Aftermarket radiators project
 

OK....so, not finding proper info about these rads, I went ahead and got some from another member. Got them the other day.

Spent all day "installing" them.

Suffice to say, they dont jump on the bike themselves. The mounting holes line up but the fan holes dont at all. I had to fab some aluminum brackets for the fan.

Also, the fan switch doesnt at all fit. I will have to find a much smaller diameter switch somewhere. In the mean time I have the fan on a switch so can survive.

They are at least double the thickness of the stockers so you have to trim some fairing plastic, but so far they mostly fit.

Due to width I had to make the lower crossover coolant line 1.5" longer with some aluminium tubing.

Still havent gotten the fairing back on as I am crimping on connectors to all the extra wiring I have (mirror turn signal, hazards, fan, headlight turnoff switches)

Tomorrow I will buton it up and try to get caught in traffic. If nothing else they are so new and clean (& I soaked them in vinegar for 2 hrs) they should be way more efficient.

More later.

Oh, if anyone has info on where to find a fan swich I would be thankful for help on that.

There's a guy on Custom Fighters by the name of Cookie2000ad that just finished building a VTR. He used those same eBay radiators.
Here's the link to his build
And here's a couple pictures, here and here.

He's a helpfull guy. Just PM him for any info or if you don't want to have to sign up there, I can PM him if you want.

ARG, thanks crux, I cant find where he accounted for the fan switch yet. I will have to join that forum as it looks awesome. Gonna go to autoparts store to try to find a fan switch to fit.

LMK if you see the info in his post, gotta finish my build in daylight.

I'll PM and ask him for ya.

OK so that guy hasnt even run his bike and has no fan switch.

Has no one else on here run these radiators & gotten a fan switch?

Alright, time to keep this one dimensional conversation going.

Been riding with the rads. They are WAY more efficient than stockers. Bike will slowly climb past 185 to 200 in stop & go but way slower that stock.

Also, when I flip the fan on, it cools quickly back to the 180s from 206. It never did that with stockers.

So now

I am asking for the collective genius of this forum to help me find a fan switch. I spent a solid 30 min in the stock room of advanced auto to no avai.

So if you guys feel like helping, I would appreciate any help.

You have a picture of where the fan switch goes into the radiator? Any idea on the thread size?

EDIT: I just sent a message to GPI Racing, inquiring about the fan switch. Asked if they had a part number as well. They're the ones making and selling these radiators on eBay.

Yeah so latest info is that its an m14 x 1.5.

Tridon makes one: tfs106 but so far its hard to find and $37 so gonna keep searching.

I just know its a bad idea to have a manual only fan. I have tried that before. Bad idea.

I'm glad you figured it out, because this is the answer I got from GPI Racing:

Smokin, why not take the OEM switch, and go to a rad shop, and have them weld the right fitting ?

Yeah, I actually found a banjo bolt the right size and coulda fit the stocker right into it (cut the hollow threads off it) and welded it but I really didnt want to cobble anything since the rads are so nice and I know how mad I'd be if it leaked or failed.

Plus, now I should have everything right and God only knows what those sleazy radiator guys woulda tried to charge me. (it would have to more than the $30 this will cost me).

Plus then theres the possibility of jailtime if thier job failed on my bike and I burned the shop down or something.

Crux, I asked a question on a different ebay seller and they actually gave me the size.

Oh yeah so here is the other switches that should work. Most are for late 80s bmw's

HELLA FS8010 NAPA ECHLIN FS198 WELLS SW1802 ACDELCO E186C BWD TFS544

MASTERPRO 2-8481

If anyone else uses this info, know that it took me hours and days to track it down, going to 6 different autoparts stores, some without altercations, some that may welcome me back,

some actually DO keep the survelance tapes.........

I will post tomorrow after I try to install it. I plan to use a lot of upper case letters if it works, and maybe some if it doesnt.

One other thing, most shops want yr/mk/mdl so they fit bmw '91 318i,, 91 325i,, '91 M3.... and a few more.

Got the fan switch today. Also bought a dvr to pay less to the bloodsucking cable co but thats a different story.

The shop got me an Intermotor (brand) TS288. Its a 91* 2 blade switch so I had to ground it. This search was annoying enuff that I didnt care.

Took the bike out to try to heat it up. Amazing how hard that is when you are trying.

Fan happily cam on around 207*F, off at 197ish. The amazing thing is that with the new rads it acually cools much faster.

The other awesome thing I did & have wanted to for a while is have a dash light come on when the fan is running. My CBR dash had an unused red idiot light for FI on the donor bike.

Now I know if the fan is running. Before this I had to paint white out stripes on the fan to see if its spinning.

So my conclusion is myth busted.,, I mean, these rads are great. Anyone thinking of them, I have bodly forged ahead and done the donkey work.

That is all. Carry on...

Good to see them in use.

Oh, Rick, didnt know if you were still around. Thanks to Rick for selling me these great rads to do this knuckle buster.

Ha ha. yes i am still here. been here lurking for a few years now.

I am responding to this thread to bring it back up since I have been asked about it recently. Rads are still working perfectly

Good to know since I just got a set in the mail yesterday..lol

Im going to try the switch you found Standard Motor Products TS288 Temp Sender/Sensor and see how I like it.... if it does not work out then i'll have te correct boss welded into the rad and use an OEM switch.

The one I found at long last works as good or better than stock. You will need to lengthen the cross tube since the distance is greater. You'll have no trouble but post up how you like them. I found them substantially more efficient in cooling.

They may have changed the dimensions as unless Im missing something the tube length off the Rad is the same as stock.
Starting a new thread as I have some additional stuff im doing besides just an install...think,,second fan....lol

2nd fan? Geez and I thought I was someone who couldn't leave well enuff alone. Have you calculated the benefit vs current draw/dead battery matrix?

Do you have that much running hot issues? You wont with these rads I bet. Plus it seems 2 fans would sorta over cool it then it would spike back up when they shut down.

Will like to see what happens.