TheSamba.com :: View topic - Radiator

Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:48 pm

Ok,

I have my flame suit on. I know this will offend some but I am tired of searching partial threads and decided to start this one in hopes to get a couple of answers regarding radiator and fan set ups on conversions.

Tristesta, Greenbus pilot, Cooknbus, Chazz79, Mrunpopoular, etc I know you are all out there.

What are you running for rad setups?

Dimensions, locations and if underneath where I intend to mount mine do you have the electric fans on top or below? Are they pushing or pulling air?

Thanks

Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:20 pm

General consensus is fans pushing or pulling air downward. My fans are on the bottom pulling air downward from the floorboard area. Doing the opposite fights natural airflow under the bus and causes overheating.

Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:11 pm

X-2 On pulling the air..

Sat Feb 11, 2012 9:05 pm

Couple of 12" Flex-A-Lite #20 fans mounted on top of the radiator, blowing downwards .. and no scoop or anything. They're controlled by a 92*C/197*F stock-style switch on a 40A relay with the wiring schematic shamelessly stolen from the early Rabbit Haynes manual.

We need a FAQ or something. I've thought about trying to write/start one but just haven't had the time...

Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:44 am

Yep, mine are on the bottom and pull down. A radiator is much easier to pull air through than push.
I have 2 12" fans, but I think one would suffice.

[img]

Here you can see my relay and fan control. The sensing bulb is right in the middle of the radiator. It runs only after I stop, and then only about 10 seconds.
I should try to weatherproof that control....so far, so good...

Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:12 am

Just curious, why did you guys decide to mount the rad and fans under the bus instead of in front? It is probably easier that way....

Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:49 am

Thanks guys. This is exactly what I needed. Either of you have the dimensions of your rads handy? No rush.

As for why I want to mount underneath instead of on the front is to keep the stock look. My goal, as I would assume was that of the others, is to do a conversion that looks as stock as possible with the engine lid closed.

As for a sticky, I agree and have suggested it a couple of times. I am tired of surfing the vanagon forum for ideas on a conversion. I figure an engine conversion sticky here would be like the lower your bay sticky. That is to say, only visited by those who are interested.

Craig

Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:15 am

Sloride wrote: Thanks guys. This is exactly what I needed. Either of you have the dimensions of your rads handy? No rush.

Mine is from an 83 Chevy half ton pickup. You can look it up on various web sites if you want. I'm heading out in a bit, I'll try to grab dimensions while I'm outside.

Quote:
As for a sticky, I agree and have suggested it a couple of times. I am tired of surfing the vanagon forum for ideas on a conversion. I figure an engine conversion sticky here would be like the lower your bay sticky. That is to say, only visited by those who are interested.

Craig

I think we need to start a thread with the appropriate title, and PM Everett and ask him to sticky it. Mentioning "this should be a sticky" in the thread doesn't work because the mods may not read every thread. And if that mod isn't water cooled friendly, he's less likely to read the thread and/or make it a sticky. I'm all for a sticky where we can all post our samba threads with our conversions and discuss tech.

Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:36 am

Skidplates are optional. I intend on hitting fire and log trails so I wanted my radiator protected from sticks and other day ending debris. The extra shrouding necessitated the scoop design. My radiator is a dual pass and simplifies hose routing. This design is also more efficient and allows for a smaller unit that can be mounted flush within the frame rails. The only vulnerable part to my rad set up is the fans.

And the answer to the floor mount question is that we chose to hide our shame. I don't want my conversion to detract from the classic nature of the bus. The only one of us to be fully "out" with it is fastmc and it's ok there.....not like he is trying to pass that bus off for stock anyway.

Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:40 pm

Most of the front-mounted setups I've seen look like ass, IMO. I kinda like the looks of the Mexi/Brazilian radiator grill, but I'd have to cut into the nose .. and find a place for my spare. I could live with the "fake spare tire" version, but again .. where would I put the spare?

So .. under the floor mine went. Not sure of the dimensions of the current radiator but it's an '03-'05 Ford Explorer radiator, aluminum core with plastic tanks.

Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:49 pm

I might be going deaf cause of all the hard reving these days but i don´t here the good old Samba crowd slaping the OP: "If the VW german Engineers put the rad on the front of the bus is because.... bla bla bla" Somehow i don´t think that crowd lives up to their standards when it comes to watercooled buses :cry: :cry:

but then again, US buses never went watercooled :wink:

Sun Feb 12, 2012 5:55 pm

I don't think they bother because we're heretics straying from the air-cooled path .. some have strayed far with engines from Some Other Brand in their Volkswagen, but we're all irredeemably lost. :lol:

Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:05 pm

tristessa wrote: some have strayed far with engines from Some Other Brand in their Volkswagen,

That's like saying "hey, I only slept with a first cousin, not my sister or something". Once we went down this path there's no turning back and no getting clean :lol:

Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:44 pm

I put mine on the front because that's where the airflow is. Also when i inevitably have a rock tossed up against the bottom of the bus, it wont put a hole in my radiator and cost me all of my coolant and two hours to replace the thing ;)
Due to the natural air flow at the front of the bus, the fans only come on after *LONG* uphill hauls after parking it for a minute or so. In fact, the radiator only actually starts to get warm after about an hour of driving. Must be all that pipe under it :)
It does look like ass though, as it is actually a subaru radiator. Working on getting a jeep cherokee rad as it's ALOT shorter, and fits the front end alot better.

Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:09 pm

Here's my entire cooling system. Front to back

Radiator is safely above an 1/8 stainless plate. Four nutserts are welded to the frame so the assembly can be dropped easily. Fans are vulnerable by mounting them below but there was no room to mount above. This is a double fan set from a 2000 ish dodge neon. The fans slot into brackets welded to the bottom of the skid plate on one side, with the other side being held in place with two welded studs. Five minutes under the bus with a 7/16 wrench and any part of this system can be removed. The forward scoop is broken out of more 1/8 stainless and does compromise ground clearance somewhat. I have entertained the idea of cutting that of and shaping a simular item out of heavy gage rubber material, allowing for flexibility when ground objects contact it.

Last pic shows the IMI starter that you will have to purchase when doing any conversion. The stock stuff is marginal, asking it to do more than intended will only net poor results. I think I swapped out three autozone rebuilds before I finally bought this thing. No problems since.

Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:59 pm

Chazz,

That looks great. The fans don't hang down that far at all. Remind me again of what you used for the coolant pipes.

Craig

Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:15 pm

I purchased a custom aluminum radiator from Wizard Cooling in New York. The radiator is 17.5 x 28.1 x 1.25. I also have top mounted 2 14" Spal Pusher fans with a 210* thermo switch just off the coolant manifold. Wish I had tied into the Subaru ECU for the fan controls. Here's a link with details:

http://1979vwconversion.blogspot.com/2011/06/details-of-radiator-system-and-lines.html

And

http://1979vwconversion.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:28 pm

The engine cradle pipes are 1.5" .250 wall seamless boiler pipe. The heft is only because it's structural otherwise it'd be lighter stuff.

The mid pipes are aluminized exhaust tubing.

The fans are relay powered via grounding switch in the head. Don't know the temp but they usually come on @190.

Dlrecord...I looked for a long time to find a dual pass side entrance/exit radiator like that! You have the ideal radiator for ground clearance. Everyone I contacted stated "full custom affair" or "get your checkbook out and we'll talk" I made due with this to simplify plumbing and work with my budget (under 100.00)

Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:57 pm

I pull through a Fiero V-6 Rad. and over cool my engine. I'm waiting to ship over a 156Hp 2.5 TDI from Ireland to replace the 1.8 Toyota 80 Hp

Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:10 am

Roadcow wrote: I pull through a Fiero V-6 Rad. and over cool my engine. I'm waiting to ship over a 156Hp 2.5 TDI from Ireland to replace the 1.8 Toyota 80 Hp
Roadcow- I originally started reading Ron's original stories on Roadcow to get the inspiration for my project, years ago. That is a cool setup, with the radiator on the roof. I think a roof mounted radiator is probably the best sheltered from any damage, and if I did not have a Westy setup, I would have gone that route. Love Ron's stories- any new adventures from you lately? 8)
Anyone not familiar with the Roadcow legacy, check here-http://blabberon.com/travels.html