Rear mount radiator

[austinjjesus]

Hey guys, so I’m in the process of LS swapping a 2nd gen S10. With the LS in the engine bay there’s not a ton of room so I was going to fabricate a mount for the radiator in the tailgate (similar to rob mcgregor’s bellboy). Would a stock water pump be able to move fluid that distance or should I opt for something higher performance? And do you guys see any potential air flow issues if I use fans pulling air through the tailgate out the back? TIA

[cwylie]

I would think you would need some sort of lift pump on the return side at the low point so you're not relying on the stock water pumps vacuum to pull water all that distance.

[Vimes]

The folks that put LS engines in S10s mount the radiator forward of the core support, and there's room for it and an AC condenser up there. There's even enough room for turbocharging like this. You can go check out the V8s10.org forum to see how to do it. Highly technical site, or at least they were when I was a member about 10 years ago. Used to have a 1st gen S10 I was going to V8 swap until an idiot decided a 2 way stop intersection was a 4 way stop, and pulled out in front of me right as I was cruising through at 40MPH. Bent the frame, killed the project.

If the purpose is to move weight, the rad doesn't really weigh that much full of water. Moving the battery would be more effective.