Radiator upgrades?

[Will]

Has anyone upgraded the radiator on their JA? or is the JA radiator more than adequate?

When I have the car on the track (at the recent Wakefield day), the coolant temp creaps up to just over 3/4 after about 4 hot laps. The temp also creaps up over 1/2 on hot days with the air con on.

I need to check my thermostat, but I suspect that the radiator is just getting old and losing efficiency. The fan turns on fine.

I'd like to improve the cooling system if there's a better radiator that fits in place. Anything better from the Mitsubishi range that may fit? or should I just go to a radiator specialist and have something made up?

[David]

Ford 3-flow radiators (flow side to side 3 times) fit with minor modifications. You need to weld up some basic brackets at the bottom (basically a little angle with holes drilled in it) and some clips at the top to take the pins.

My rally car had one before it went end-over... :( It was damaged so I left it and refitted a Starion one, which wasn't that new ... But it's OK.

Other than that, a recore should be fine. Just get your old radiator recored.

Make sure your bib spoiler is in place. People really (and I mean REALLY) tend to underestimate the effect it has on cooling... Especially when you're pushing it...

Driving to and from events, it makes a difference of 20 degrees in my car!!!!! That's significant.

I made a baby bib spoiler out of lawn edging nylon from Bunnings... It's flexible enough to survive knocks and flex back into place, gives sufficient airflow for the radiator, and is missing the sides so doesn't steal air from the wheel arches.

It makes a BIG difference... And I have a flat intercooler as well, so it's critical for me.

David.

[Paradoxx]

yeh i think the major problem with our radiators is the amount of cold air flow they actually see. without that ridiculous spoiler at the front i reckon the radiator is probably only about 50% efficient.

[Junkers]

i don't have my bib spoiler on and myne reaches it's peak at 1/3rd of the guage, maybe it's your viscous fan?

[Paradoxx]

what viscous fan??
they are electrical

[JPC]

what viscous fan??
they are electrical

...unless it's an import. A lot of the imports had viscous fans.

[Paradoxx]

ahhhh ok then

damn those viscious fans!!

[JPC]

Not only that, but apparently the ones with the viscous fans have much bigger shrouds, which means that to get to anything on the front of the motor, you have to remove the shroud first. The trick is to remove the shroud without slicing up your radiator hoses or poking holes in your radiator

[CussCuss]

a guy down south has a nicy shiny alloy core, said it was from a mirage, straight bolt on iirc.

[Camotec]

And who is mirage?

[ProZac]

She's that stripper from that night, when, you know, you....

Oh shit, we werent meant to talk about this again were we?

;)

[Camotec]

Nah that was Angel and Phoenix..... ah i see

mmm i remember that night well.... fire, wax, boobie, munch munch.

oh ah yeah i am ok now hehe
Cheers
Ben

[Will]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The bib spoiler is on the car. The car has never overheated in the past and has just started happening. I'll pull the radiator out first opportunity I have and I'll do some custom wiring to make both the radiator fan and the A/C fan turn on at the same time.

[Camotec]

Hey I can vouch for that second radiator fan, I had that connected last track day and it improved cooling a fair bit over the old setup.

Cheers
Ben

[hoongirl]

Hey Will, The radiatior in the white beast was either replaced or recored in 2000 when the engine was rebuilt. There is (or was) a little silver sticker on the top right which has the date written on it.

Before the intercooler went on the temp sat on a rock solid 1/3, even on the hottest days. After the cooler went on it started moving around a little, but never overheated - perhaps it is an airflow thing?

Anyone else noticed a difference in engine temp after a cooler has been fitted?