With the engine in it's (hopefully) final resting place, I set about creating the cooling system. Looking into it more, I discovered a whole host of different considerations to make, especially around whether to reroute the cooling system.
Cooling Fan
For the fan, I decided to get a high powered 12inch suction fan from Spal. It was not quite as powerful as the one suggested by GBS (which costs over £200!), but at 140 to 160 Watts it was a significant improvement over a basic blowing fan offered by GBS and just under £90 from eBay. I did buy the fan bracket from GBS designed for the Spal fan which worked. I just wish they hadn't installed rivnuts already because they interfere with the radiator. I decided to remove them and then drill new holes for the fan. The nice thing about the GBS bracket is that it mounted neatly onto the M6 studs provided on the chassis.
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| Spal fan mounted on GBS supplied aluminium bracket |
Radiator
For the radiator I already had the basic offering from GBS as part of their starter pack. I decided to stick with this and see how it goes with the cooling. I saw lots of others speccing large Coolex rads, or the ATR offering from GBS (at over £300). Maybe I will regret skimping here, but it would be an easy upgrade in the future.
The radiator also fits over the same M6 chassis studs but needed a bit of fettling since the pre-drilled holes and the studs did not align properly (probably a chassis issue rather than the radiator). However this was no problem. The radiator did not fit into the GBS supplied bracket without some persuasion. I would definitely describe it as an interference fit! However, it leads to a nice and stiff assembly.
Hoses
I decided against the coolant reroute and kept the system as in the donor car. Maybe I will come to regret this, but again it's an easy upgrade to the top hose in the future.
I bought a filler neck and 20PSI rad cap from CarBuilderSolutions and some hoses from Auto Silicone Hose (ASH) in red to match the lettering on the engine cover. I also got some aluminium hose joiner pipes from ASH as well as the hose clips. I am impressed with the quality. The top and bottom hoses are 32mm, the heater hose is 19mm and the other hoses are 8mm
Initially I reversed the neck on the front thermostat housing to point in the right direction of the radiator for the top hose, but the pressure cap housing did not sit level and want to be at the highest point for filling. I went for something involved a few more bends but did what I wanted. The overflow pipe was p-clipped to the existing earth stud.
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| Top Hose & Filler Cap |
Expansion Tank
I decided to go for the 'spit / suck' tank supplied by GBS because I found a nice place to hide it away near the steering rack. This was bolted to the chassis using rivnuts. The tank itself has a short outlet to connect to the radiator cap over flow, the longer outlet then vents to the ground. Just need to p clip the outlet pipe.
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| Spit / Suck tank |
Heater Hose
The deleted heater hose needed to loop between the rear coolant housing and front bypass. To get it to work, I made a little steel bracket for the front bypass so it's outlet didn't clash with the tubular chassis rail and then created a loop of 19mm hose. I also used this hose run to house the additional coolant temp sensor for the instruments. I found a little 20mm housing for 1/8NPT on eBay which the 19mm hose could flex enough to fit on. I decided on this because it is close to the original temp sensor used for the ECU so hopefully will read the same temp.
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| Deleted Heater Loop |
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| 20mm Sensor Housing |
Bottom Hose
The bottom hose needs a few twists and turns. It starts by exiting the housing on the LHS of the engine with a 90deg turn.
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| Bottom Hose From The Engine |
An aluminium pipe then takes the hose over the top of the steering rack. I will make a little bracket to attach to the chassis to hold the hose in the correct position so it doesn't wobble around or clash.
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| Bottom Hose Into Radiator |
A few twists and turns take the hose over the top of the steering rack and down towards the radiator. If the bracket on the aluminium hose does not turn out to be enough support, I will add one on the horizontal run to the radiator.
