn't even need to remove any of the lip.

[damien 22 1 Cars]

Eventually found a good thread about this.

 

Link to help others in future with searches

 

I started to cut my couling down bit by bit as I would rather take a little bit off each time than too much straight away

 

I have marginally better clearance already, and will continue to remove more material in order to get even better clearance.

 

One thing I have found though, is the bonnet release pull part now pushes down past the radiator fins and I worry about damage. When I cut even more material out, this is gonig to get worse and looks like the release may actually rest on top of the radiator.

 

How have people got around that?

 

 

good thread.

 

still looks like something im not looking forward to tho.

 

i was planning on binning the couling but it seems on that thread that you need it to reinforce the slam pannel.