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Re-locating Radiator


LiftedHatchSubie
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Has Anyone re-located their radiator? If so, where did you re-locate it to?? Pics??

I'm thinking about relocating my radiator so I can shave the bottom mounts...and it seems like the extra radiator fluid/water would also help keep the temps down a little more, not that I'm really having temp problems. ~~Lucas

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i haven't done it.. but i've been thinking of bracing up the front end, cutting off the rad. supports, and then welding in some 2x2" 1/8" wall square tube in there.... a bit higher, there's about 1-2" of room you can move the radiator up before you start running into issues shutting the hood :brow:

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move the radiator to the where the spare tire sits and position it somewhere near there.then you can basicaly delete the material till you get to the lights.weld a brace into the front before you start cutting,aparently its under tension.

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move the radiator to the where the spare tire sits and position it somewhere near there.then you can basicaly delete the material till you get to the lights.weld a brace into the front before you start cutting,aparently its under tension.
I have an almost new radiator that I have used to see how it would fit in where the spare tire sits but found that there isn't quite enough room. I've been toying with the idea of moviong it all the way to the hatch area...somehow...:rolleyes: so far just a thought. ~~Lucas
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I will be relocating mine to the back of my brat in the bed to make room in the engine bay for the ER27. I just got back from the desert and i finally got to start working on it. I should have some kind of mock up for it soon.

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I will be relocating mine to the back of my brat in the bed to make room in the engine bay for the ER27. I just got back from the desert and i finally got to start working on it. I should have some kind of mock up for it soon.
sounds cool...get some pics of the mock up, I'd like to see how you mount it. ~~Lucas
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radiator.jpg

 

radiator1.jpg

 

radiator2.jpg

 

 

So anyway this is kind of what i was planing on doing for relocating my radiator to the bed of the brat. The black stuff is Carbon fiber (Tonneau cover and air channel). This isnt exactly to scale but it is what I plan on doing. I am also going to be mounting an aluminum fuel cell behind it along with my rear mounted battery box. What do you think?

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I know alot of toyota mr2 guys have done this with either their radiator and or their intercooler. The thing is, they have a mid-engine layout.

 

The plumming to the rear of the car from the front, inside the cabin i assume, seems like an awful lot. Not to mention you'll probably need to add an inline pump somewhere.

 

Mount it above the engine like an intercooler and modify the spare section area.Then you can use one of those sweet hood scoops.

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I already plan to use a seperate pump to run the coolant back to the rad. I really dont want to keep the rad in the engine bay. The problem with mounting the radiator above the ER27 is there is no room at normal suspension heights. I would have to lift it at least 6 inches for the rad to fit right. I am also trying to bring some of the weight to the back of the Brat. With the ER27 and its tran i am going to be picking up at least 200 lbs onto the from axle.

 

I know alot of toyota mr2 guys have done this with either their radiator and or their intercooler. The thing is, they have a mid-engine layout.

 

The plumming to the rear of the car from the front, inside the cabin i assume, seems like an awful lot. Not to mention you'll probably need to add an inline pump somewhere.

 

Mount it above the engine like an intercooler and modify the spare section area.Then you can use one of those sweet hood scoops.

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I dont plan on running the lines through the cabin. I am planning on running them under the car through a metal pipe with heat sink fins welded to it. This should help cool the coolant even before it gets to the pump and into the radiator.

 

the longer your tubes are the more problems you can have.how do you deal with the hot line exploding in the cabin?
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If youre gonna go that route and start welding fins onto things, wouldnt it be easier to fab up a horizontal rad and roof mount it. I saw a nice low profile one added under a plastic cowl on the roof of a mini at a demo derby a few years back. It looked kinda like a huge roof scoop but I never found out how well it worked though.:confused:

 

KELTIK

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with the mr2's the cars body are designed for something like that and the body shape allows for the flow of air around the vehicle to make it where it needs to go but doing something like that with a brat might not work so well....what if while driving the brat breaks the wind high enough that there wount be hardly any air flowing down to the bed there....would probably need a big scoop or something.......anyone have a wind tunnel we can do some testing in? :D ? just some thoughts.

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the longer your tubes are the more problems you can have.how do you deal with the hot line exploding in the cabin?

 

Excellent point here, on a Vanagon this is a big pain in the butt. Remember you will have to bleed the air out of the system for it to do any cooling/circulating.

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your design's really cool, but I can't help but think that it will render the bed of your Brat near-useless... maybe you could install it in the very front of the bed, under the window, and get air to it by making a duct for that purpose. You could 'glass up a duct in a weekend. Have a couple of scoops up on the roof that draft down the sides (next to the window so your vision and slider aren't obstructed) and to the radiator.

 

 

roof? That seams kinda wierd/different.
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Gravityman;

 

I'd put the Battery and fuel cell in front of the Radiator, don't need no extra heat on either of those.

 

Had simular thoughts on location of radiator for the ER-27 swap. Me, I'm thinking more of putting radiator where the tailgate is, and fab a louvered replacement for the tailgate itself. Not to worried about use of tailgate, I have "other means" of transporting items that would need that function available. If I have to fab a scoop of some sorts to direct air into radiator, so be it. This is going to be a form/function type of retrofit, not looking to win any awards for purtyness. :drunk:

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i was looking at an early veedub transporter's air ducts on a friends bus and must say that right in the front of the bed with some air scoops might work nicely.the plumbing definitely has to go under the car.at that point the extra space in the body up under there on a brat would be perfect for a pump placement and other things as well.i have been looking at that option lately.however, i still feel that a nice cowl inductive space underneath the hood is doable.and less expensive for that matter.

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Thats awsome that you say that;

I'm thinking more of putting radiator where the tailgate is, and fab a louvered replacement for the tailgate itself.
I was actually thinking the exact thing. The tail gate will most likely be fiberglass due to the ease of rust prevention and weight reduction. I may or may not keep it operable. I was planing to build the tounnue cover with ducting and louvers to route the air to the rad. I plan on making to leave the front of the bed free so i can still keep it usable. These are all great ideas! I guess the only way to figure this out is fitment, trial and error.

 

Gravityman;

 

I'd put the Battery and fuel cell in front of the Radiator, don't need no extra heat on either of those.

 

Had simular thoughts on location of radiator for the ER-27 swap. Me, I'm thinking more of putting radiator where the tailgate is, and fab a louvered replacement for the tailgate itself. Not to worried about use of tailgate, I have "other means" of transporting items that would need that function available. If I have to fab a scoop of some sorts to direct air into radiator, so be it. This is going to be a form/function type of retrofit, not looking to win any awards for purtyness. :drunk:

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I have a 4.0 liter jeep radiator mounted behind the front seats in an 84 wagon. I used 1-1/4" fuel transfer hose routed inside the tunnel above the exhaust and drive shaft. For the last 5 months it has been working fine using stock suby AC and coolant fans wired to the thermo switch. As far as bleeding the system when I fill the system up I just pull the upper hose off of the radiator and fill it from the engine(ER-27) until coolant comes out the hose and radiator then reconnect. Some day I will solder a bleed valve onto the radiator. I have found that as it is running there is about 3/4 to 1-1/4" of air in the top of the radiator.

 

Matt

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Instead of the bleed valve, how about a pressure tank with it's own radiator cap. If the tank is mounted slightly higher than the radiator it should be a snap to fill and bleed plus it'd increase coolant capacity. If the rads in the tailgate, perhaps a pressure tank could go in one side of the bed?

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Pictures please!!! Sounds cool!

 

I have a 4.0 liter jeep radiator mounted behind the front seats in an 84 wagon. I used 1-1/4" fuel transfer hose routed inside the tunnel above the exhaust and drive shaft. For the last 5 months it has been working fine using stock suby AC and coolant fans wired to the thermo switch. As far as bleeding the system when I fill the system up I just pull the upper hose off of the radiator and fill it from the engine(ER-27) until coolant comes out the hose and radiator then reconnect. Some day I will solder a bleed valve onto the radiator. I have found that as it is running there is about 3/4 to 1-1/4" of air in the top of the radiator.

 

Matt

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