I am putting a new radiator in my car and I am gonna switch to AN lines, but I dont know what size to use. Also do you just use a steel weld fitting for the water pipe or is there another way of doing this. Thanks

 

I would use -16 but you can use -12. Here is a nice part STM sells that may help you.
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.co...water_neck.htm

 

I was thinking -16 was the size to use. What should I do about the water pipe?

 

stm will sell you the hole kit call them up no guess work or you can order the an fittings from whoever and the weld on fitting from vibrant.

 

Hey guys, wanted to bring this back. I have a question.

I believe I'm running -12 upper and lower hose on my BR half radiator but experiencing overheating problems so I converted back to the stock lines (since they're larger in I.D.). My car does not overheat anymore now. But I really want to go back to -AN lines. Will bigger lines always provide better cooling than smaller lines? I'm thinking yes, want to try using -16 lines now. Thanks for the help.

 

Bump

 

You're restricting flow from the radiator so it sure sounds reasonable .. The stock lines are double the diameter. -16 would probably be better but honestly IMHO that's still less than stock flow. How can you go back and forth to an- stock lines on the same radiator without still having to pass thru the an bung that's welded?

What conditions did it overheat?

 

i have a ff hta86 with the br half radiator and havent had any overheating at all but i have not put it to the test either!

 

Well is was overheating until I converted from the -12 to the stock lines and heat wrapped my exhaust manifold, o2 housing, and dump tube. After all of that my temps are stable now. I'm just not in love with the stock lines. I was hoping -16 lines would flow as much as the stock lines. It was just overheating at idle and street driving.
That's good to know. If -16 lines don't flow as much as stock then I'll just get a new BR half radiator, or even CBRD, but keep the stock lines.

It's also good to note that I just sent my manifold, o2 housing, and dump tube to Swain Tech. I'm hope the White Lightning and -16 lines will keep my car from overheating.

 

Anything less than stock size is a restriction on the system. I cannot comprehend why people would use anything less than OEM size on a street car, however many people do it for the AN 'look' I guess...

 

I did it only for the look

I use -12 on a full size Koyo without any issues because I trusted the fact that STM used -12, but now looking back I feel -16 would be the way to go.

 

I did the same thing. STM suggested -12 to me but I was still overheating. I'm hoping Swain Tech and -16 lines work.

 

you can us -20 an but it gets expensive

 

i use a -12 upper -16 lower never had a single problem but i am also using a full size rad i would suspect your problem would lie with your fan you need a bigger fan to help the rad do its job sure factory hose helps but since you perfer the look of an fittings and line like myself i would get a better fan a spal or fal the biggest you can fit and build a shroud for it i did what i just suggest to you on my turbo hondas and they have no air flow in the front like evos and ive never had a problem good luck.

food for thought must guys who run rotary motors and road race use electric water pumps and they all use -16 as well and those cars are known t run hot and over heat from the factory.

 

UPDATE:

After daily driving my car this week, I found that there is pressure being built up right before the upper coolant hose (-12an), and blowing off the rubber line on the back of the thermostat housing. I have no HG issues or anything of the sort. This for me confirmed my suspicion of the -12 upper line being a restriction. I am going to do a -16an setup and report back.

Figured I'd chime in with that bit of new information.