Radiator Mounting Location Issues

[dlisabeth]

Yoshi-
The car looks great and very structurally sound but I have a couple questions for you. *Why did you mount the radiator way up high like that? *I know it gets great airflow there but I think it looks like an afterthought and will block quite a bit of the drivers view in the rear view mirror. *The other question is about the limit straps, where did you find those? *I think a nice heavy duty set from Kartek would not only look much better but would be more up to the task and stretch less over time. *Other than that the car looks awesome and I can't wait to see one out at Glamis soon.

Derek

[yoshi]

Originally Posted by dlisabeth\";p=\&quot

Yoshi-
The car looks great and very structurally sound but I have a couple questions for you. *Why did you mount the radiator way up high like that? *I know it gets great airflow there but I think it looks like an afterthought and will block quite a bit of the drivers view in the rear view mirror. *The other question is about the limit straps, where did you find those? *I think a nice heavy duty set from Kartek would not only look much better but would be more up to the task and stretch less over time. *Other than that the car looks awesome and I can't wait to see one out at Glamis soon.

Derek

Radiator wasn't an after thought. *I mounted it like that in my first rail. *I mounted it lower in the second rail and even though it was huge, the fan was always running, I wanted it to stay cool so I mounted it higher up, altho I could have mounted it in the tail section down low if I moved the gas tank. *The fan didn't run that much last weekend in the dunes so I know it's doing the trick. *I've talked to some other busa rail owners that say they have had over heating problems as well, even with bigger radiators and sometimes mounting them lower is blowing a lot of heat on the motor, gas tank, and/or wiring which causes problems. * *If I mounted it up higher in the tail, it would be outside of the frame and except for the lights, nothing is outside the frame that would prevent the rail from driving after it was rolled. *Gas tank, radiator, airbox, etc, if those kind of parts are outside of the rail, even a minor, undamaging roll can prevent the car from going anywhere. A lot of the fulsize v8 cars run the radiators up high like that so it's not an unusual placement. *Never used a rearview mirror, but some side mirrors aren't out of the question if someone wanted them....

On the straps, I have some coming from Kartek. *The ones on the rail now, I built last year for the other 2 seater. *I bought the tubelar, woven material from the Army surplus store and overlapped it a few times. *It hasn't stretch very much at all in all the use it's had, but I will be replacing them before the rail is shipped.....

[masterfabr]

Not trying to be an ass but the high placement is a very poor place to put the radiator.What will happen if there is a rupture of any kind?I personally don't want boiling water/coolant spewing all over me.I do agree that from the radiators point of view that is a great place to have it but not from a safety standpoint.I'm one of those that put the radiator in a low position without good airflow and have needed to direct airflow to the radiator with body panels.The only problem I've had was a small pinhole in a bung weld that allowed air into the system during cooldown and caused an airlock in the cooling system and caused very slight overheat condition.The busa is notorious for being hard to purge the air and it takes about 3 "burps" of it to remove all the air.Would I place it high up and barely behind me to have better airflow through it?Not in a million years.Just not safe.A good fan,an oversize radiator and a charging system in good condition will prevent overheat much safer.IMO

[K-fab]

Many years of abuse
Many thousand miles
Many, many rocks from cars in front of me before I passed them
Been on it's roof more than once

I have a screen that sits about 1/2" off the front of the radiator and only one rock ever got all the way to it - big sucker that left a dent in both the screen and the rad, but never have I had any issues with a leak or safety.



Originally it was low and down behind the seats and we had all sorts of overheating issues. Up in the air where it gets flow is the way.

[yoshi]

Mine are setup for sand as well, so rocks aren't a concern, but a screen would be a simple setup to add. The X-brace is directly in front of the radiator so I could setup some tabs and bolt in 4 triangle sections of screen if the intended purpose was for dirt. Never had an issue in over 2 years of running sand and dirt and snow with my single seater that had the same setup....

[yoshi]

I will say that I am having my new batch of radiators built with the inlet on the top over to the right instead of the left. *These were designed around my sideways mounted motor with the radiator behind the motor which was sitting sideways behind the passenger seat.

[masterfabr]

It only takes once.Safety is always more important than any other factor.Along the lines of "never had a problem",I've never had a problem with a lot of radiators but I have had failures also.The first time you get hot water spewing over you let me know how it feels.Just because you've got away with it so far IMO is bad logic.There will never be a radiator in that position on anything I build.Just because others do it (and get away with it)means nothing.IMOThe trouble is that on these smaller cars your options are limited on where to put it.High and in good airflow or tucked in low and the need to duct air to it.Pick your poison.

[Rorty]

Being as these are all much-loved toys, the chance of letting the radiator become dilapidated and springing a leak is slim. If the radiator is going to leak, it will most likely do it from new and will be repaired straight away.

I've tried mounting rads in all sorts of places, but the only place that works with any degree of certainty, is high up behind the driver. If you're racing, a screen of some sort is almost mandatory.

Oversized radiators seldom work if they're not directly in the airflow whereas a smaller rad that's in the airflow will work. Plus, each additional litre of water equals an additional kilo in weight.

[yoshi]

Originally Posted by masterfabr\";p=\&quot

It only takes once.Safety is always more important than any other factor.Along the lines of "never had a problem",I've never had a problem with a lot of radiators but I have had failures also.The first time you get hot water spewing over you let me know how it feels.Just because you've got away with it so far IMO is bad logic.There will never be a radiator in that position on anything I build.Just because others do it (and get away with it)means nothing.IMOThe trouble is that on these smaller cars your options are limited on where to put it.High and in good airflow or tucked in low and the need to duct air to it.Pick your poison.

It's not like the hoses are right next to your head. *If you think mounting your radiator a couple feet farther back and down is gonna prevent hot radiator fluid from spewing all over you IF a hose breaks your wrong. *If a hose lets loose, it turns into a snake and hot water would be in a circle all around your car (including inside it) no matter where you put it. *I run some really good barbs on my fitting with hose clamps. After the hose is pressed on those barbs, I have to use a razor blade to cut them off everytime. I use hose clamps for an even more secure fit. *I'm not going by the, everyone else does it so I will too logic, I said that because someone mentioned it looked like an after thought *and it's a common practice. *In my experience, ducts and low mounted radiators just don't work good, I had mine overheat on cool nights in the dunes and the fan was alwyas running, even with the large radiator and highflow fan. *The fan hardly ran at all Sun in the day heat. *You said you were having overheating issues, I bet if you moved your radiator that would take care of it. I will *mount mine high so they get proper airflow....

[masterfabr]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.Put your radiator wherever you want.Mine will be behind and low where it will not spew hot water on me.Just makes sense to me not to take the chance.The placing of the fuel tanks high and above the hot engine/exhaust is not good practice either regardless of the fact that a lot are done that way.IMO safety is the first priorty.Lots of things are common practice but not wise.Not trying to start an arguement with any of you but why would you want to chance it????YOshi you said I had overheating issues.It only occurred once Sunday and I explained what the issue was.It had nothing to do with the radiator being tucked in. An airlock due to a small pinhole that allowed air to enter the cooling system upon cool down was the trouble.The car ran perfectly cool at all other times even when hitting 10#'s boost repeatedly for long end to end dune runs most of the day thursday and saturday.Memorial weekend will be much warmer and we will see what it does then.With all that said I agree that I would "like" to put it high up and in the airflow but IMO that makes no sense from a standpoint of my personal safety.That applies to the radiator and fuel cells.The other benefit is a lower center of gravity with mounting them low.The next buggy will have a better arrangement for better airflow but will definitely be low mounted.