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2017 GTi PP at VIR

reverend_sean

Go Kart Champion
Location
Pittsburgh
I just emailed them to see if it's available separately outside a BBK.
It will be interesting to see what they say! It looks like their venting set up is more or less built around their BBK...the caliper bracket and air tube mount look like one piece, the little breather vent that sits over the pads must be securely attached to the caliper. But I do look forward to hearing what they have to say. I would love to see their install instructions just to see how it all goes together, routing, etc...
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
Do they have any installation instructions.

The caliper duct wouldn’t work for me, but I’m interested in the grill duct and the other big baseball glove duct. I need to see how that is all packaged on the car.
 

tripleS

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Las Vegas
Car(s)
15 GTI PP \ 16 GT4
Catching up to your adventure here, looks exciting @Mini7! To followup with the cooling concerns as I've been through a similar adventure. I moved out west, and to help keep IATs a bit more under control, and potentially offset some of the loss going to 91 ACN gas :rolleyes: I installed an intercooler (AMS). It's been good piece of mind though I'm still on the OEM tune. Some of my takeaways after doing that in hindsight...

A) Definitely feel I should have upgraded the radiator while doing the IC job, as it's right there and would have added minimal extra work; drain coolant, disconnect hoses, replace rad, reconnect hoses, refil, bam. So great call doing both at the same time! but maybe even more importantly as you note:
B) Ensure the top clips for the radiator to the IC stay put. Mine wasn't super tight and rattled slightly, but seemed in there fine. Not long after I was at Auto Club, first session the second day, and hit a pothole by some curbing which knocked the top clips out, radiator rocked back, hopped off the lower IC mounting slots... and caused the lower coolant coupler to rub against the belt. One lap later, instant loss of coolant pressure on track, and then a fun extra day in cali taking care of all that. Souse foam, dowels, whatever to make sure it won't pop off. I now have extra large heavy-duty cable ties (like these) on either side going around radiator brackets on the side, and some spots on the upper grill to "hold it firmly" against the back of the intercooler.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
Hey I appreciate the heads up. The top clip is not a tight or snug fit from CSF. No real installation instructions. I have been collecting tips and great nuggets of information.

I will collate some of the curveball tricky bits. The straight forward stuff is covered in a collection of “How To’s”

Been focused on my brake cooling duct project. That’s another tight packaging puzzle. Work and weather has not played ball either. But I will get it done.

Foam, and shims have been suggested. I considering whether RTV would make a good vibration resistant, flexible void filler. Dissemble may be a little tricky. Cut it out clean and reapply. The tab on the CSF radiator is bolted onto the radiator so undo the nut and you can separate it from the IC. That tab is pretty flimsy though. So limited movement is key to prevent it from fatiguing and breaking.

Do you have any pictures you can share?
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
my fireproof GreatStuff foam has been holding up great, honestly. I just checked it the other day when replacing my battery, and all looks fine. The stock radiator into the Unitronic intercooler was slapping around A LOT. I tried heavy duty metal zip ties on the bottom, but they kept breaking, so I ended up using bike cable wire (stranded steel) and twisting it up in the counter direction to the cable stranding. That's holding much tighter than the zip ties ever did.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
CSF Radiator & IE IC

Ok so I got everything removed without any major issues. A few of the plastic clips were a pain and took a lot longer to get unstuck. Broke one of the air deflector clips but I will get that zip tied going back on. More importantly I managed to get the IC mounting clips unstuck without breaking them. Humble mechanics removal tip helped but it is still difficult to remove.

I was hoping to install the IC and radiator as one unit but that will make it heavy and awkward to install as one person.

Something I will be doing is install a shorter bolt in the center brace.

Edit: The front AC condenser is beat to sh1t. Tried straightening the fins but it would take forever.

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q74

Go Kart Newbie
Car(s)
R
CSF Radiator & IE IC

Ok so I got everything removed without any major issues. A few of the plastic clips were a pain and took a lot longer to get unstuck. Broke one of the air deflector clips but I will get that zip tied going back on. More importantly I managed to get the IC mounting clips unstuck without breaking them. Humble mechanics removal tip helped but it is still difficult to remove.

I was hoping to install the IC and radiator as one unit but that will make it heavy and awkward to install as one person.

Something I will be doing is install a shorter bolt in the center brace.

Edit: The front AC condenser is beat to sh1t. Tried straightening the fins but it would take forever.

Next time bumper is off and you want to give it a try, tweezers I found work great. Yea, I found with the CSF+IC, that the bolt was scary close to the condenser, replaced it with a much smaller bolt as well.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
It’s an M6x16. I need to go check my hardware stash because I went with the shortest option I had and it only poked out the other side by a few mil. So plenty of clearance. The larger IC does push the AC condenser right to the front of the radiator support shroud. The photo was will the stock IC/radiator.

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Edit: M6x16mm. For reference they are the same size as the bolt for the front ABS speed sensor. See my CSS front swivels which will be kitted out with new wheel bearings and ball joints.

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Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
CSF Radiator & IE IC Install Update:

So after installation yesterday I was not happy with the clearance available for the main engine harness and the upper radiator hose. Without modifications and rerouting the harness, the front bumper would not bolt back to the chassis. FYI- I made use of the supplied IE bolt and chose to keep the front bumper in the forward service position.

This is not a super complicated disassembly but it is tricky and will try your patience. Lots of plastic clips to unbuckle and for a newby this may prove challenging. It’s the first time I have taken the front clip off the Mk7. The IC clips are a pain and I can see how they can easily be broken and at $50 a piece they are stupid expensive for what they are. One of the upper radiator clips just did not want to unclip. One side, a piece of cake and the other did not want to come undone. Clipping the AC condenser tabs back into the IE IC proved challenging as well. It’s a tight fit and you will need to line them up perfectly and tap them in.

I digress: long story short at 4:30pm yesterday I made the executive decision to put the stock radiator back in.

Before some radiator fan shroud trimming.
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The lower plastic IC pipe was not allowing me to seat the front radiator shroud/front bumper back onto the chassis rails. Passenger side would bolt up but I had 3/8 to 1/2” interference on the driver side. For reference the upper radiator is not connected to the radiator.

I trimmed a fan brace that the IC pipe was hitting. This provided the necessary clearance but then the fan center was hitting the main engine harness. I cut the zip ties in 3 to 4 mounting locations and rerouted the harness over the back of the starter solenoid. I think there is room to reroute below the IC charge pipe from the turbo but I was on a time crunch and didn’t explore this option. I was able to bolt up the bumper to the chassis rail with these modifications. This left left very little wiggle room to prevent chafing of the upper radiator hose and on the engine harness. On the track the engine will be rocking on the engine and trans mounts.

Upper hose clearance with the bumper bolted to the chassis rail:
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After rerouting the engine harness:
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After some clearance trimming:
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IC outlet to intake:
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This is not a drop in fit. At least the combination of IE IC and CSF radiator. The stack up width backs the radiator fan into the engine bay causing some packaging issues. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has successfully completed these two mods together. If so, how?

Folks, I wish I had better news for those that track on a regular basis. Especially in hotter climates. I wouldn’t be comfortable recommending this combination until I can make it fit safely. Heck, if the IC wasn't already clipped in and such a pain to get unclipped, I may have put the stock IC back in and kept the CSF radiator.

If the header tank was designed to be flush with the wider core it would create another 3/8” of much needed clearance.
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GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
You've convinced me to pay a shop to do this install when I'm ready.
 

q74

Go Kart Newbie
Car(s)
R
Is the R coolant piping and rad core support that much different to the GTI? Wiring harness needed to be "adjusted" slightly, and A/C condenser piping is RIGHT up aganst the coolant outlet sensor, but otherwise fitment was straightforward. AMS IC (which I belive is same thickness as IE IC) + CSF Rads (Main+Aux).
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
The R has a twin fan shroud so there may be better clearance for the IC charge pipe to the intake. That runs vertically down the center.

I had the same tight clearance with the radiator outlet and AC condenser piping, but that should be sufficient to work.

Could you share some photos of the clearance you have on your R-install.

On my 2017 Sport, things were still too close after making some adjustments. For my comfort and peace of mind anyway.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
Formula 1 what the frack! Was looking forward to the start of the season.

Forgot about the wide track F1 cars from years gone by, where they had greater mechanical grip and were less aero sensitive.

 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
NCM event got canceled, and my city is not to gather in groups greater than 10 :(. Everyone is hopeful about the may events, but i think at this rate we won't be on track until July!
 
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