radiator question

[hotsauce]

Would a rad in the stock grille on the rear of the car work? or is there too much negative pressure back there for it to cool correctly?

[spannermanager]

Originally Posted by hotsauce

Would a rad in the stock grille on the rear of the car work? or is there too much negative pressure back there for it to cool correctly?

No, please don't cut corners with an expensive project, up front is the only way... i say this but with a forked tongue, as i do use a pair of super bike rads under the parcel shelf, but they are part of a proven system as extra cooling to a more powerful engine upgrade going on, and are only for the track, as there is no fan assist and depend on extensive ducting, the main rad is still in the front. all coolant runs are in the tunnel, external pipes wont survive in racing....

[hotsauce]

Gotcha, the only reason i asked is because i will be running fenderless and im not sure what i can do to hide a radiator and lines. What about something in the side of the car with a Porsche-esque duct in the rear quarter panel?

Or better yet, a little scoop in the windshield like the 1/4 milers do, routed inside the roof to the rear, through the rad and out the grille on the back?

[spannermanager]

yes, something like that will work if your not hamstrung by rules and regulations, or it could be out the back in a 'wing', I've seen a buggy on here like that, or maybe shoptalk forums , do a search. but for me, that's too vulnerable,.. all you need is good air in and better air out, a nice high bleeding point somewhere in the line. i use front mount also for weight distribution, i also like a stock (ish) look to it all, until you look closely anyway..

[Rob]

From what I see most of you run a Super, which has a nice big nose to stuff a radiator.
I run a standard with a Golf GTI radiator up front, (EJ25 non-turbo), and the motor runs upto 210 degrees usually

Anybody here has pics of a radiator in a standard ?
Would an external oil cooler help ?

Rob.

[volkdent]

If the seam between the apron and floor of the tire well is cut, then the metal bent down to act as a duct, a lot of air can be forced/gathered.

Then the cool air has to be sealed/ducted to be forced through the rad.

Finally, the area behind the rad on the back wall of the spared tire and below the gas tank has to be swiss cheesed or at least opened up enough to allow the hot air to escape. A push fan can be added to the front of the rad, or if the rad can be placed away from the back wall, a pull fan behind, to get the airflow if not travelling.

You'll end up with a much more subtle look than the common "nostril" effect of cutting holes in the hood, much more sleeper. The area in the spare tire well is large enough to get a large radiator in, and a custom aluminum with enough water volume should keep it happy.

The 2 keys are:

- sealed ducting to trap and force any airflow through the rad and allow it to escape out the back side
- making sure you've completely eliminated any trapped air in the coolant line.



Here is one in action. It doesn't have enough ducting in my opinion, but they've cut the whole area out behind the rad. They went with the in-betwee aproach to air inlet by cutting out the front of the apron instead of the hood, but it's still obvious compared with just adjusting the floor of the tire well. He's running 280hp BTW.

[Rob]

Like this ?

[volkdent]

The cover and ducting on the second picture seems about right, but you don't have to have the air being forced from the front like that, it's ugly IMO. If you just scoop up the air going past the bottom you'll gather plenty, as long as it can only go through the rad. Trying not to repost here, but if the inside looks like that and the outside looks like this

and you've got a hole in the bottom of the spare tire well to let the air into the radiator chamber, you're good to go.

[Bug@5speed(US)]

Spanner any details on your drop links on the rear sway bar.. can you PM me so not to disrupt the thread?
Thanks
Alex

[Joel]

Originally Posted by Rob

From what I see most of you run a Super, which has a nice big nose to stuff a radiator.
I run a standard with a Golf GTI radiator up front, (EJ25 non-turbo), and the motor runs upto 210 degrees usually

Anybody here has pics of a radiator in a standard ?
Would an external oil cooler help ?

Rob.

Rob, what have you got in terms of vent openings into the radiator?

on my black 70 just had 3 holes cut out as big as possible and a small scoop underneath but it didnt hang down real low



also what is the setup with your pipework?

metal pipes underneath in the road draft have a huge effect on cooling