Radiators in Rally Cars

[Spider]

Just wanting to know what some of your guys who go Rallying do for mounting your radiators and holding it all together.

I do have a way that I am doing them at present, but crickey it is a LOT of work, surely there must be a simpler / easier way?

[LMM76C]

Simpler and easier than what? - you don't say what you're doing at present. Solid mounting to the bodywork is the best solution but it has to involve use of good engine mountings, good steady bar mountings and a rear gear linkage mounting as solid as the original Mitchell mounting - and I have no idea whether such quality kit is available today.

[Spider]

Thanks LMM76C.

[ianh1968]

Until I devised this very simple solution, I was always
shaking my rads to pieces. It's a road car, but I guess
that it's still relevant?

It's based on the later single-piece cowel...

dscf0055.jpg

Sorry about the sh!t photo, it was pitch black at the time
and it was illuminated only by the flash.

I completely junk the standard top mount, and replace it
with a simple "strut". Each end is rubber mounted, the rad
end has a double ended M6 rubber whatsit, and the other
end a 5/16" UNF exhaust bobbin-type-of-thing...

The strut itself is just a bit of 1/16" thick stainless sheet...

The engine end is screwed to the "MiniSpares" left-hand
engine steady bracket, one of these...
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... o%20search

The front "rubber mount", (not shown) is the stat housing
to rad elbow-pipe!

Haven't changed a rad for years, apart from upgrading to an
ally type one recently.

Ian

[Spider]

ianh1968, thank you for going to the trouble of getting photos and your excellent description of what you've done.

Yeah, I'd say that would be quite OK for up to hard road use.

I tend to travel on less than good roads, or tracks really, and many of them are very long, usually over 500 km in length, they are often not maintained and heavily corrugated, so vibration is fairly heavy and constant to say the least.

I have tried solid mounting the radiator to the body in the past, however it means either running without a cowling or shortening the fan blades about 12 - 15 mm, neither of these are an option when driving slow (like through sand dunes) and / or ambient temps are over about 42 degrees. I also found that while the mounting is quite good, the sides of the radiators crack off, like this



and just caught this one in time



That was after only 1 trip, just over 9000 kM.

For an engine steady, I have been doing my own, which is a bit of a variation of the ones that were factory fitted (in Aust at least) and you can (just) see it here;-



We never got the 1 piece cowling out here, though there are a few kicking about. Regardless, I have found both to be just too thin and these also crack;-



So, now I am making my own cowlings, from 1.5 mm sheet and they are a fair bit of work to get just right;



(you can see this one fitted in the top photo)

and we are also having to make new sides for our new radiators



So far, we find this works but as per my opening post, they are a LOT of work and surely there must be a simpler / easier way?

[Smiffy]

If you mount the rad to the body, it all has to be mounted to the shell. You can't have the bottom still attached to the engine mount, or it will crack. With it mounted to the shell, you need to use the most flexible hoses you can find.

[LMM76C]

Specifically it is mounted to two strong (ie. quite thick) aluminium "sides" that you fix permanently to the extended radiator "hole" in the bodywork, drilled to take the standard radiator side bolts (it even works with early type screw/clip radiators that pre date the captive nut type). The radiator sits exactly where it does as standard so no clearance problems and better access. As I posted earlier, the engine must be mounted as firmly as was ever possible. The "Mitchel" mounting for the gear linkage extension was vital to this. A standard mounting allowed the engine to rock far too much and loosen hoses. If engine is mounted firmly enough, standard hoses are perfectly adequate.
There was always a grey area regarding Group 2 homologation for dispensing with the standard rad shroud and I don't think the works did it in Gp2 but I know of no private entrant (including me) ever being picked up on it.

[miniminor]

[quote="Spider"]








What fan are you running there Spider?

[Spider]

I think they call them an 'Export Fan', it has 6 big muthu blades. They push the most air of any factory fan. I think there is a reference to them in some of the ST Publications.

edit> found it;-



I note they say to use a stiffener. I've been using these fans for a very long time now and I have to say, I've never used a stiffener with any of them.