rear radiator setups?, Has anyone seen or heard of them being done successfully Options

[chuckc]

I can think of a few reason why a rear radiator set up for a conversion would be a bad idea, but has anyone seen or heard of them being done successfully, maybe with ducting running out to vents infront of rear fenders and a custom shroud? Just curious.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

peace,
Chuck

[skeates]

I think it comes down to horsepower. You might be able to get away with it if you run tame HP figures (say in the 150-180 range), but start running into trouble as you add things like turbochargers and 6-cyl engines. I'm also assuming that the motivation for running a rear (or mid) mounted radiator is to prevent cutting into the body. If one is willing to make the cuts, I'm not sure that I could come up a reason for not just pumping the water to the front? It's not like you're going to be saving much in the way of fab work or time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) The additional head on the pump doesn't impact it's ability to cool the motor provided one puts some forethought into the piping arrangement. Also, mounting it up front allows you to keep the radiator (and pluming) as low as possible. Any trunk or engine bay mounted set-up would likely be much higher. The front will give you the best airflow, yada, yada, yada.

That said...It would be really fun to see some designs. Just because it's not logical doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. I mean, look at how Porsche have continued to develop that rear engine drive train... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)