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| Radiator Stuffing |
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Radiator stuffing...a good concept with a horrible name. I wasn't aware of this practice until Sam of STC put me onto it. In his own experience with his turbo SC2, he had noticed that the space between A/C condenser and the radiator allowed air to escape instead of being pushed through the radiator, thereby losing come of the cooling efficiency of the engine. In a creative burst of genius, Sam proceeded to stuff the cracks between the two heat exhangers until no air escaped. He noticed an increase in cooling efficiency when the fans were turned on. Sounds like a good idea to me. Up until Sam told me about radiator stuffing, I didn't know that the A/C condenser was in front of the radiator. I just figured that the thing I saw from in front of the car was the same thing I saw in the engine bay. Whoops. Anyway, first thing to do is to remove the 2 10mm bolts holding the radiator and A/C condenser to the front of the engine bay. The location of these bolts can be seen to the right. After these are removed, you'll be able to pull the radiator back towards the engine a couple inches and see down between the two heat exchangers.
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The stuff you're going to be cramming down the cracks is actually air conditioning insulation. I got two of these bags from Wallymart for less than $5 and was set. Anyways, cut the insulation strip so it's just as long as the radiator, and stuff it down there. When you're done it should look like this.
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Now for the bottom of the byyitch. Jack the car up (put it on jackstands, dumbass!) and get under the front bumper so you're sitting directly under the space you'll be stuffing. You'll see what you see to the right, minus the ugly fan zip-tie things, most likely. If you're as careless as I am, though, who knows. Anyway, plug it up until it looks like this and you're good to go.
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Finally come the side cracks. To get in there more easily, loosen the bolt you see to the right. There's one on each side, and it keeps the radiator and A/C condenser locked together. Backing it out creates a bit more space for the fingers to work. Anyway, just do as before and it should look like this when you're all done. Congratulations, you now have a more efficient cooling system for your chunk of plastic grocery getter.
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