Ok, so knocking out some more of my to-do list and wishlist items. I finally got my radiator welded to allow me to put the thermo gauge in the top of the radiator and the fan switch in the bottom. This let me run straight hoses and get rid of the hose adapter. This works out great, because the hose adapters just don't get the job done because they force you to put both sensors in the same spot. So you have to choose. Top hose and your fan comes on way too early and the thermostat might not function properly. Bottom hose and your temp gauge in the gauge cluster will never read properly. So now I have them in the right place and the temp gauge works great
The thermo switch is 1/8th npt. A bung goes for about $3. The fan switch is 18mm x 1.5 (same as an o2 sensor). Finding an aluminum o2 sensor bung is a little harder. I found one for $5 from
www.racepartsolutions.com . I got a local race shop to weld both bungs on and pressure check the radiator for $65. Considering the hose adapter costs about $35, getting these things welded onto the radiator is definately the best way to go.
I'm using a fluidyne radiator and never really looked at it all that closely. Here is a shot of the cooling fins. Notice the little louvres on each one. Thats kinda cool. Now wonder that thing cools like crazy. I wonder if the budget aluminum radiators like the mishimotos have these.
Close up on the thermo switch in place
Close up of the fan switch in place
Radiator shot with its new hardware
My old fal fan setup wasn't designed for an aftermarket radiator so I had to modify it to fit on the fluidyne and then it didn't allow good clearance for the rad hoses. So I said screw it and just bought another fan.
I was using the Autozone m248 upper rad hose, but they kept swelling and deforming. I guess I have bad luck as I went through 2 of these. So again, I said screw it and bought the napa 7940 hose. It seems to fit a hair better than the m248 did. I'm now using an ep3 upper rad hose on the lower. Fits like a glove.
I picked up some speedsource shifter bushings. I got theirs because they are brass. IIRC, brass is self-lubricating, so it should hold up better than some of the other bushings offered on the market which are just made of aluminum.
Old bushings
New bushings in place. Pretty easy to install. These things really firmed up the shifting. You don't want to bang through the gears because now you don't have any slack like you had with the rubber bushings. However you have a *VERY* nice positive feel when it goes into gear now.
Old bushings. They popped out in one piece. I'll pop them back in if I ever have any issues with the speedsource bushings.
When the car got its track debut, I had a hard time hitting 5th as it seemed like just a really long throw to get there. Not good when you are trying to pass someone, shift, etc. at the same time. So I picked up the comptech short shift kit. Not installed yet, but should be soon.
