MK2 supra cooling upgrade.

[CELICASUPRA7M]

hi all. i'v recently been doing some work to my 7m powered ma61 (previously owned by Sam aka NEGATIVEBOOST) And am trying to get it to runs cooler for track duties. basically i want to be able to thrash it all day and not spend the whole time staring at gauge!!!
So far i'v fitted ACL composite head gasket,
arp head studs
painted cam covers red (+10kws)
new water pump
new radiator cap 0.9bar
drilled a couple of holes in thermostat
had the radiator professionally cleaned
new clutch hud for engine fan
speco temp gauge in top hose (hottest part of motor)

once its warmed up i can cruise around at around 85degc
but after a half hearted burnout or circle work the temps will climb to 100degc at which point i stop and go for a drive around till it cools back down, 5mins tops

im thinking maybe i need a spanky alloy radiator or maybe another fan... any thoughts?
when your sideways wideopen it must be hard for air to pass through radiator?
any advice would be gratefully recieved

[RObErT_RaTh]

My old 7MGTE MA61 had:

Ex-V8Supercar PWR aluminium radiator w/ Falcon EL/EF twin thermofans. Wired through a couple of relays and Tridon 82-87C temp switch, independant of ignition. Toyota 82C thermostat

Never had any problems with cooling

[CELICASUPRA7M]

Ah ok, so maybe a standard MK3 radiator is not up to the job. Where would i get hold of a radiator like the one you mentioned? and would it fit with out modifying the front of the car?
thanks very much

[thechuckster]

"drilled a couple of holes in thermostat" - this wont help you much

fwiw: MZ10 and similar had 3-core radiators - tho anything of that age will probably need re-coring - once done, and with suitable fan or thermos and the correct thermostat, they'll cope with motors up to 1j-gte.

[Quint]

Could always try an rig up an old hilux radiator, those things are epic and manage to keep diesels cool while laboring under heavy load all day.

Failing that, ~52mm aluminum radiator works wonders for my brothers RC gt4.

[CELICASUPRA7M]

The holes in thermostat were mainly to help bleed air out of the system.
I understand that once the thermostat opens it will make little differece to flow. probably wouldnt hurt to get a new thermostat.
the cars been modded to have a mk3 radiator so i should be ably to get a aftermaket mk3 alloy rad and bung strait in. maybe with shrouded thermos???
V8 supercar one sounds nice tho. probably made from un-obtainiam lol!

[thechuckster]

thermos + shrouds would be very sensible.

[RyleyMA61]

shrouding and undertray will do wonders too

make sure all the air going in the front of the car passes through the radiator really does help

www.autospeed.com has a few articles on how to do it. i made mine from rubber.

ive done trackdays in mine and been good as gold, except for when the headgasket let go

[thechuckster]

what he said ^^ the undertray plays vital part in healthy air flow thru the radiator.

it's annoying when working on the car, but makes a difference to cooling.

[naten]

i got a all alloy radiator from china, cost 199 delivered, looks the part and the 1jz only goes over 100 on 40 deg days.

ive gutted my air con gear though, i think the ma61s suffer from poor airflow at the front.

cheers

[Draven]

definitely a better (and new) radiator to start matters. that may mean you need thermos as well.

[CELICASUPRA7M]

Sounds good guys. There is already an undertray fitted which goes from the radiator back to the x member.
Might grab a falcon twin fan setup from the wreckers and fit it to one of these alloy radiators.
I like the idea of ditching the old radiator even if the shop did say its a good one!
cheers
Will