Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Strangely, seem to have had a summer upgrade season this year; ducted in the radiator with a customised WF Aerorace panel kit, added a Radtec Polo Radiator. Even in hot weather in the Welsh mountains, cooling seems to have been superb so far. Just finished fitting the Playskool front and rear ARB kit. Sadly the weather changed immediately, so not actually had a chance to drive the car with it on yet and start tweaking the settings. Inspired by the Captain's dash recovering exploits, I bought a load of contact adhesive, a roll of black vinyl and one of foam padding from Martrim to redo my kick-strips, which were looking a bit tired and scruffy, and frankly "kicked" I also found my old finisher strip that goes behind the seats on the top edge of the rear bulkhead (I took it off cause the fit was so poor) and re-trimmed that after bending it to fit properly, I also added a couple of sort of elliptical protrusions that fill the cut-outs in the boot box where the inertia real seatbelt posts would normally be. Very pleased with the result, looks much neater now. Next project now the weather's drawing in is to remove the Aeroscreen and fit a normal windscreen/wipers etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Strangely, seem to have had a summer upgrade season this year; ducted in the radiator with a customised WF Aerorace panel kit, added a Radtec Polo Radiator. Even in hot weather in the Welsh mountains, cooling seems to have been superb so far. Very interested in doing something similar over the winter - how much did that set you back? Should I brace myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Very interested in doing something similar over the winter - how much did that set you back? Should I brace myself? The Aerorace kit is, I suppose, dear for what it is, in purely "raw parts" terms. But TBH, I hate cutting aluminium panels - particularly ones that will be on show (through the nose grill ), so when I found out it was only in the £35-40 region, (plus the dreaded Vat), (I'd expected it would be even more knowing WF ) I decided to just get one and save myself some time and frustration. The Radtec was er, somewhat more. One of their guy's was running an eBay store; IIRC I made an offer of £280 inc carriage - which he accepted, so I managed to save £20 on it. Both mods have been very effective, but in slightly different ways. The ducting's main benefit has been at fast A road/dual carriageway/motorway speed ranges. (Though there is some slight benefit in stop start traffic situations when the fan cuts in, it does help stop the air short circuiting round the sides of the rad. IYSWIM). The Radtec on the other hand just brings the temps down across the board. But in-conjunction with the high capacity Pace Pro Fan I fitted last year really seems to drop the temps fast in stationary/slow speed traffic when it cuts in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thanks mate, I was bracing myself on the ducting bit, that's a pleasant surprise. I don't think I can justify that much on a rad personally, so will look at the next best thing in due course and activating a Level 4 Blatman Search. I have the same issue, a gradual creeping temp increase at prolonged high speed cruising on dual carriageways and motorways. So ducting, new rad, puller fan instead of pusher, lower temp thermostat and new hoses all on the list. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippydave Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thanks mate, I was bracing myself on the ducting bit, that's a pleasant surprise. I don't think I can justify that much on a rad personally, so will look at the next best thing in due course and activating a Level 4 Blatman Search. I have the same issue, a gradual creeping temp increase at prolonged high speed cruising on dual carriageways and motorways. So ducting, new rad, puller fan instead of pusher, lower temp thermostat and new hoses all on the list. Thanks again! Scott, correct me if I'm wrong but don't you have an 'original' Escort barass and copper rad? If so a cheap/cheerful/useful upgrade rad' would be a straightforward 1300 Polo alloy rad' from the likes of GSF for circa. 40 quid..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 It's that slow upwards creep that I suffered from, (only on really hot days I should add, suffered a little on the Stoneleigh run this year, that's what finally made my mind up to sort it out). The duct went on after Stoneleigh, but still in the hot weather we had around that time. With that as the only change, I logged no creep on a couple of motorway test runs, or on a weekend trip to Wales involving both a Motorway/dual carriageway run, and some up and down mountains shenanigans. For road use, particularly with a near standard engine, I've no doubt that would have been enough. Mines not a standard engine though and I wanted to give myself some extra safety margin to cool, what's effectively a race spec engine, in heavy, hot weather, traffic and track days etc. So I went a little further and did the rad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 If so a cheap/cheerful/useful upgrade rad' would be a straightforward 1300 Polo alloy rad' from the likes of GSF for circa. 40 quid..... Oh, didn't realise, definitely if that's the case. (Note, the ducting is designed to bolt on to the four mounting bosses on the front of the ordinary Polo rad. ) Incidentally, and it's a mod that would work with any brand of rad, some of the Cheshire lads have made a sort of internal bulkhead in the nose cone, with a rectangular opening matching the radiator core. When the nose is bolted on, the rad fits snugly up to the bulkhead, so all the in-coming air is forced through the rad. Again, I know Andy - Greenstreak - has tested this mod with great success on trackdays etc. (I did think about this, but took the easy way out with a pre made kit. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Scott, correct me if I'm wrong but don't you have an 'original' Escort barass and copper rad? If so a cheap/cheerful/useful upgrade rad' would be a straightforward 1300 Polo alloy rad' from the likes of GSF for circa. 40 quid..... Yep, that's the plan mate, and will take the oldie to the local metal recycler as you suggested and get some money back for that. Although I have to say (no threadjack intended) that there's so many Polo rad variants that it's making my head hurt. Plastic tanks, metal tanks. Bleed hole to plug, no hole to plug. I think I'll hit my own supply of popcorn once I start my search... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Seabrook Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Scot I have a polo rad complete with an 11" fan that came out of my sprint car. Its been great in that keeping 280+ bhp cool. £50 if you want it mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Scot I have a polo rad complete with an 11" fan that came out of my sprint car. Its been great in that keeping 280+ bhp cool. £50 if you want it mate. Thanks Matt, twas going to be a winter project and I'm bit tight on the cash right now (new puppy incoming in 12 days) but that's a bargain - I'll get back to you soon and check if it's still available then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkie Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I had some cooling issues as well under full boost on track. So have had some more ProAlloy cooling mods and also cut the front slats from my nose old nose. modded nose with slats cut out and grill put in. Much prefer this actually, and it seems to have helped. Also fitted some wider side panels from Carbonmods to vent some air out. Cars been great since that and had a PROPER spanking at some trackdays this year. Developed a few oil leaks and weirdly the housing on back of gearbox snapped some bolts.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkie Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 So car upto JSR in birmingham for thorough chassis inspection and checkover... They also took the engine out and back to Reyland for a freshen up and some new gaskets. Sump off for inspection of shells and crank. Head off to a look at the Pistons as well. and the Sequential Gearbox back to Elite for inspection and rebuild. Since found out all is fine with everything! PHEW! Car should be all back together and back with me next week ready for some more of this! Its even been out in the wet... although it normally ended badly! not me driving here I may add! I let a friend have a go... 800bhp per tonne in the wet is pretty tricky to be fair to him lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Seabrook Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Scot I have a polo rad complete with an 11" fan that came out of my sprint car. Its been great in that keeping 280+ bhp cool. £50 if you want it mate. Thanks Matt, twas going to be a winter project and I'm bit tight on the cash right now (new puppy incoming in 12 days) but that's a bargain - I'll get back to you soon and check if it's still available then. No problem mate. Forgot to add its got a fan switch fitted to the rad. not sure what temp it kicks the fan in but it does have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Scot I have a polo rad complete with an 11" fan that came out of my sprint car. Its been great in that keeping 280+ bhp cool. £50 if you want it mate. Thanks Matt, twas going to be a winter project and I'm bit tight on the cash right now (new puppy incoming in 12 days) but that's a bargain - I'll get back to you soon and check if it's still available then. No problem mate. Forgot to add its got a fan switch fitted to the rad. not sure what temp it kicks the fan in but it does have one. Apologies for the hijack but is that a standard Polo radiator? That's what I run and have cooling problems, did you modify the nose or add any ducting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Seabrook Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Scot I have a polo rad complete with an 11" fan that came out of my sprint car. Its been great in that keeping 280+ bhp cool. £50 if you want it mate. Thanks Matt, twas going to be a winter project and I'm bit tight on the cash right now (new puppy incoming in 12 days) but that's a bargain - I'll get back to you soon and check if it's still available then. No problem mate. Forgot to add its got a fan switch fitted to the rad. not sure what temp it kicks the fan in but it does have one. Apologies for the hijack but is that a standard Polo radiator? That's what I run and have cooling problems, did you modify the nose or add any ducting? It was the largest VW rad I could find that would fit the space I also run water wetter in the system. I was like this for about five years of sprinting and track days. I even had a laminova fitted which should have raised the temp of the coolant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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