I'm running a 5.3L with an LS1 intake. Tempersture stays between 200 - 205 with the Taurus fan running on low speed when needed.
Stepping up to a Vortec (LM7)
- Thread starter badsamaritan
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I'm running a 5.3L with an LS1 intake. Tempersture stays between 200 - 205 with the Taurus fan running on low speed when needed.
I put my vortec into my fj75 cruiser, its a 6.0l lq4 but pretty much the same engine as your lm7, its still an unfinished project but its been running for about a year and its done about 600km, I'm still undecided on radiators and have been using the stock 4 core 70 series radiator which is very simular in size to a 40 series radiator, the distance between the viscous fan and the radiator is about 200-250mm 8-9 inches and I havent got any shroud yet meaning the fan will be doing little in the way of cooling, the thermostat opens around 175 ish and the truck has been running 185-200 so far and we're currently just at the end of our summer here
No mods what so ever. Pulled the stock radiator and cradle, unbolted the old radiator, cleaned up the frame and dropped this one in. Sits at the same depth as the stock radiator on the engine side and does not protrude past the front of the mount. Inlet and outlet are in the factory location as well. It also comes with a transmission cooler, but I will not be using it - plan on using the typical hayden style cooler.
JTeeg's build is exceptional. Extreme attention to detail.
JT's approach may be the most cost effective. Four row Champions are the best bang for your buck in the aluminum drop in market. Check eBay for this item.
Picked ours up through these guys - www.championradiators.net as they have the same price as the other Champion dealer, but offer free shipping.
- Thread starter
- #147
I looked at the champions last night, and that is a great price. I couldn't believe what BTB wanted for theirs, throw in the fan shroud, the fan, and the clutch and you are over $1000!
I ordered a new 4 row Champion this morning, I'll start working on the clutch and the fan today as well.
Thanks to everyone for their input and ideas, I appreciate it
I ordered a new 4 row Champion this morning, I'll start working on the clutch and the fan today as well.
Thanks to everyone for their input and ideas, I appreciate it
Thumbs up!
Thanks!
- Thread starter
- #150
Got some small things out of the way today:
Heater hoses used to come through the firewall and attache to hose barbs and leak all over the place. The FJ has a generic vintage air unit that has -10AN O-ring (or pilot port?). Regular AN fittings didn't work and I wanted to run the hoses to bulkhead fittings on the firewall. I found these little ferrules (on the left in the pic) that convert the pilot port fittings to just regular AN fittings.
ferrule goes into the brass port in the background
Heater hoses will be -10AN from the heater to the firewall, then regular hose barbs on the engine side of the firewall. Will be nice to not have any coolant leaks in the cab anymore.
Also made a small change to the fuel return. I found the correct thread pitch fitting for the port on the side of the tank in another build thread on here. RockCod posted a PN of the fitting and I picked one up to give it a try.
The fitting is 1/4" BSPP to 3/8th's JIC
I used it to replace the hokey fitting I made with a F motor carb nut and a 5/16 to 6AN tube adapter.
Heater hoses used to come through the firewall and attache to hose barbs and leak all over the place. The FJ has a generic vintage air unit that has -10AN O-ring (or pilot port?). Regular AN fittings didn't work and I wanted to run the hoses to bulkhead fittings on the firewall. I found these little ferrules (on the left in the pic) that convert the pilot port fittings to just regular AN fittings.
ferrule goes into the brass port in the background
Heater hoses will be -10AN from the heater to the firewall, then regular hose barbs on the engine side of the firewall. Will be nice to not have any coolant leaks in the cab anymore.
Also made a small change to the fuel return. I found the correct thread pitch fitting for the port on the side of the tank in another build thread on here. RockCod posted a PN of the fitting and I picked one up to give it a try.
The fitting is 1/4" BSPP to 3/8th's JIC
I used it to replace the hokey fitting I made with a F motor carb nut and a 5/16 to 6AN tube adapter.
- Thread starter
- #151
Also have been doing some homework on electric fans and found a cool setup. The fan is off of a 92 Volvo 740 v6 wagon. The fan motor is the same as the popular 2spd Ford Taurus fan but it is completely detachable from the fan shroud, allowing you to bolt it to what ever custom shroud you wanted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-954_wpRWsQ
The cost for a new one is about 90-120 if you shop around. I'm not positive I am going to go this route but it is definitely worth looking into. Here is a pic of it detached from the shroud:
http://www.maniacelectricmotors.com...607--9142880&gclid=CNyMjqiegLYCFY9AMgodQD4ABA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-954_wpRWsQ
The cost for a new one is about 90-120 if you shop around. I'm not positive I am going to go this route but it is definitely worth looking into. Here is a pic of it detached from the shroud:
http://www.maniacelectricmotors.com...607--9142880&gclid=CNyMjqiegLYCFY9AMgodQD4ABA
- Thread starter
- #152
Got a little bit done this weekend.
Got the bulkhead fittings in the mail and installed them on the firewall
They are 5/8" hose barb on one side and #10 on the other side. I need to call vintage air and see they make a similar fitting but for 3/4" hose. If not I have found a Gates hose adapter that will do it.
Also did some work on the -10 AN heater hoses for inside the cab. I did all of my initial measurements with having the bulkhead fittings so I didn't know how far they would go into the cab. Turned out to be quite a bit. I may try re-doing the hoses to where they use 90* fittings off of the firewall, and 45* fittings off of the heater. It will make for a real short hose but I think I can route it against the firewall and have them be a bit more out of the way. With how high my seats put you in the cab I don't think it would be an issue either way. The passenger is going to smack their knee on the pcm long before they touch the heater hoses.
Got the bulkhead fittings in the mail and installed them on the firewall
They are 5/8" hose barb on one side and #10 on the other side. I need to call vintage air and see they make a similar fitting but for 3/4" hose. If not I have found a Gates hose adapter that will do it.
Also did some work on the -10 AN heater hoses for inside the cab. I did all of my initial measurements with having the bulkhead fittings so I didn't know how far they would go into the cab. Turned out to be quite a bit. I may try re-doing the hoses to where they use 90* fittings off of the firewall, and 45* fittings off of the heater. It will make for a real short hose but I think I can route it against the firewall and have them be a bit more out of the way. With how high my seats put you in the cab I don't think it would be an issue either way. The passenger is going to smack their knee on the pcm long before they touch the heater hoses.
- Thread starter
- #153
Also got the fan ordered and a new drive by wire pedal assembly coming to try and get a better fit.
- Thread starter
- #154
Radiator got here yesterday and is a real nice piece, I also got the Volvo 2speed Fan relay setup off of ebay for $35. Not sure if I will use it but it was worth looking into. Also found a set of hoses to go from the water pump to the firewall. They have 90* elbows off of the water pump. One is 5/8" all the way and the other starts at 3/4" then reduces to 5/8"
PN's are:
Gates 18078
Gates 28471
Here's a pic of them in a thread:
http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=12149.0
PN's are:
Gates 18078
Gates 28471
Here's a pic of them in a thread:
http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=12149.0
- Thread starter
- #155
bought some 316 SS tubing in 3ft sticks and a 37* flaring tool and made some brake lines to replace the leaking ones off of the master cylinder. Pretty happy with the flaring tool, and how they turned out. I won'tbe nominated for a Ridler award, but they will work.
All the parts I dropped off for powdercoating are done and I'll be picking them up tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some garage time and install the running boards and brackets. Still waiting to hear on the radiator and the fan shroud.
All the parts I dropped off for powdercoating are done and I'll be picking them up tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some garage time and install the running boards and brackets. Still waiting to hear on the radiator and the fan shroud.
- Thread starter
- #156
Noticed the factory harness has an extra lead on both the pos and neg battery cables. I picked these up from the local speed shop so that I can add accessories easily down the road. They are made by painless performace
Also got my stainless tubing and 37* flaring tool in and made some new brake lines for the front. Came out ok, for being hand bent. That Rigid brand tool I bought is awesome though, works really well and is super easy to use. I got some of the powdercoated pieces back and have started re-installing them. Hoping to get the radiator and shroud back this week so I can wrap up the cooling system.
Also got my stainless tubing and 37* flaring tool in and made some new brake lines for the front. Came out ok, for being hand bent. That Rigid brand tool I bought is awesome though, works really well and is super easy to use. I got some of the powdercoated pieces back and have started re-installing them. Hoping to get the radiator and shroud back this week so I can wrap up the cooling system.
- Thread starter
- #157
Removed the heater so I can install the TAC module onto the firewall behind the intake.
I was pretty limited as to where I could put it, so I tried to mount it to where it could get some decent airflow.
Hung the rest of the body panels and installed the hood. Things aren't lining up well, so I will have to spend some time there. I'm thinking since I replaced all of the body bushings maybe the tub is a bit off kilter. I'll have to loosen some of them up and see if I can make everything line up a bit better.
Still no word on my fan shroud so going to look into that and see what the deal is.
I was pretty limited as to where I could put it, so I tried to mount it to where it could get some decent airflow.
Hung the rest of the body panels and installed the hood. Things aren't lining up well, so I will have to spend some time there. I'm thinking since I replaced all of the body bushings maybe the tub is a bit off kilter. I'll have to loosen some of them up and see if I can make everything line up a bit better.
Still no word on my fan shroud so going to look into that and see what the deal is.
