Looks like it's going to be a long weekend with lots of plastic, foam, rubber seals and a dremel.

 

Pictures: https://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep...3/#post1252787

I'm going to be doing this soon on my car.

From the factory, there is a styrofoam wedge that gets taped to the top of the bumper support that helps seal this area and further supports the cover -- this piece is often missing.

 

Thank you for digging up those pictures. I guess I should have take some more showing what I have done more recently. That oil cooler is OEM to a Lotus 907 2.0 engine in a 1975 Jensen Healey. I had it left over from a part out. I may be going to an RX-7 oil cooler in the same location at some point for additional head room for future power increases. We have very few e85 stations here so I don't have the benefit of being able to run a little cooler burning fuel.

 

Hey guys, I'm trying to copy the FM's spal fan kit and do it diy.
One thing I can't get is how FM's cfm rating of 2700 is equal to the spal's combined spec of 2200~ cfm?
I found out that the high performance curved blade is 1292 cfm and the low profile pushes 909.
Are their numbers misleading or am I missing something?

 

Not sure, but SPAL makes several different variants of each size fan, are you selecting the same exact ones FM supplies?

 

I am trying to avoid the power surge that the high performance one draws.
And the medium sized draws pretty much the same amount.
Can two low profile of 909 cfm each can pull enough air for a street turbo car?
This:
A1 Electric Online Store: Spal 30100467 12" Low Profile Fan

 

I would put big fans if you're going to swap out the stock fans. The stock fans are almost a guarantee to move more air than those low profile fans, even though they are SPAL fans. Yes big fans that move more air pull more power, that's just how that works.

Also beware that there are knockoff SPAL fans, so buy carefully. I'd buy from SPAL directly if possible to be sure you're getting the real thing. I would only buy the high performance ones myself, as I would always rather have 50% more fan than I need, rather than not enough. If that causes problems in the electrical system, then I'll fix them too.

I run a pair of 12" spal extreme performance fans myself. 40A of current EACH.

EDIT: A pair of these: https://webstore.spalusa.com/en-us/p...p-12v-pk4.aspx

They are hot nasty fans, and it was a pain to install them and I had to upgrade to a bigger alternator and new wiring. It's overkill, but that's how I like my cooling system.

 

This is heartbreaking
Thanks for your insight though.

 

I must be doing something wrong. Never found a need for aftermarket fans. We use the just the OEM main on the race cars, both OEM fans and cars with A/C.

 

When I had the a/c condenser/big intercooler/radiator/oil cooler all in the front with a stock bumper/stock hood, my car would not run thermostat temp on the hottest of summer days in Houston when driven hard. Big fans helped, but moving the a/c condenser made a much much bigger difference.

 

I don't know how you do stock fans with any aftermarket swaybar, does the 1.6 just have that much different geometry or something?

 

What radiator are you running? I run the stock fans on both NAs. The 1.8 has an RB swaybar along with a Ron Davis radiator. The 1.6 has the RB swaybar and brace along with a Koyo Hyper-V 36mm radiator. Good clearance on both.

I suppose if you're running a huge 55mm or something . . . .

 

Some cheap ebay 2.25"

I had to knock the condenser tabs over, beat on the upper support a little for some more clearance, so it wouldn't rub. The side brackets allow for adjustment, enough that I can move the rad forward enough to fit stock fans, but the stock 1.6 swaybar is probably 1/8" from hitting fan cage...

I believe I can cut the flanges off the stock fans and move them another 1/4" closer to the radiator, when I finally get a new sway bar.

Guess I probably should have bought a not fat radiator.

 

My FM sway bar worked fine with stock fans, only had like a quarter inch clearance between shroud and the bar though.

 

I've had no issues with swaybar contact with the stock fans, and with the big spal fans on the FM crossflow rad. #nb2lyfe

 

It was recently discussed in the 949 kswap thread. But NAs had different swaybar mounting points depending on year.

 

1.6 should have more rad fan clearance.

 

Save yourself the fan/sway interference issues, these days you shouldn't be running a big fat radiator anyways - The CSF cores are very affordable and will outperform all the traditional thickness-over-efficiency rads. Go with the standard vertical flow unit or the Supermiata crossflow, depending on your cooling needs. Only guys who should be running a thick radiator and dealing with a bit of fan clearancing these days are those with ALLOFIT cooling needs (TSE radiator).

 

Trimming the fan shroud to clear a tubular FSB with a TSE radiator is normal install procedure.

 

Speaking of CSF . . . they've built a bunch of Miata radiators with integrated oil coolers for Jackson Racing. Haven't seen them released yet. Is Goodwin going to carry those? Any word on release date? Really interested in one of those for the Silver car as I'd like to restore my OEM AC fan.