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Taking a chance on a Chinese-made aluminum radiator for my Bugeye

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At 11" long and 6" wide they would make quite a statement.
 
leecreek said:
At 11" long and 6" wide they would make quite a statement.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they're kinda big, aren't they? :smile-new: I think the only way they could work would be if they were painted the same color as the car so that they sort of blend in.

Dan
 
Just a quick note to let everyone know I haven't forgotten my promise to report back about the Chinese aluminum radiator I installed in my Bugeye. It's been more than a week since it was installed, but in that time the weather has not been particularly warm. In fact, the highest it has been since I installed it was 70F. The forecast is to stay that way until next weekend. It's supposed to get to 90 on Saturday June 1st, so that will be the first reasonable opportunity to test it and report back.

I can say that it does "seem" to cool better. I have a 160F (summer) thermostat in right now, and so far the temperature gauge has never read above about 165F. Right after I installed it, I noticed that the temperature would still begin to creep up slightly at idle. On a friend's suggestion, I wrapped my headers to help reduce the temperature in the engine compartment and (under the mild ambient temperatures we've had) so far it no longer creeps up at idle.

More after this Saturday...

Dan
 
So finally we had a warm day. I drove the Bugeye with the new Chinese radiator to work and back to see how it would do in the afternoon heat. Each way is on the freeway at 70 MPH for about 20 minutes. Of course it was MUCH cooler (about 60F) on the way to work in the morning, and the engine temperature held steady at the thermostat setting of 160F. On the way home around 4 pm with an ambient temperature of around 85F, the engine temperature started out around 165 for about the first 10 minutes, slowly rising to about 180F. However, the ambient temperature got its warmest (probably 90F) in the last 10 minutes of the drive and the engine temperature rose to 190F. I guess you could say that the engine temperature was always about 100F above the ambient temperature, with a minimum enforced by the thermostat.

Based on today's results, I'd have to say that the cooling capability of the aluminum Chinese radiator is not much different than the original Bugeye radiator. 'Perhaps a little better, but there certainly was no dramatic difference. However, my original radiator had been repaired more than once, including some rather messy repair to the core done by the previous owner. So even though the new radiator hasn't completely solved my cooling problems, I like the look of the aluminum "bling" and not having a mangled set of fins in the middle of the core where the old radiator had been repaired.

I'm still determined to improve the cooling further. I've already wrapped the headers to reduce heat build-up under the hood at idle. So all that's left that I can think of is an oil cooler and trying to find some non-obtrusive body modifications that will help evacuate more hot air from the engine compartment - unless someone has other suggestions.

Dan
 
On my A15 Datsun midget I used a late midget 1500 radiator. To fit it I flipped it over since it would obstruct the cold air intake to the heater. Also had to modify the shroud to raise the radiator to clear the early steering rack. Since the radiator sits off to the side where a section of it doesn't get air flow I added a couple of air intake holes with a hole saw.

Keeps the Datto cool in 100+ heat.

Kurt.
 
Not all aluminum radiators are the same, core design for one is critical. If you want greater capacity you choose a single row over double row or triple row, capacity is very important in the overall efficiency. You can also use a high volume water pump with an oversize water pump pulley to slow the flow down to aide in time the coolant can stay in the core area.
 
BlueMax said:
Not all aluminum radiators are the same, core design for one is critical. If you want greater capacity you choose a single row over double row or triple row, capacity is very important in the overall efficiency. You can also use a high volume water pump with an oversize water pump pulley to slow the flow down to aide in time the coolant can stay in the core area.
Click to expand...

Where can I buy a high volume water pump?

Dan
 
BlueMax said:
Since your in California, I would check with David Anton at ATP for your pulley and pump.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll give him a call.

BTW, I just measured the distance between the radiator and the water pump flange at just over 5". That means that there's more than 3" between the radiator and the plastic fan. That seems excessive to me and made me wonder if that's standard. Anyone else have a Bugeye with that much space between the fan and the radiator?

Dan
 
Mentioned the deep vane pump earlier... two type's when ordering from vendors computer list Got mine through NAPA ... The theory is... as stated above... single row with as much area exposed as possible... also, as mentioned earlier the heater outlet can be used as a radiator with routing and pumbing of course. Take the fan blades off and get a good flowing push electric fan...(front mount) Forget all the that other crap...rapping tape (heat shield yes) ... holes in hood.... A good fan can create more air flow all the time (sitting in traffic at idle and 90 deg same as driving at 40mph!) Other than that... the heat issue is the in the engine... timing, mixture settings etc etc Just think of 1275 Minis with there cooling system!
 
The radiator is by far the most important item in the cooling system, and an aluminum radiator should have made all the difference. The fact that it didn't makes me wonder about the quality of that particular radiator.
 
We once had a cooling problem in a custom car that was solved by using a double pass crossflow radiator.
 
The high-flow A-series pump is GWP134. In CA you have several vendors when you include Mini Mania, Seven, and Heritage Garage.

Though the Mini is obviously different, you may find some general A-series cooling advice in the tech article linked below:
https://www.7ent.com/pages/articles...-cool-the-workings-of-the-coolant-system.html

The GWP134 pump is currently on sale at both Mini Mania and Seven for just under $40.
 
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