Cooling Duct for the Radiator

[LotusJoe]

I have been wanting to do this project for several years. I'm at the final fitting stage. Only took 3 designs to finally figure out how to get it in and out for maintenance and service. Still able to fit the spare.

[ezuskin]

Do you experience cooling problems?

[BDA]

Do you have experience with and without it? Does it make a difference?

It looks really well made! I wish you were around to give me tips when I made my oil cooler duct - it's really pretty ugly! 

I'm also curious about your spare tires. I assume you are running larger or wider tires. Will you be able to fit one of them where your spare goes? I was concerned about fitting a spare but when it occurred to me that if I used the spare, none of the wheels and tires on my car would fit where the spare goes. I would have to put it in the passenger seat! I thought of keeping a garbage bag for that eventuality but decided to just keep a tire repair kit and compressor in case of a flat!

[jbcollier]

What are you doing for ventilation?

[buzzer]

Looks interesting  Be interested in the performance and if you get an improvement in cooling efficiency. Also as well as ventilation, there is the grill on the LH side into the front wheel well, I presumed it was there for a reason of which brake cooling was what I was thinking, so any impact there is reduced cooling?

Dave

[Grumblebuns]

I like the concept Joe. I was thinking of doing something similar but not as elaborate. Just something to shroud the entire radiator with the cooling fan at the opening. I'm definitely not an engineer but with more airflow going across the entire radiator surface area, the more efficient cooling is achieved especially at idle when the car is not moving with just the fan running. This is all intuition on my part.

[StephenH]

That looks much neater than mine.
I don't have the wheel storage issue as the spare is moved to the engine compartment and the rear storage is gone.

I have plenty of air coming through the cabin vents, although the duct is full width across the snout it isn't sealed (nor is the bonnet).
Engine cooling at any moving speed is good, I had an issue originally with overheating at low speed which turned out to be the fan running backwards.

[blasterdad]

 
Beautiful fab job... I know some union tin knockers that would be impressed!
(more like jealous )

[BDA]

Stephen,

I think your job came out very nicely, too! Great work! 

[Clifton]

That looks really good. I didn't know you could form aluminum like that.

[LotusJoe]

Do you experience cooling problems?

Back in 1973 I lived in central Texas and a room mate bought a used '69 S-2. That car was plagued with heating problem and ultimately resulted in a blown head gasket. Over the years I have seen other Europas with marginal cooling systems. They are fine at highway speed or as long as the car is moving. But in hot weather sitting the engine seemed to want to over heat. I know a lot of this is the result of not having the front plenum properly sealed or the electric fan not working properly or the radiator needing service. This is a preemptive exercise. I have a new Chinese Aluminum radiator with a high flow Spal fan and now the ducting to concentrate air flow directly to the radiator. I understand the theory behind making the entire front plenum tight and compressing the air out through the opening behind the radiator. But for this to work properly it requires all the openings in the front area to be sealed; like the openings around the radiator hoses, the brake master and other penetrations.

I have no hard evidence that this modification will make any difference, but I'm pretty sure it can't be any worse.

I'm learning metal work from a coach builder a few doors down from my shop. This was something I have wanted to do so it turned out to be a good learning project. If nothing else I'm having fun learning how to shape metal.
   

[BDA]

Your first pictures don't do it justice! This is a very nice piece of work! 

[LotusJoe]

Do you have experience with and without it? Does it make a difference?

It looks really well made! I wish you were around to give me tips when I made my oil cooler duct - it's really pretty ugly! 

I'm also curious about your spare tires. I assume you are running larger or wider tires. Will you be able to fit one of them where your spare goes? I was concerned about fitting a spare but when it occurred to me that if I used the spare, none of the wheels and tires on my car would fit where the spare goes. I would have to put it in the passenger seat! I thought of keeping a garbage bag for that eventuality but decided to just keep a tire repair kit and compressor in case of a flat!

I am running 185/60 13s on the car. I took a stock steel wheel and mounted a space saver 13 inch tire to help save a bit of space. You raise a interesting issue. I hadn't thought about what to do with the flat tire.... I guess a spare trash bag goes in my tool kit 

[BDA]

I think the 185/60 should fit in the spare tire position. That's about the size of the original rears on the TC.

[LotusJoe]

I think the 185/60 should fit in the spare tire position. That's about the size of the original rears on the TC.

I suppose the only way to know is to take a tire off and see if it fits.