Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone had an OEM E36 radiator and thermostat housing sitting around and could give me the measurements for the inlets/outlets on both. I am looking into some radiator options, and I'm tired of paying $700-900 for E36-specific radiators for my racecar. I may make some brackets and start using more plentiful $200 generic racing radiators. But they come in many shapes and options - I have the size (height, width, thickness) identified, but I don't know for sure what the thermostat housing inlet/outlet diameter is and/or the inlet/outlet size on the rad. I need to order the right radiator and I also will likely have to order new hoses to go to/from the housing to the rad. Even though they will be on the same corners (upper left and lower right), the actual distance and fit will likely be different. I have an E36 here (my daily driver E36 M3), but I don't want to tear it apart just to get a few measurements. My racecar and spare parts (rads and thermostat housings) are in PA and I can't get to them for a week or so. Any help would be appreciated!!!

Cheers,

Vern

Got a brand new radiator in the box at home waiting to go on the wife's car. I'll do my best to measure it up this evening and post results.

Vern,
what is the cause for your need to r&r radiators frequently? Other than impact I can't think of a reason. I would be interested in
whatever kit you put together for future reference for my car.

Thanks! Since you have a rad there, could you also let me know how far down on the right side the bottom right outlet is? Thanks!

Vern - I have a stock plastic S52 t-stat housing sitting in a box in my garage. I can measure it for you...or you can have it and do whatever you want with it.

Vern,

I have a spare radiator in my garage. Feel free to come by and measure it to your heart's content.

Regardsm John

Mainly impact, not always with a wall or something, but often when you go off (or are forced off), I end up with my splitter and air damn torn off. On the way off and under the car, the splitter tray often smacks the rad or pushes it back into the crank or PS pulley. I know the "best" and "proper" solution is to just not go off or to not have an air damn/splitter so low..... But the splitter works way better the lower it is to the ground. And even in a non-contact series there is some pretty aggressive driving

I punctured my good 57mm PWR radiator at VIR in April after an off. I ran an all-aluminum Mitshumo (sp?) one at BeaveRun, but the car was running 205-210 instead of its normal 185-195, so I need to get back to an oversized radiator for those 95+ degree days. The oversized E36-specific PWR ones are not only on backorder, but have also gone up in price to about $1000. No thanks.... It's time for me to start using the generic Griffin circle-track radiators. Cheap, plentiful, prob work just as well as the $$$PWR ones, I just need to make a few brackets and cut some new hoses. At least that's the plan....

Vern "radiator killer" Anderson

Hey Vern,

Can you post a link to the site you found for the custom radiators?

Damon

Left and right outlet OD = 1-9/16 or just a scosche larger but not quite 1-5/8. Didn't have a metric scale!!!

Left side lower mounting bracket slot to centerline of left outlet = 16-5/8

Right side lower mounting bracket slot to centerline of right outlet = 6-7/16

Aluminum thermostat housing inlet/outlet OD = 1-11/16

Forgot my camera at work so no pics. Hope this helps!

Forgot to mention this is from a Bimmerworld cooling system overhaul kit. The radiator is a Behr unit.

Damon, they aren't custom, just generic racing radiators from Summit, universal ones like this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRI-1-25222-X/

Cheap, plentiful, easy to get, Summit ships next day cheap to my shop in Pittsburgh (75 mi from them). I'm trying to think of a good reason not to give it a try!!!

They make them in all shapes and sizes. I would need to get hoses of the right size and shape to attach it to the thermostat housing (Pegaus sells various sizes, shapes, lengths and even has some that convert one size to another). And I would have to either make sure the pressure cap on the rad was a high-pressure one or just have it welded shut, because my pressure cap is on my expansion tank. I have the self-bleeding E30-style expansion tank that is up in the rear passenger-side of the engine bay. I would need to make brackets for the rad, but that is just some Home Depot items modifed with a drill, vice, grinder and some bolts. The 2-3" generic radiators have the same or larger cores and larger tubes as the fancy rads, should be as much or more cooling capacity IMHO. So I may give it a try. If it doesn't work or doesn't cool well enough, I can always throw the stockish one back in there, that's only 20-30 min job in the paddock (and yes, unfortunately I know that.... LOL)

Plus I just like messing with my car and trying things.... I already rewired the entire thing, every single wire, and I also redesigned the power steering system. There isn't too much stock left on it anyway.....

Awesome, thanks very much!!!!!

Vern

Vern,

Thanks for the link. I had been looking for a custom radiator with the in/out on the passenger side and didn't think to look for a generic one. These are all opposite side in/out....but, like you said, if you can find the right hose you can make it work. I've been kicking around the idea of cutting out the front sheet metal and coming back with tube steel (or maybe even aluminum). This would allow me to then tilt the radiator 45 degrees and vent it through the hood while possibly lowering the center of mass.

The other thing I'm thinking about is a tear away splitter where it is not "hard" mounted to the bumper cover. It would need to be able to handle the vertical loads but, would tear away with a lesser horizontal load.....er.....impact. I'm thinking of a threaded rod design with turn-buckles for height adjustment. Opening up the front of the car would allow supports closer to the leading edge. My previous design allowed the splitter to fold under....but, it stayed attached. I love the GTS rule set.

Damon