Hey guys, thanks to all for the suggestions. I am going to keep the exterior appearance at the front untouched, that means no bonnet vents, scoops or headlight modifications etc
Turns out my current rad is far too large for the engine and seems to keep the engine cool by convection alone, its an astonashing 30c today in the South West of the UK and sat in heavy traffic I never saw the engine go over 92c. I was seeing IAT's of around 55c.
So in my mind I am thinking about the following ideas:
1. Run a smaller 3/4 width radiator which is also thinner and tucked further forward so I have more room infront of the engine, run a radiator cowl with a 3" bulkhead hose fitting inthrough the other 1/4 width of where the original rad used to be, on one side of the rad cowl would be the air filter (infront and to the side of the radiator), and on the other side a pipe feeding the TB. In total the pipe would be 0.5m long, if that!
2. Split the radiator in two and mount it at the back, run a closed front grill apart from an opening to promote a small amount of airflow through the engine bay and for an air filter box. I like the idea of removing a lot of heat from the engine bay to keep everything as cool as possible. This might also be the best time to run an electric water pump. So the benefits of all this would be reduced front end lift at speed, reduced drag from the large front rad grill opening. Hot air being released in the low pressure region at the back of the car. And if I went electric water pump then less drag from overspinning the water pump when its not required.
hmm, lots to think about!
kach22i:
Good idea, however on my car the fog lights are located below the indicators. There is also no direct route into the engine bay, everything is blocked off and I don't fancy cutting the chassis incase I change my mind about things in the future, for instance if I go turbo charged there may be a better way to direct cold air to the back of the engine bay. Did somebody say twin charged
darcane:
Well I like doing things that are different, I have seen a few bonneville top speed cars, drift and Euro Rally Cross cars run rear mounted radiators, I also think this helps protect the radiator and keep an even weight distribution for the rally cross cars rather than for aerodynamic purposes in the case of the bonnevile cars I have seen.
I found a supplier for the original switches and mounted them on the front panel below the silver switch with some extension wires. I wanted everything to be mounted properly and am not a fan of gauge pods and gauges stuck to various parts of the interior. Here is a picture from the back but I hadn't got the wires soldered on at this point.
