Big core rad needed

[Nissanman]

My Stylus came with a standard black plastic topped thin and small ali rad (not sure what it's from).

Just spoke to Radtec. They do a radiator for £235 which does up to 250bhp. The next one up is £400 to 400bhp. My car will be around 280-300bhp …. Would you risk the £235 one and put some water weter in, or pay the extra £165 ……

[stylussprinter]

My Stylus came with a standard black plastic topped thin and small ali rad (not sure what it's from). Now I'm going to be running nearly 300bhp though it I'm fairly sure it wont be up to the job.

So the question is, does anybody know a reasonably priced alternative, as the only thing I can find that I know will do the job ok is the 3 core Caterham racing one which is £320.

The only cheap suggestion I can make is to locate a powerful deisel powered cars rad' . I'm using a passat deisel radiator which has in and out pipes to the passenger side. I'm running 240bhp peak and never look like getting close to much over 90 degrees water temp' and that's under competition driving circumstances. Try 'Dial A Rad' on 07836735670 , he's a helpful guy and maybe could suggest what you need if you give him the dimensions. He supplied mine for the Stylus at 68 quid

[Nissanman]

That's a great idea, all give it a measure up tonite, cheers Rob.

[Pete&Matt]

i believe the rad is from a newer fiesta from Tim

[Antnicuk]

i am using a pace ali rad from an RS500 cosworth which came with 2 electric fans second hand on ebay. I paid £70. Seems to keep my rotary at 86 degrees.

Another option which would fit quite well is a stock Mazda Rx7 rad (3rd gen FD3s) or even better an uprated stock replacement one. It will come with 2 massive fans and keeps a 450 bhp rotary cool on the track. Ebay is king.

I dont believe this horsepower rating i'm afraid. My last track car was a 2nd gen rx7 running a dynoed 460 flwhp. I was using the stock rad and fan and it wasnt even a new one. I could go out on track for 45 minutes at a time and would never see over 100 degrees. That was with ambient temps of 30 degrees around the Nurburgring. Even on small UK tracks it had no problems. All i did was reposition it slightly and most importantly ducting it properly.

I assume you are turbo'd, the main thing is not to stick your intercooler in front of the rad, my last 3 cars i have avoided it and the air temps and water temps were much better for it.

[Nissanman]

I'm running a Pulsar GTR intercooler in front of the rad as there's nowhere else to put it, and I want a decent sized intercooler in a good position for lots of cool air. And with the pipes going down to the intercooler over the top of the rad I can't fit one in that's much wider than the fiesta one, and just a bit higher. I've got 570 x 400 to play with, so the RX7 rad wont fit, too big, as will be most other OEM rads that will produce enough cooling for the engine.

I've spoken to 'Dial a Rad' - very helpful chap, he's pricing me up a custom one from copper. It will be less than the £280 one he made for a Chevy V8 powered kit car, so may be worth going with.

Ant - what do you mean by: 'I dont believe this horsepower rating i'm afraid'. Wot, of the Caterham rads? I they supply these to racing Caterhams so should know what they'll cope with...

[Antnicuk]

Its just from my experience, I have seen people fit huge radiators and have over heating problems on the track (mainly caused by the front mount intercooler) yet i have seen stock rads cope with double the stock power.

How can a rad manufacturer say that their rad will cope with 250 bhp, there are so many variants that could effect how much heat an engine makes. A 4 litre V8 will make less heat than a 1.6 turbo charged engine or a small high reving high compression engine. EGTs and oil temps also effect how hot your water gets. Then there is the issue of the shape of the car, the opening to the rad, how well ducted it is, the size of the water system and how much water it takes. On my rx7, just fitting a number plate surround made my water temps increased by 3 degrees C on the same piece of road, on the same day at the same speed just because it sat in front of the opening to the rad by just 10mm more than the number plate on its own.

I can understand a company saying that in a specific car (ie Caterham) with a certain engine spec that their rad will do the job but other than that i wouldnt give them that much credit i'm afraid.

Is there any way you can consider a V mount system. Its a very common way of mounting the FMIC and the rad in rx7's as they suffer from overheating and high air temps. I fitted my last intercooler flat in the botom of the engine bay. The rad was verticle and the air that went in the front would either go through the rad or out under the car to the low compression area under the car. A few other people copied me on the rx7 club and they are more than happy. I'm not suggesting that you do this but there are several options. The last thing you want is to get it running is to have over heating problems.

Have you seen the way i have fitted mine?, i did it that way as the previous owner had already cut the hole in the front but it seems to work. If you do fit th i/c in front of the rad you will deifnately need a big rad

[hearbear]

I've fitted a twin core ali out of a volvo (not ure of the size Could measure tomorrow if yoy want) which a lot of guys have fitted for the V8's.

George

[Nissanman]

Ant - If you could post a picture that would be ideal. I can't imagine I will get the FMIC anywhere else now, as I've had the bonnet made to fit it and the pipework.

I know what you mean with the power figures, he's just going on NA Caterhams which will all be pretty much the same....

And George the dimensions would be really useful, thanks.

[Antnicuk]

Here are a few, you get the idea, although i agree, i wouldnt want to change all nice bodywork you have had done.

There are more pics in my re build thread but here are a few, the white stripy bit is the protective film on the aliminium ducting, just not pulled it off yet

[Nissanman]

That certainly looks like it will do the job - I'll have to take a look at my set-up a little closer, though I'm not keen on putting the rad in front of the intercooler without seperate airflow.

[Bikenuts]

Here's a quick shoot of how I'm planning my rad and cooler mount - the inter coolers an aftermarket RX7 one picked up cheap of flea Bay I'm planning on cutting a second hole in the front but haven't decided quite how - I quite fancy the sort of air intake / bulge you get on big Healys.

[stylussprinter]

Your rockers look like the original Sylva Chevette outers just like Furys were until recently --- what's the chassis

[Bikenuts]

Your rockers look like the original Sylva Chevette outers just like Furys were until recently --- what's the chassis

Yup; it's a 1995 Jeremy Phillips Chassis, It's spent 11 years with it's first owner and 2 with me and it's still not finished! Though I have spent most of the last 2 years redoing everything the first owner did - you may remember I mentioned at Stoneleigh I had a strange lean to one side; turns out I had 130lbs springs on one side and 180lbs on the other and that's just the latest c**k up I've found.

[stylussprinter]

Your rockers look like the original Sylva Chevette outers just like Furys were until recently --- what's the chassis

Yup; it's a 1995 Jeremy Phillips Chassis, It's spent 11 years with it's first owner and 2 with me and it's still not finished! Though I have spent most of the last 2 years redoing everything the first owner did - you may remember I mentioned at Stoneleigh I had a strange lean to one side; turns out I had 130lbs springs on one side and 180lbs on the other and that's just the latest c**k up I've found.

It really is quite staggering what stupid errors are made , they obviously take no care whatsoever in assembly --- they're all marked .