LQ4 into a 3rd Gen/1972 Nova by frojoe

5 minute(s) of a 891 minute read

I can't wait either! Been tossing around the idea of twins for a couple years, but I started doing research January this year and sometime mid-summer made up my mind on the subject.

Around that same time I took some pics of the car which I realize I forgot to add here, before I tucked it away to focus on other projects before getting serious with it. Pics include the new 275/40/18 Nitto NT-05 tires on the front, which are HOLY-F*** grippy...

10-22-2017

I'm on my my kinda-annual Maui vacation.. which awesomely enough is when I get my best car research done.. no distractions of work or friends back home, just reading and relaxing.

With removing the single turbo hotside crossover from the equation, I now have freed up a good 3+" of depth between the current radiator/fan setup and the next closest engine stuff, which will now be the waterpump pulley.

From looking back at my build thread and some measurement pics, looks like I can shoehorn a radiator of 31.5" overall width in between the frame horns. Assuming no subframe modifications (which I have no issue with doing, I'm just working with my baseline known constraints for now) a C&R dual-row radiator of overall size 31"x19" should fit, with a core size of 28"x18.6"x2.25". This core size would allow me to shoehorn in 16" and 14" fans as a dual fan setup, with the extra core height past the standard 15-16" high core. What I plan to do is place the rad closer to the hood, with ducting and paneling blocking off all areas of the core support to the hood. There's a good 1-2" high by maybe 48" long gap across the core support to the hoodthat I need to seal off so all that air turns into a high pressure zone in front of the core support. I'm going to completely hack up the core support to make this rad and a new intercooler fit.

 

For intercooler, I'm going to go with dual 2.5" (8.8 square inch x-sectional area) inlets on the bottom, feeding a vertical-flow intercooler, with a single 3.5" top outlet (8.9 square inch x-sectional area). I originally liked the idea of a single outlet in the center of the intercooler top, directly feeding the throttlebody, but I think the extra 3-4" of height in this area across the length of 30+" is too valuable as prime real-estate for the upsized radiator, to interrupt it and require a shorter radiator core by using a single top intercooler outlet.

 The common intercooler options these days seems to be Treadstone or CXRacing (or Bell, but $$ and totally custom cores) both have the appearance of China quality. I'm not expecting there to be a massive flow difference between a mid-level and cheapy intercooler, but I think I'd rather reduce my initial costs and get an appropriately sized bare core if I can, and sculpt my own end tanks. That being said, the Treadstone TRTT (25"x6"x3.5" core, 1000hp claimed capability) or TRTT9 (25"x9"x3.5" core, 1300hp claimed capability) intercoolers could work.. but for ~$5-550 USD I'm just not convinced..

The other possibility is just a core from Vibrant, which there are multiple options. One example that is the closest to the Treadstone size is 27"x6"x4.5" core that is claimed capable of flowing/cooling only 900hp..

Based on my ghetto MS Paint measurements of my grill area, ideally I'd like an intercooler core of 26-28" wide, around 8" high (I think it's about 7.5" between my bumper trim piece and the leading edge of the hood). I'm undecided whether 3.5" thick would cut it or 4.5" would be needed to help with pressure loss. I' thinking if there are 26-28"-width worth of flow path options for the air, and the air is only being jammed thru 8" vertical length of intercooler, then 3.5" thickness shouldn't be a restriction. However I'll have the room for 4.5" thickness. Just thinking out loud here I guess.