Aluminum Radiators with 5 pass trans cooler! - Page 48

Electrophil · #**706** 03-30-2005, 08:38 PM

I'm proud to open my hood with the silicon hoses and aluminum radiator too!!

It's closing the hood and feeling it get hit that makes me squirm with embarrasment.

Did your's quit hitting the hood?

TomsSVX · #**707** 03-30-2005, 08:45 PM

i zipped the ears odd with my wheel and sanded it smooth. It no longer leaks and does not hit the hood. With the new caps PWR is making, we will be just fine. So they are doing what they need to do to make us happy, which just so happens to make me happy. We are happy shiny people

Tom

Electrophil · #**708** 03-30-2005, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomssvx

i zipped the ears odd with my wheel and sanded it smooth. It no longer leaks and does not hit the hood. With the new caps PWR is making, we will be just fine. So they are doing what they need to do to make us happy, which just so happens to make me happy. We are happy shiny people

Tom

Makes me soooo happy that we are all so happy

And that's just a happy thing.

I promise... as soon as this thing quits hitting my hood, I'll quit belly aching. I feel like everytime I close the hood, I'm beating my dog or something.

RojoRocket · #**709** 03-30-2005, 08:54 PM

Phil,
There were some signs that the cap was touching the hood (paint marred), but I certainly don't hear anything(remember I'm an AARP Member!) when dropping the hood closed. I think it's the remnants of the ears on the cap, and if it becomes a problem I can always use a punch to coax the metal of the hood-liner out of contact. It's so minor compared to some of the exhaust, intake and suspension bushings, etc I've had to "adjust" over the years I just don't see it as catastrophic. One opinion.

Glenn

Hohopirates · #**710** 03-30-2005, 11:39 PM

Phil,
I just took a hammer and a 3/8 extention and beat the inner lining of my hood a little. After I checked for clearance I touched it up and it's as good as new!!

Steve

Electrophil · #**711** 03-31-2005, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hohopirates

Phil,
I just took a hammer and a 3/8 extention and beat the inner lining of my hood a little. After I checked for clearance I touched it up and it's as good as new!!

Steve

Hey Steve!

I've been sitting here about 5 minutes in the reply screen....

I just don't know how to answer that.

If this was in any other thread, we'd all be cracking up right now.

#**712** 03-31-2005, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssnsltd

Most disappointing to see someone "in the business" blindly standing by manufacturer despite the facts. I thought you said you read this thread.

-They had a stock radiator ON HAND to get the measurements right.
-They did a test fit, the results of which they ignored.
-They are in the business of manufacturing radiators. Not like this is one guy in his garage with a pile of aluminum and lighter.

How do you figure we should congratulate them on an adequate job ? I should be happy I paid $475.00 for a part that mostly works? Better we should “eat” the radiator than a supposedly professional organization whose sole function is to make and sell radiators?

Granted we don’t need to storm the castle, but I sure won’t be sending any more of my money that way, nor do I expect to spend much at your shop based on your lack of concern for customer satisfaction.

I was going to ignore this post, but it irritates me so much each time I re-read it I feel compelled to respond.

I'm not blindly standing by anyone, nor does my role as a person "in the business" affect my position on this issue.

This radiator is a motorsport product, designed for race vehicles. It is not an OE replacement radiator that one would buy at the local PepBoys. If it fits in the stock location reasonably well and the stock fans can be adapted to it, then it does its job from a fitment standpoint. A great many aftermarket performance products require some minor adjustments to achieve proper fitment, and this is certainly the case here.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you didn't want a competition aluminum radiator, you should have purchased an OEM unit and saved yourself a lot of money and hassle.

I am confident that PWR is doing their best to resolve the hood clearance issue. I will wait and see what they come up with, and I encourage all of you to do the same.

As for your grossly inappropriate comment about the company that I work for and our committment to customer service, I can refer you to a number of our customers who live in your immediate geographic area who would be more than willing to give you some insight into who we are and what we do here. Or you could surf over to NASIOC sometime and check out the Southeast Region forum.

AND FOR THE RECORD, I have not discussed anything with PWR about this thread or their plans to rectify the cap situation. My statements have been made based on my experiences with them as a company and the experiences of others who use their product in motorsport.

Regards,

Jason Porter

#**713** 03-31-2005, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ensteele

What might that be? $599.98 instead of the full $600.00?

j/k

You mean how much less than list? I can't say yet as the product is not yet available, I'll know more once PWR does their next production run. I can say this: not quite the group buy price but close.

Electrophil · #**714** 03-31-2005, 01:25 AM

My.... What a vicious circle this is. Raised tempers, etc. Luckily, the majority of the people who bought the radiators have a total of 3 posts tops in this entire thread. The silent majority if you will. This has save us from a huge slugfest.

On one hand we have the first paragraph of this thread that was repeated throughout. Hassle free, drop in OEM style. These exact words were repeated continuously from day one..... until a problem developed. Most of us bought the hassle free part as gospel.

On the other hand, we have the after argument of Performance parts never fit right, that's why they are performance parts. If you want them to actually "fit", then buy OEM.

Both have their points. Both can "hold water" to a certain degree.

I just wish my new radiator could do the same. That's all.

IF!! On the next run, they change the design to fit properly, the second argument simply negates itself. We will have the first performance product in history that actually fits what it was exclusively designed for. At that point, we are right back on why 40 of us have this radiator when they had an OEM "onsite", and a prototype was developed for getting feedback on. Of course, all of this way prior to the production run of 40 radiators.

Are they changing them?

If nobody wants to take accountability, and want to blame everything else...including us for not understanding the first 3 sentences of this thread, then fine. What is the solution?

It's now been 2 weeks of adding water to my car daily, and then carefully closing the hood afterwards to preclude damage. It is frustrating. I'm watching my temp guage like a hawk. It's frustrating, and it's not resolved.

Where is the solution. That's all I want. A solution. How come they haven't called? And have they been cleared to get into this thread and explain their side of the story? We haven't heard from them directly at all. Where are "they"?

They could stop this entire thread, and all the "yits for yats" by just typing on the thread what happened, and how they are going to fix it.

#**715** 03-31-2005, 07:39 AM

Phil,

My understanding is that people are upset because they were given an expectation of perfect OEM fitment.

I suspect that this was a case of excitement on the part of the original thread starter, what PWR probably said was that it would fit in the factory location. Technically speaking it would be impossible for the unit to be a perfect OEM replacement, as it is thicker than the OE unit.

Please don't take my comments out of context... I have not suggested that "performance parts never fit right"... I said that often some adjustment is required to ensure perfect fitment with non-OE parts.

And just to be clear, I bought mine through the group-buy just like the rest of you. I have my $450 tied up in this radiator too, I'm just not looking for someone to blame if a mounting hole is 2mm off or the cap is the wrong shape.

Is the PWR fitment problem a screw-up? Absolutely. I haven't suggested anything otherwise. I simply take issue with the folks that want to send back 40 radiators and demand new product for free, when they do in fact have a radiator that works and can easily be adapted to fit, with the exception of the cap, which is a simple oversight and can be replaced with a round style cap from the local NAPA anytime the owner wishes. I'll do an experiment tonight and see if the "earless" style Subaru caps from the STi radiator will fit.

Is it a pain in the ass? Sure! Hell, buying them was a pain in the ass! They came all the way from the other side of the world and we had to wait three months!

That's where I come in, going forward... we'll be able to supply these at a good price, with no fitment issues, hopefully with no production delay. I'm not sure why I was attacked for that, but c'est la vie.

By the way, here are some links to a few of our latest projects:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=741615
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=739651
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=743163
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=741611

We just hit 400hp and 429lb/ft last night with a Deadbolt TD-06H 20g on a weak 60/40 mixture of pump 93 and C12. That thread will go up this morning sometime.

Thanks,

Jason Porter

TopSpeed
2130 Brandon Trail
Alpharetta, GA 30004
tf 866-94-SPEED

TomsSVX · #**716** 03-31-2005, 08:07 AM

Tom's Guide to Solving Radiator Fitment Issues

Problem #1- Fan tabs are too low
- Bend them up
- drive a screw w/ washer through the bottom of tabs into the plastic mount.

Problem #2- Overflow fitting too small.
- Cut the hose back to fresh(unused) portion and slide it all the way up over the hex

Problem #3- Top neck is too long
- Deal with it or cut it back and flare it yourself.

Problem #4- Cap hits the hood.
- Cut the ears off the cap
- Get a cap without ears
- Shave down lower mounting bushings(drops radiator down further)
- Wait till PWR sends out their new caps
- Bang on your hood with a BFH

Listen guys, I know these should not have these problems to begin with but what are ya gonna do. Not everything is perfect and I am simply happy to know that my radiator will not crack in 10 yrs. With the solutions to the problems that I listed above, all the fitment issues can be taken care of and forgotten with just about no money spent(unless you buy a new cap). We can argue all day why these don't fit and how we got ripped off, but to tell you the truth they do fit. They fit in the car fine, just got issues that deal in mm. These issues have solutions which I listed above. Many have several different solutions to each issue which depends on the personal preferance or ability. I am not gonna throw a fit over my radiator, I want to help the people who have them now and hope that PWR will correct these wrongs for the next batch. We are lucky to have these and don't you think differently because you know we are. Stop complaining, stop tearing eachother apart, and just fix your stuff and get on with your lives.

Tom

mbtoloczko · #**717** 03-31-2005, 08:46 AM

I've been following this thread all along, and almost got in on the group buy. I think the people that are unhappy have every reason to be so. Here are a few quotes from early posts by Chris in this thread:

---
"Not only will the people who order these radiators get a hassle free install and years of trouble free use,..."

"Drop in replacement: Yes. Attention to detail on this build will result in a nice easy drop in replacement."

"1> Warranty, YES. One (1) year workmanship warranty."

"Radiator update. The modifications to make sure or proper hood clearance are being made and when the batch is finished they will be enroute to the US."

"They are probably doing the filler neck modification for clearance."
---

First, I feel bad for Chris because it seems that PWR didn't shorten the filler neck.

As for what to do about the radiator, PWR does apparently have a 1 year warranty on workmanship. This would seem to be a workmanship issue, especially since they were fully aware of the clearance problem. So one option would be to pursue a warranty repair to the radiator. OTOH, the radiator does seem to acceptably well in other respects, and it seems that with some minor mods to the radiator cap and/or hood under support, the clearance issue can be resolved. It seems that if you don't want to mod the car itself, you can mod the radiator by taking to your local machine shop and having them shorten the filler neck for probably something like $50. Its perhaps not as satisfying as pursuing a warranty repair, but you'll have the car up and running sooner and you can get on with driving your SVX.

For those of you who are intent on getting a correct radiator from PWR, have you contacted PWR?

lhopp77 · #**718** 03-31-2005, 09:16 AM

What is PWR's current fix status? I am waiting for that, but if there is no action soon I am going the warranty route for the two units I have here. I have been watching and waiting for action based on reported problems with the units. I didn't think they needed another voice saying the same things while they addressed the problem, but I would like to see some action from them with an ongoing status.

My 2 cents worth.

Tom---your post is a NON solution for a supposedly quality product.

Lee

#**719** 03-31-2005, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhopp77

What is PWR's current fix status? I am waiting for that, but if there is no action soon I am going the warranty route for the two units I have here. I have been watching and waiting for action based on reported problems with the units. I didn't think they needed another voice saying the same things while they addressed the problem, but I would like to see some action from them with an ongoing status.

My 2 cents worth.

Tom---your post is a NON solution for a supposedly quality product.

Lee

Why don't you just call them on the phone and ask them?

Electrophil · #**720** 03-31-2005, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porter

Why don't you just call them on the phone and ask them?

I haven't called them due to my disposition. I'm concerned with the politically correct aspect.

Trust me, I called enough prior to arrival to fill my quota. Made up and emailed excel spreadsheets when they weren't sure who ordered, the works.

But a couple have called, and reported they are making a cap. Supposedly this will shorten our radiators.

I'm assuming the new design will be sans spring to shave off 2mm.

Why are we responsible? Why aren't they calling us?

The idea of taking the car to a machine shop and having them shave down the neck sounds reasonable. But I'm not paying for it, and I'm not removing it from the car.

At least we've finally moved on to finding a solution!