suby radiator Options

[martin914]

hi guys.sorry for my bad english(i am a french canadian)i know that this subject has been covered many times but it does not seems to be clear, if it is possible to put the radiator in the engine comparment.i do remember reading that scoot thacher had do it, but recently i read that he put it in the front.i read tony thread, but him too end up putting the rad in the front trunk.i just recevied my adaptor plate from kennedy and in their phamplet they too said, dont waste your time and money trying to put the rad behind the fire wall it wont work. i am willing to get a custom built rad with four core and electric fans to do the job but is it enough to cool down the suby engine.i realy want to keep both trunk.any tought?

[TonyAKAVW]

It can be done. That's my belief at least. I know that there's at least one person back east (possibly in Maine?) with the radiator in the engine bay and he's managed to get it working by using a really good radiator and a scoop. There are several things that I would try if I were going down this route. The first would be to totally isolate the airflow from the top of the car to the bottom with te exception of the path through the radiator. That means fabricating a belly pan that covers the entire rear-half of the car's underside. If you could do that, you could isolate the pressure differential between the top and bottom of the car. Doing it well enough would require substantial work to make the thing airtight, which is one reason I didn't do it. If you are willing to do the work and try several things out, I think it can be done.

So good luck and post your progress (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-Tony

[charliew]

You might want to go look at a stock subie and check out their radiator sizes. Also because of the hp differences in the different subies the cooling is a lot different. The stock 02 wrx radiator is pretty thin but wide it's 29.5x19x5.5 including the fans it has a very thin core. This is also behind the air cond. condensor. The sbc is usually a iron motor and the subie is all aluminium. The 29.5 will fit in the area between the lights on the 914.
With a wide core such as the 1 inch tubes of the aftermarket radiators you might not need to lay the radiator over as much and can get by with a shorter size.
I don't think you can cool a turbo subie in the engine compartment. But with some side vents maybe so. The trick is too prevent the warm air from recirculating back through the radiator such as an additional wall sealed to the sides with a top going toward the firewall and open to the bottom front and vented on the sides to the outside. You may even need to close the bottom to stop recirculation setting still. I would also like to see it done succsessfully. Check out the new manxter that uses the subies for some ideas.
Putting the rad. in the front also helps the weight bias.
The rad. in the front is a known solution.
There is plenty of room in the engine compartment so it is a great place. I did read all of Tony's thread though. But he didn't use a two fan stock subie radiator.
Good luck and I hope you manage it.
I thought about just mounting the stock rad and fans infront of the motor and see what happens.
Charliew

[martin914]

hi.thanks for the replies guys,but i think i am more confuse (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) ,i thaught that someone will reply and said yes i did it on my car and everything is working fine (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) today i look at the mobile gas powered welding machine we have at the shop, that thing is running non stop 10 hours a day without over heating there is no incoming air from the front only the fan on the engine and a massive 4 cores radiator, its a four cylinder 2.0 liter.we also have a guy around here he did over 100 subaru swap in westfalia van and he put the rad on the back with two electric fan and it seems to be working well,he use 35 by 20 inches rad that he gets from a military surplus they are all copper and four rows.so far it looks that everyone are using standard car rad. i wonder if a custom made rad with two electric fan and some sort of under belly scoop will do the job (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[jasons]

Try this thread..

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...c=32175&hl=