Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Who knows to which extent it would be impossible to find another position for a radiator. Maybe sideways like it was fitted to the original Mini, or in some older Volkswagens once converted from air-cooled to water-cooled.
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In some cars in the 30s-50s, the radiator was placed behind the motor but still in the engine bay. Most of the ones I can think of (some SAAB, some DKW, FIAT Topolino) used "thermo-siphon" cooling, relying on the warmer coolant to rise up out of the engine to the radiator, whose top was higher than the engine. The coolant would descend through the radiator as it cooled, and then keep descending into the engine, whose low point was lower than the radiator.
The early Porsche Boxsters also had the radiators in the front corners of the car, with appropriate inlet and outlet venting.
I also know of a VW-Porsche 914 that was converted to Subaru 4-cylinder power which had the radiator wedged between the front of the engine and the firewall, which was just behind the passenger compartment. It supposedly worked OK.
-soD