What Radiator for Smooth bay Mk2 VR6

[JoeMallett]

I'm slightly stuck with what radiator to get, I need one with a built in expansion tank seeing as I've deleted mine. Or do I just get an inline filler?
I've heard E36 rads are good to use but I've seen this on 1.8t's I'm not sure whether that will be enough for the VR?

[ChuckNDicks]

Should be able to run a early 80s Rabbit radiator. They are pretty damn big, and they have the reservoir built into the side of the radiator with a cap on it. My 81 Rabbit had one in it from the factory.

You can buy them from a part supplier or find one at a junkyard. It should be big enough to support a VR, it would keep my higher compression 8v cool, fans never cut on at all unless I was at a complete stop.

The only problem I could see is if you were running AC.

You could probably run an inline filler, although I've seen people running into pressure issues with those from time to time. I think most of that has been from issues with where they had mounted the filler.

[JoeMallett]

Should be able to run a early 80s Rabbit radiator. They are pretty damn big, and they have the reservoir built into the side of the radiator with a cap on it. My 81 Rabbit had one in it from the factory.

You can buy them from a part supplier or find one at a junkyard. It should be big enough to support a VR, it would keep my higher compression 8v cool, fans never cut on at all unless I was at a complete stop.

The only problem I could see is if you were running AC.

You could probably run an inline filler, although I've seen people running into pressure issues with those from time to time. I think most of that has been from issues with where they had mounted the filler.

Awesome thanks man, hadn't even thought of that. One slight worry is the Corrado rad I have has slimline fans on it, which is ideal because there is not a lot of room.

I've seen a couple of cars with the fan on the front, not sure how simple it is to do that, but that would be nice, just to make it a bit tidier.

[ChuckNDicks]

Awesome thanks man, hadn't even thought of that. One slight worry is the Corrado rad I have has slimline fans on it, which is ideal because there is not a lot of room.

I've seen a couple of cars with the fan on the front, not sure how simple it is to do that, but that would be nice, just to make it a bit tidier.

most slim line fans are reversible. If you aren't running an AC condenser in front of the radiator all you have to do is mount them to the front and reverse the polarity on the wires and the fan will run in reverse, pushing air, instead of pulling it. Just make sure you use reversible fans, not sure what the difference is between reversible and non revisable slim line fans, I just always buy reversible ones so I know the option exists if I need to mount them differently. You should be able to pick up a 10" fan that will move 500-900 cfm which should be plenty to keep your engine cool. You can always go for two smaller fans if you wanted as well. Some simple measuring should let you know how many fans or what size fan[s] you can run on whatever radiator you choose to use.

[JoeMallett]

most slim line fans are reversible. If you aren't running an AC condenser in front of the radiator all you have to do is mount them to the front and reverse the polarity on the wires and the fan will run in reverse, pushing air, instead of pulling it. Just make sure you use reversible fans, not sure what the difference is between reversible and non revisable slim line fans, I just always buy reversible ones so I know the option exists if I need to mount them differently. You should be able to pick up a 10" fan that will move 500-900 cfm which should be plenty to keep your engine cool. You can always go for two smaller fans if you wanted as well. Some simple measuring should let you know how many fans or what size fan[s] you can run on whatever radiator you choose to use.

Brilliant thanks for the help, I'll look into it, this quick engine swap is taking longer and longer haha

[ChuckNDicks]

Brilliant thanks for the help, I'll look into it, this quick engine swap is taking longer and longer haha

Engine swaps are never quick when you get involved with a VR6

[JoeMallett]

I ran into some trouble and realised that the coolant hose fitting are on the wrong side for the fittings on the VR, any ideas other than just routing the hoses so they look ugly?