Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I am about to install a re-cored (one extra row) radiator into my +2. Would
there be any advantage to replacing it with an aluminum radiator of the same
dimension?

One obvious advantage would be the ability to have threaded bungs added to
facilitate easy mounting of the new electric fan.

I would not want to make it larger as that would not allow the intake air
flex hose to enter the nose and attach to the air cleaner.

Bob
1969 Elan +2

tubes are shaped differently as well. One of my customers has a Griffin brand
aluminum rad in an XKE and it works great
Bill Mack

Bob
I am just in the process of fitting a modern type aluminium cored radiator
into my sprint.I have been talking to the manufacturers who say that you
could get anything upto 30% improvment over the original.
I personally would not fit the smaller radiator as even when my radiator was
recored it still tended to overheat on long runs. (Usually when that
happens it is either a blocked radiator or too smaller a radiator)
The wider type radiators can cause a few minor fitting problems on the Plus
2 with regard to the air ducting but a few minor tweeks of brackets etc
usually sorts it out. I know of one fellow list member who has fitted one
successfully.
Clive

www.cliveyboy.com














From: ***@***.***

I would like to see a picture of the installed larger alloy radiator in a
+2. I thought the aluminum had a poorer heat dissipation than the original rads.

I ill take some measurements and see if griffin radiator will quote.

bob

I've seen a couple of pics of little Elans with the radiator tucked up
into the nose...
Is there a production Rad, (Scirroco?) That fits nicely? only needing
to add a header tank in the top line somewhere(?) If so, care to share
the mounting brackets' design.

thanks
Steve

I put in a Dave Bean (Griffin) ally rad in my S4 this summer with a
thermal switch and life is great. I can now actually think about my
driving, not just managing the temp. Not sure the difference between
an S4 and +2 in the nose, but I was able to use the current mounting
brackets on the car and buy a piece of 12" 16 gauge sheet metal, cut
in half and bend to attach to rad. Fan fit on front. New rad much
thicker and wider than original, but was able to fit perfectly. Now
have an inline filler. Eliminated the hose to air cleaner in front
and stuck a K&N filter on the front of the air box, which fits great
and provides better air flow to the rad. Call Ken at Bean if you
have questions, he put the same ally rad in his elan. Dan


--- In ***@***.***, ***@***.***e:

Clive,
Which rad did you go for? I'm considering TT's; I already have the
Cosworth swirl-pot (like the modified one that you do, but not
modified(!), we discussed this at Donington a couple of years ago); my 3
core "little rad" in the Sprint is not flowing well due to limescale and
despite a couple of Speedflushes, etc. it is still not right.
I was wondering if the TT rad will fit down in the nose, it would be out
of the way down there; not sure about pipe arrangements though.

Cheers,
Pete.


Clivey Boy wrote:

Pete
Tony Thompsons alloy radiators sit in the original position.I am not sure if
they could be positioned further forward or why you would need to. A few
mates who race have them in the original postion and their full race engines
stay cool. Tonys rads are top quailty and fairly reason on price.
I have a rebuilt engine and a new recored small radiator on my Sprint and it
overheats on long runs.
The original small radiator is just not upto the job. I am in the process of
fitting various radiators to my elan at the moment. I have an original full
width one which I am using to get an idea of size and fit in the engine bay
and then I intend to use a modern radiator (full width) with a custom built
mounting frame/cowl which I have just made.
Email me off line if you want to talk or want some pictures.
Clive

Herewith the picture of an aluminium radiator with two fans from Peugeot 205 .

Henk.
Lotus Elan S4 '70
Porsche S4
BMW 1600 ti
BMW X3

Hi Clive,
I would be interested in any photos you may have regarding the rad.
I dead read on the forum one time that a Scirroco rad fits. Also Demon
Tweeks sell a modified thermostat housing, that incorporates a fan
switch. I have priced this up and the cost of the housing, plus the fan
switch is cheaper than replacing my broken otter switch! Presumably a
modern rad would require a plastic header tank? The Spyder Zetec
conversion uses a Maestro one. Any thought on this?
Regards
Jeff 72 +2

Clivey Boy wrote:

Jeff
People have fitted a lot of different radiators in elans, it really does
depend on how much effort and what sort of a finished product is OK for you.
I recently spent a whole weekend going through the technical drawings of a
radiator manufacturer looking for suitable candidates. All the Scirroco
radiators I have seen have the inlet/ outlets on the wrong side or wrong
orientations etc.
It is almost possible to fit any radiator into an Elan if you make up custom
brackets and run large amounts of pipe around the engine bay.
When I was looking for a radiator I deceided it needed to have the same pipe
orientation as the original so you did not need to run pipes from one side
of engine bay to the other across infront of the engine, also it meant it
would be easier, tidyer and possible to utilise the original hoses. And it
needed to at least look something like the original.
Out of the several hundred I looked at I literally found about 6 or 7 that
might be OK and when I checked them out further found I was down to a
couple as most interfered with various parts of the car.
The maestro radiator used on the Zetec is the mirror image of the
orientation you need so you would need to run the top hose down to the
bottom of the radiator and even worse the bottom hose upto the top of the
rad. I do not think it would be practical.
I will send you some photos in the next day or so.
Clive

I post photos in the gallery of Lotuselan.net of some of the installs I
have done.

http://www.lotuselan.net/gallery/index.php?cat=10037

works for me...

Gary

The Griffin that I installed from Dave Bean is the scirocco size
cross-flow (I want to say 12 inches high by 20 inches wide), but the
in and out flows are the same location and dimension as the
original, so I used the original hoses and bracket design. It's not
cheap, $395, but it fits great and required almost no modifications
to fit.

Re Griffin rads, why not design your own for them to build?

I have done this with them for my March formula atlantic car just last year.
They are COMPLETELY flexible in terms of manufacturing capability - can
accommodate anything you want (width/height/depth, inlet/oulet locations,
catch tanks, inline temp ports, etc........). If the std Bean one works for
you, great. But if you want to add other functionality to it, go direct.

I found the people at Griffin to be absolutely excellent to deal with.
Friendly, knowledgeable, and can work to a timeline. The finished product
(its bot welded and epoxied on all joints, as I recall) is tough as nails.

Cheers,
Bill

Dear all,

I installed a Tony Thompson aluminum radiator and swirlpot some years back.
This sits forward of the original location, on top of the steering rack. A
picture of my Elan's engine bay is still posted at the Manila Sports Car
Club website (which fortunately has not been updated for some years) and
shows the radiator clearly.

http://www.manilasportscarclub.org/imag ... ne-bay.jpg

Warm regards,

Andres
1969, Series 4