Am I Crazy For Wanting To Do This???? [Archive]

Fraser D

01-09-2012, 07:01 PM

I have wanted to do this for ever and now that I have started on the body work I mocked it up just to see if it was possible.
I want to split the radiator into two just like some of the exotics which give me two things, a completely different front end look and a nice big storage compartment..
The mock-ups are 18” x 15” x 2 ½” each which is the max external size that can be squeezed into the area in front of the wheel and also leave room for a fan and AC condenser. Each radiator is equivalent to half that of the corvette unit with the thickness the same as a 3 core.
Obviously the front clip will need to be extensively modified and I will leave the details as a surprise for later.
Now I am no radiator expert so does anyone see any reason why this will not work?

mekg8tor

01-09-2012, 08:08 PM

Lots of people probably think we are all crazy for building these cars to begin with but we all get these ideas in our heads and have to give it a go. I'm not sure of the logistics to make out all work but I think it's a cool idea. How much clearance with the wheels in place? maybe play around with various angles. They dont have to be square, level and plumb. Go for it!

Fraser D

01-09-2012, 08:31 PM

After doing some more reading I have convinced myself that I can make it work.
I played around with different angles etc before coming to the conclusion that the orientation in the photos gives the most surface area.
With the wheel straight ahead there is 2" separation.
With the wheel at full lock there is 1" separation

LCD Gauges

01-09-2012, 11:06 PM

Seems like a cool idea to get more space under the hood. If you can get enough air flowing around there, no problem. Just make sure you can get the air out,
and that road debris isn't slinging up against the rad fins...but I'm sure you have those points taken care of!

evan

01-10-2012, 08:18 AM

if you lean them forward like the stock radiator you may be able to get more clearance from the wheels, even if u have to find triangular radiators.

fastthings

01-10-2012, 12:17 PM

Are you allowing enough room for some kind of a screen, protection system from debri.

skullandbones

01-10-2012, 12:32 PM

You asked if, "you were crazy?" You may be a little. But if you are fooling around with toys like this, I'm not sure what sane is so you should be OK!

But seriously: the only concern I would have is a catastrophic failure for such things as old 18 wheeler tire treads getting wrapped up on the front tire. It does happen. I got hit by one that a car threw up into the air and it came down on my windshield. But if you're crazy, you probably won't care anyway! Just kidding. Good luck on your project. By the way, I put a radiator in the rear on a roadster with the engine in front. They thought I was crazy too. See you later. WEK.

Fraser D

01-10-2012, 08:51 PM

Are you allowing enough room for some kind of a screen, protection system from debri.

I was thinking about using something similar to the louvered mesh that the Ferrari’s use, plus with its position relative to wheel rotation it will not see much action.

buffalojr

01-12-2012, 09:17 AM

No trunk space is my only negative mark I came up with when looking at the gtm. This could solve this giving you enough space for groceries and such.

Are you planning on ducting flow from the front of the gtm around to the side, or are you planning on enlarging the fog light holes to get enough flow through the radiators? I can see pros and cons for both ideas.

beeman

01-12-2012, 09:38 AM

LCD Gauges

01-12-2012, 09:41 AM

:eek:

The GTM a 'grocery getter'?!

I swear my car will never see a shopping mall parking lot, especially with all the lazy *** people in this town. Can't take a cart to the corral area if it was directly across
from them...and never mind the bumps and dings from doors opening and backing into other vehicles.

Alright, the anger is out now.

Enjoy the trunk space! :)

ETA: Damn Beeman, that's one hell of a modification. Looks great! I wish I had the skills to rework 'glass like that.

Fraser D

01-12-2012, 02:57 PM

Probably redo the front, something like this:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ture1945/CHOPS%202/smallFrontgrilleFnFwLambo.jpg

What I was thinking of doing was a cross between the GenII front, (mine is a Gen I) and this 918 front. No air coming out of the top of the hood, but instead all coming out the wheel area and wheel vents. The supplied fog light goes away and is replaced with a bar LED.
Oh by the way..... I hate any type of shopping center car park. A couyple of years ago I was sitting in my truck waiting for my wife and had someone open a door into my driver’s door leaving a nice big dent. The person who did it could not even fathom why I thought that their actions were not appropriate. One count of willful damage later and I bet that she still does not get it.

evan

01-12-2012, 05:53 PM

looks a little like an audi to me.. i kinda like it

Superstang460

01-25-2012, 06:51 PM

Fraser D

01-25-2012, 08:02 PM

There is actually very little room between the door scoop and the rear tire unfortunately.

kabacj

01-25-2012, 09:40 PM

There is actually very little room between the door scoop and the rear tire unfortunately.

Its unlikely you will get enough airflow in the door scoops any way. The flow there is nothing like what you get up front.

Just thinking about what issues you will need to solve for with twin radiators. Besides the actual cost of radiators and the fact that you will need to build some structure to hold them. As well as possibly eliminate the tilt hood for a fixed hood and hatch. And it is possible the spinning wheels are going to try to force air the wrong way through the radiators a bit.

Anything is possible. It would be unique thats for sure. Texas gets pretty hot. As long as you are prepared for a challenge looks like fun to me.

crash

01-26-2012, 12:12 PM

What about two smaller radiators behind the door scoops and in front of the rear wheels like in the ferraris? Its more protected and the poor little water pump doesnt have to push the coolant all the way to the front, which may be a cause for the overheating issues some GTM owners experience

I can assure you that the issues of over heating have NOTHING to do with the capacity of the pump to "push the coolant all the way to the front".

This is the answer:

http://www.myraceshop.com/Header_Tank.html

beeman

01-26-2012, 12:58 PM

I can assure you that the issues of over heating have NOTHING to do with the capacity of the pump to "push the coolant all the way to the front".

This is the answer:

http://www.myraceshop.com/Header_Tank.html

Your setup is meant to work in conjunction with the front Vette radiator overflow tank, right?

crash

01-26-2012, 06:00 PM

Your setup is meant to work in conjunction with the front Vette radiator overflow tank, right?

NO! As I have told people before, if you REALLY want to leave the front tank in, then it should work OK, but there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to do so. The only reason would be to not have to use a petcock on the radiator for burping purposes, but even the petcock is not really needed. You can simply burp the radiator with a small cap on one of the small radiator nipples, and it will be good. No reason to have that tank up there in front if you use a rear tank system. :)

Fraser D

01-26-2012, 10:01 PM

Well my 1st radiator and fan arrived today. Once I can verify the fit and finalize mounting etc I will purchase the other side. I am still waiting for the AC condenser to arrive which should be early next week.
There is still a little modifying to get the radiator to the configuration that it needs to be, e.g remove the filler cap, replace the ins and outs with larger pipe nipples and some different mounting brackets.
More photos to follow in a couple of weeks.