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ST165/ST162 Aluminum Radiator

Discussion in 'Group Buys' started by Rick89GTS, Jan 25, 2008.

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  1. Rick89GTS

    Rick89GTS Well-Known Member Moderator Donated!

    Wow, I haven't been back to this thread since I posted way back in 2008! Yes, obviously I got this custom radiator build off the ground and into full production. Satisfying to know that this has helped the 162/165 community in a big way by offering an affordable aluminum radiator option. I haven't had any overheating issues and neither have the vast majority of owners.

    The price has come waaaay down since everyone in China started knocking them off now. Good for us :) The ones all over eBay are pretty much the same, but ASI did it for me first. Funny how I had to convince them there was a market for this radiator. They will fit the 162, you just need to block off the turbo coolant line.The radiators work fine and are still available. Cheers!
     
    Rick89GTS, Jun 16, 2013
    #21
  2. lone wolf

    lone wolf Well-Known Member Donated!

    I bought it recently and it's now installed :)
     
    lone wolf, Jun 17, 2013
    #22
  3. Rick89GTS

    Rick89GTS Well-Known Member Moderator Donated!

    I realize the original thread in alltrac.com is humongous, so here are the Cliff notes:

    - In the fall of 2007, I contacted ASI in China to have custom made aluminum radiators for the 165/162.
    - Prototype and test fitting by late 2008 and finally ready to ship by Jan 2009
    - Radiator is 2-core 42mm thick; OEM is 32mm.
    - Stock radiator fans and shrouds fit no problem except the bottom fan shroud hole needs to be slightly enlarged a few millimeters for a perfect fit.
    - Fits the 162 but the turbo coolant line will need to be plugged
    - Price on Ebay is currently about $140 shipped - significantly lower than the $300 we originally paid!
    - Group buys aren't necessary unless you get a special deal
    - ASI or AutoPower seem to be the same
    - I haven't experienced any overhearing issues (or any other issues) in the 5 years I've had mine
    - I used a small rubber "O" ring on the drain plug to ensure a good seal
    - Radiator cap is included

    From page 16 of the original thread (Dec 2008), here are some pics:

    UPDATE ON TEST-FIT:
    I am pleased to say that the second prototype fits almost perfectly :D
    All the painstaking measuring, reverse-engineering and double-checking paid off.

    Only one thing wrong:
    The bottom hole to mount the fan shroud doesn't line up right. It needs to be 4mm closer to the pax side. I used a Dremel tool to enlarge the fan shroud holes into ovals. That gave me enough lateral slack to make it fit.

    I will contact Kevin to give him the green light and finish up any other remaining details. It's been a long haul, but it appears we finally have an aluminum radiator option to the OEM plastic end tanks. Thanks for hanging in there with me guys. I'm hoping it won't be too much longer before the first run is completed. In the meantime, here are the pics:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    ^That aluminum core is 42mm thick, stock OEM is 32mm; it's tight, but we still have enough clearance.

    [​IMG]
    ^Underside shot of the fan and drain plug. No drain tube like on the OEM rad but I may try to fit a spigot in there. The bottom mounting post is clearly visible inside the rubber grommet-cushion thingy. I had them made extra long.

    [​IMG]
    ^Underside shot of coolant temperature sensor and lower rad hose.

    [​IMG]
    ^Here you can just see where the bottom fan shroud hole doesn't quite line up properly. Other than that, it's a good fit and decent welds. :)

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    ^The one correction we need; misaligned mounting hole for fan shroud.
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2013
    Rick89GTS, Jun 17, 2013
    #23
  4. Rick89GTS

    Rick89GTS Well-Known Member Moderator Donated!

    Radiator support brackets issue, from page 33 of the original thread:

    I was always irritated that the ASI radiator didn't fit the upper support brackets absolutely perfect.
    Here's my solution. I used polyurethane adhesive (the same stuff that people use to fill in their motor mounts) and a section of
    appropriate diameter automotive hose cut to size. I completely filled in my rad supports because they were cracking anyways.
    Fits like a glove now. Hit 'em with a spray of black paint and you're done. :)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Rick89GTS, Jun 17, 2013
    #24
  5. lone wolf

    lone wolf Well-Known Member Donated!

    the non fitting issue of the fan was my excuse to buy the Spal fan :p

    I indeed noticed the brackets were not perfectly sitting on there. I don't have/use the drainhole option... on 1 side is my thermostat for the fan and the other side aftermarket temp sensor. If I want to drain I'll take off the lower hose I guess.
     
    lone wolf, Jun 17, 2013
    #25
  6. 4thgenceli

    4thgenceli Test Dummy

    My fans didn't fit at all. Most likely due to the ST215 I stuffed in there with the clocked turbo and dual radiator fans....

    I ended up buying two reversible electric fans and wired them into the system properly. I made them pusher fans as they didn't fit properly. Never ran over 210* in the AZ summer.
     
    4thgenceli, Jun 17, 2013
    #26
  7. jwagner162

    jwagner162 Well-Known Member Donated!

    just to throw it out there for reference. a gen 2 3s-ge header in the 162 with gen 1 motor will require the removal of 1 fan.

    -iirc automatic camrys and misc auto toyotas have a push fan on 1 side. this is what i used to replace the 1 i had to take off. iirc plugged right in. and used a few zip ties.


    -not sure its relevant, but what the hey.
     
    jwagner162, Jun 18, 2013
    #27
  8. Stig

    Stig ST162 Guru Donated!

    Yes Jon, JDM auto's come with a push fan and a thicker radiator plus the fan on the battery side.
    It' direct replacement stuff

    I haven't tried an alu radiator yet as the auto one is more than adequate (in winter I have to board it up).
    To be honest a cross-flow radiator isn't the most efficient either - take a look at the custom radiator in Oompa's car which uses channeling to double/triple the length of the radiator
     
    Stig, Jun 18, 2013
    #28
  9. GRISLOVE

    GRISLOVE Well-Known Member

    So guys, any one know the new link to these radiators? The old link.or Ebay link no longer works.

    Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2
     
    GRISLOVE, Oct 13, 2014
    #29
  10. GRISLOVE

    GRISLOVE Well-Known Member

     
    GRISLOVE, Oct 16, 2014
    #30
  11. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    A mishimoto radiator for a ST185 should work just fine. They are $265 usd on Amazon
     
    scottjackson1209, Oct 17, 2014
    #31
  12. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    NVM on the ST185 Mishimoto radiator!! I just recieved mine and will have to trim out some of the center core support to make it work....UGH!
     
    scottjackson1209, Oct 22, 2014
    #32
  13. GRISLOVE

    GRISLOVE Well-Known Member

    Well darn that sucks. They do look a bit different

    Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2
     
    GRISLOVE, Oct 22, 2014
    #33
  14. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    It's thicker of course but it's also wider, specifically on the left hand side
     
    scottjackson1209, Oct 22, 2014
    #34
  15. GRISLOVE

    GRISLOVE Well-Known Member

    Hmm, well post some pics when finished.

    Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2
     
    GRISLOVE, Oct 22, 2014
    #35
  16. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG] some pics of the Mishimoto rad
     
    scottjackson1209, Oct 23, 2014
    #36
  17. Stig

    Stig ST162 Guru Donated!

    From what I remember playing with ST18x bits, the rad can be made to fit by carefully moving the bottom locating pins
     
    Stig, Oct 23, 2014
    #37
  18. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    Unfortunately that is not my experience with this rad..perhaps the Mishimoto is a bit bigger?

    Anyway the rad is too wide to fit between the center section of the core support. It is about an inch too wide and both hoses have been moved about a half an inch out from where they were. So I ended up cutting out about an inch from the LH side of my center core support and located the rad so that the radiator outlet is lined up and the inlet is slightly offset (works best with the hoses).

    I am currently making some custom radiator mounts that will use the existing ones. The top mounts had to be moved towards the center of the car by a couple inches on each one.

    Area that I had to cut out

    Before:
    [​IMG]

    After:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Red circles are the old holes for the top radiator mounts. Blue circles are where the new radiator mounts need to be.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2014
    scottjackson1209, Oct 23, 2014
    #38
  19. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    As Stig mentioned the bottom pins are an issue as well.

    So again with some custom mounts! I didn't want to cut off the bottom mounts and re-weld them back to the rail, and the pins sat within the big hole of the mount just not within the hole of the rubber isolator, so I'm replacing the rubber isolators inside of them with some polyurethane ones with the holes offset.

    Making molds to pour the polyurethane...I had to find something that I could carve into easily to make the molds. Styrofoam that the rad shipped with seemed fitting. Used a rotary tool to carve out the styrofoam...they will need quite a bit of altering when they harden up a bit...Also I will drill the hole for the pin on the bottom of the radiator once they are fully cured.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    aftermath (already wiped MOST of it off lol)
    [​IMG]

    More work on the molds and pouring the polyurethane:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Rebuilding the top mounts for the radiator, they were pretty well worn out and falling apart when I removed them. when cured I will be sanding and painting them to make them look a bit better.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Had a bit of a spill....
    [​IMG]

    For anyone curious this is the polyurethane that I used
    [​IMG]
     
    scottjackson1209, Oct 23, 2014
    #39
  20. Rick89GTS

    Rick89GTS Well-Known Member Moderator Donated!

    As Scott found out, the 185 radiators don't fit our cars without some major modifications. It's a headache. The ASI 165 aluminum rad is pretty much a drop in fit because I had to measure every damn dimension of the stock OEM rad and even then, ASI messed up the first prototype; it didn't line up properly and is sitting in my basement, lol. I told them to fix the bottom radiator hole alignment but they never did. I'd trust ASI over the other brands only because I know they did it first and it fits mt 165.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2015
    Rick89GTS, Jul 18, 2015
    #40
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