The Mite
Part :55
Radiator, Intercooler, Throttle cable, etc....
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Got the radiator back in the car and mounted in the mounts I fabbed a while ago. I also installed the electric fans and ran the wires to a relay seen here. The relay allows a low-current switch (like the stock Miata thermo-switch in the water neck on the front of the engine) to turn on a high current item like a fan. |
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The Checker auto parts near my shop keeps their radiator hoses accessable to the public. I went down with a bent-up piece of wire and found the hoses I needed for this VW radiator in a Sprite cooling a Miata engine. I HATE trying to explain to parts-counter monkeys what part I need. Unless the monkey is the exception to the ' what year, what make and what model car' brain-dead clerk that works at most parts stores, I'd rather go to a place that lets me pick my own parts. |
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Here's the lower radiator hose snaking into the engine compartment |
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And then - on to the intercooler. Or aftercooler, as my diesel generator friends say. This is the intercooler that I'll use. The outlets are in the wrong place to allow the plumbing to clear the hood (bonnett), the headlight buckets and the tires at full lock. |
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I'll need to re-route the inlet and outlets of the intercooler to be more like this picture and the one below |
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This is the one below. |
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I welded the ends closed on the intercooler and added new tubes. "too small" you might say. To that, I'll say, "These are the same size tubes that are found on the Ford Turbo 2.3 intercooled engine." So there. The welds are not extra pretty on the outside, but they are smooth and flush on the inside where it matters |
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I had to fab a reducer to go from the throttle body to the intercooler pipe size, and add a tube/flange for the blow off valve |
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Here's the intercooler to throttle body adapter with the BOV attached |
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Front view of the intercooler |
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The complete intercooler with tubing and blow off valve. |