Big radiator

[steveww]

I have just finished installing a much bigger rad in my S4. No more
overheating in hot weather and stationary traffic. I have posted the
pictures in the photos section under "Big Rad". I got the rad and header
tank from the Kent area Lotus chap 01322668050. I made up the brackets
myself and the pipe is from Burton Power but you can get this stuff
anywhere.

Yet to test it as I am waiting for caliper brackets to arrive from
Spyder so that I can fit the new +2 brakes. I had to remove the servo to
fit in the big rad.
--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

[richboyd]

Steve,

Nice work. I looks like your new radiator is positioned a lot further
forward - fully within the car's nose. I would appreciate some more
information about your mounting: where do your brackets mount to the
body/chassis? Does the radiator touch the nose at the top or bottom? Did
you try to blank-off the sides to force air flow through core? Does your
lower hose have any loop or other provision for engine movement? Do you
have any hood/bonnet clearance issues with the new header tank?

Rich Boyd

At 09:06 AM 4/14/2004, you wrote:

[schwartzd13]

Looks very tidy, must have been a b*tch to install.

Forgive my ignorance, but can you explain the spacers/balance tube
between your Strombergs and the head?
-David


Steve Waterworth wrote:

[Elanman99]

Steve

A couple of questions about your neat looking radiator installation...

How big is big? Obviously it is larger than the one you took out, but you
might of had the later type small radiator (with the filler plates either
side) or was it a full width one.

How do you check the oil level? The dipstick looks pretty inaccessible!

Ian Phillips


-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Waterworth [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 5:06 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Big radiator


I have just finished installing a much bigger rad in my S4. No more
overheating in hot weather and stationary traffic. I have posted the
pictures in the photos section under "Big Rad". I got the rad and header
tank from the Kent area Lotus chap 01322668050. I made up the brackets
myself and the pipe is from Burton Power but you can get this stuff
anywhere.

Yet to test it as I am waiting for caliper brackets to arrive from
Spyder so that I can fit the new +2 brakes. I had to remove the servo to
fit in the big rad.
--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."








Copyright) LotusElan.net and the author.

[steveww]

OK here are the answers to your questions:

The car being an S4 originally had the later small rad with the side
screens. The new rad is nearly twice as big and double the thickness
giving a huge increase in surface area.

The rad sits right down in the nose and is secured by 2 U shaped
brackets at the bottom. These brackets are bolted to the body and use
large washers. On my S4 there are two raised sections in the nose that I
have used to secure the brackets. I then used a self tapper to hold the
rad in these brackets to make sure it does not shake loose. There are
also a pair of support bars attached to the top of the rad, these are L
section so work in tension and compression. I will post some more pictures.

The botton hose is now quite long so there is enough flex in to allow
for engine movement. The header tank is low enough not to catch the lid
and the rad is small enough to fit in the nose with about 2" clearance
at the top. Because the rad is so much bigger and now sits right in
front of the air inlet I do not think it will need any ducting for the
air flow. Once the new bigger brakes are on I will road test it.

The header tank does sit over the dip stick which is a bit of a pain. I
had to bend the dip stick slightly to ensure clearance. Now that there
is not a rad right in front of the engine the dip stick can be drawn out
to the front of the engine so the header tank does not stop me checking
the oil. Also with the rad moved doing the engine timing is now so much
easier.

The pipe between the Stromberg carbs is the usual balance pipe fitted to
non federal cars. All twin carb set up need some form of balance pipe,
look look at any MG, Triumph, Jaguar etc. I am considering replacing the
Strombergs with a pair of SU HIF44. Just checked out the sizes and they
will fit. Using SU will give me a better choice of needles/springs so
that I can set up the carbs for modified air filter and cam.

Any more questions?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

[powellsmail]

Interesting installation. Is there a big Kenlowe stuck on the other
side? I saw the swirlpot at Donnington last year and was tempted. I
would be interested to know how much it pulls your operating temps
down by when you get it on the road.
Does this leave space at the side for the air duct / filter to breath
cool air?

Regards

Mark

45/9707


--- In ***@***.***, Steve Waterworth <stevew@s...>
wrote:

[steveww]

I will be reporting in the results of my road testing, still waiting for
Spyder to send the caliper brackets so I can install the brakes. As you
might imagine no brakes limits the road testing a bit

With the rad installed right in the nose like this it does not leave
room for the usual pipe from the air box to go down to the front, not
that there is much room in front of the rad to put a filter anyway. For
the moment I am using a pipercross filter that sits right on the carbs.
I do not think that this will increase the inlet temp too much when
moving, stationary traffic is another matter. I am currently
investigating alternative arrangements for for a cooler air inlet, I
will post up any results. There is about a 2" - 3" gap between the top
of the rad and the body so I am thinking I might put some form of scoop
there.... Hmmm....

There is a 10" electric fan on the front of the rad. I know that a pull
rather than a push fan would be more efficient but my supplier only had
this one in stock in the size I wanted and he let me have it for a good
price. I figure with the rad being so big a little lost in fan
efficiency would not be noticed.

Mark Powell wrote:

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

[cusword]

I have never really understood this problem as we have a small
radiator, and the car never overheats, and can 'tick over' all day
when stationary, in the summer. You can also drive it hard on a hot
day and it's fine. OK, this is the UK, but I feel you
can 'over-cool' an engine, and this must be a danger at some point
when fitting the biggest radiator you can?

Regards,

David

[roadterror]

Just my 2 cents... driving a Lotus in a tropical region would require a
good look in the cooling department. Mine(+2) has a radiator out of a Nissan
and an electric fan out of an old Mercedes 200. She now ticks over well in
traffic.....

----- Original Message -----
From: "david_cusworth" <***@***.***>

Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 1:04 AM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Big radiators


I have never really understood this problem as we have a small
radiator, and the car never overheats, and can 'tick over' all day
when stationary, in the summer. You can also drive it hard on a hot
day and it's fine. OK, this is the UK, but I feel you
can 'over-cool' an engine, and this must be a danger at some point
when fitting the biggest radiator you can?

Regards,

David

[grat]

On Fri, Apr 16, 2004 at 05:04:45PM -0000, david_cusworth wrote:


Well no, as long as it has a thermostat in the system. It's
function is to open a specific temp and allow 'cool' coolant from the
radiator into the block, once the coolant temperature drops to that temp
it shuts down until things heat up again. So if the thermostat is
working properly you shouldn't be able to over cool the engine. The
only downside to a larger cooling system that you don't use very often
is the weight involved.

fj..

[steveww]

The new big rad weighs slightly less than the old small rad but this is
probably equaled out with the extra water required.

My S4 used to regularly see 110C on hot sumer days (30C) been driven
gently. Can't wait to test out the new rad. The caliper brackets from
Spyder still not turned up today. I phoned them and they say they send
them. However they did say they might have gone via Parcel Farce so who
knows when if ever they will turn up. Aarrgghh!

Franklin R. Jones wrote:

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

[Fred Talmadge]

My Elan S2 (with the larger early radiator) in Houston Texas will overheat
in stalled traffic in the summer. But I can turn on the fan and it won't
overheat. Still, it's not happy sitting on the freeway and much prefers to
run, and so do I. Fred T.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Chan [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 12:10 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Big radiators


Just my 2 cents... driving a Lotus in a tropical region would require a
good look in the cooling department. Mine(+2) has a radiator out of a Nissan
and an electric fan out of an old Mercedes 200. She now ticks over well in
traffic.....

[type36lotus]

Hmm, average summer day, air temp 98 deg F, about 105+ about 1 foot
above the pavement. A closed pagrked car can hit 125 Deg F. Never an
issue with over-cooling here is sunny Florida.

Mike.

--- In ***@***.***, "david_cusworth"
<david_cusworth@m...> wrote:

[65 Lotus]

Can someone tell me how to upload an image at the lotuselan.net site? I see the http:/ upload, but how do I get one off my hard drive into a place where others can see it?


I'm at LotusElan.net Forums -> Gallerys, Links, Uploads and Article Submissions -> General Files but I can't figure out how to get file up loaded.

SHR

[Fred Talmadge]

uploaded when making a post. Click the browse button to select a file from
your computer to be uploaded. If you upload an image file, it may be shown
in the content of the post, all other file types will be linked to." It
maybe that this feature is not turned on.

Fred T. '65 S2
http://96trees.com

-----Original Message-----
From: 65 Lotus [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2004 8:23 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Re: Big Radiator


Can someone tell me how to upload an image at the lotuselan.net site? I see
the http:/ upload, but how do I get one off my hard drive into a place where
others can see it?


I'm at LotusElan.net Forums -> Gallerys, Links, Uploads and Article
Submissions -> General Files but I can't figure out how to get file up
loaded.