front mounted radiator?

[nky_84]

anyone on here done it too a fibre glass round nose flip front?

Ive heard of people doing it but im struggling to see how it will fit.

Anyone got any decent pics of their setup?

Nick

[Mr2Mike]

Ditching the distributor and going for an electronic system gives quite a bit more space.

[nky_84]

already done, using megajolt

[cara jynwyth]

Metro rads are very skinny. I need that space for other heat exchangers though

[danwebster]

I've done it with a dizzy and a standard starter motor, although i'm moving to mappable ignition now. Its a tight fit mind you. Thats using a Metro rad.

[Fatboy]

That's a seriously nice Mini Dan!!!!!!

Is that one of the BMW K head conversions? I'd love to do one of those, just got to save the pennies for a big fat order from Specialist components

Does it all fit under with no bonnet mods? As those trumpets look quite far forward... Also what are you using as an air cleaner?

[fwdracer]

Metro rads (thick Mk1 Metro or thin Mk 2) will go in and that includes utilising the standard Dizzy position. This is a standard set-up on a race Mini Se7en if you don't want to afford a RADtec Aluminium rad....

Small mounts just ahead of the front subframe cross member and a but of judicious re-shaping of the B-surface (back) of the front panel keeps it under the standard grill profile.

I'll see if I can get some pics posted up after the weekend..

[danwebster]

Its a KAD twin cam, not the K head....

With a standard short inlet manifold you can just squeeze it under the bonnet, but i run a long manifold for more torque so have absolutely no chance of getting it in.

[nky_84]

fwd racer, pics would be great. Any from above looking at the gap between starter motor etc would be even better.

Am i right in saying the mk1 is quite thick but not that tall, and has the handy inlet and outlets at the one side, whereas the mk2 has the inletand outlet on different sides and is quite large but thin, like dans.

Dan, nice car, seen that a few times around the forums. Which fan is that?

Edited by nky_84 on Tuesday 24th April 11:13

[fwdracer]

Mk1 is the thicker of the two metro rad cores but does have inlet/out on same side (water pump side) so makes plumbing in a doddle.

I'll post after the weekend...

[danwebster]

Its a pacet fan of some description, 9" I think from memory...ordered from Demon Thieves when I built the car a couple of years ago.

[fwdracer]

As Promised...

Edited by fwdracer on Tuesday 8th May 08:13

[nky_84]

thanks for the pics, looks like a nice setup you have there. Iv got a hold of a fiat rad, which is very similar to the metro mk1, that im going to have a go with.

Currently thinking about how to make a hinged front for easy access as its a one piece fibre glass job. After that its bleed the brakes and the mini is hopefully gonna move for th efirst time since the full stripdown!

[fwdracer]

Ahhhh The ease of working on a mini with a removable front end. I race with a steel front, grp front ends get easily damaged and turn into dust and shards in heavy front impacts. Personal thing I guess, just I question how safe etc....

Make sure you have got triangulation from the front of the subframe back to the top of the bulkhead - just visible in shots.

[Chris_w]

nky_84 said:

Currently thinking about how to make a hinged front for easy access as its a one piece fibre glass job. After that its bleed the brakes and the mini is hopefully gonna move for th efirst time since the full stripdown!

We've just changed our car from a hinged front end to a lift off style with locating pins at the bottom - slightly more time to take off and replace but makes access a whole lot easier.

[nky_84]

i was wanting to make a hinge front that would be easy to undo and lift off. Ie, hinge and a few clips to have a quick look, and removal of hinges to work on the engine etc.

How and where do people attach the hinges to the fibreglass and also to the subframe?

[eccles]

fwdracer said:

Ahhhh The ease of working on a mini with a removable front end. I race with a steel front, grp front ends get easily damaged and turn into dust and shards in heavy front impacts. Personal thing I guess, just I question how safe etc....

Make sure you have got triangulation from the front of the subframe back to the top of the bulkhead - just visible in shots.

you mean like this?




luckily the only damage was the front end,radiator,dizzy cap and rad fan. the tyre wall certainly did its intended job.

[nky_84]

fwd racer, are you not running a fan?

Dan, which fan do u have and how deep is it a the deepest part. The 9inch pacet says its 77mm deep, seems too deep to me

Nick

[danwebster]

It could well be, I didn't have a grille on the front of mine as the fan stuck out a fair way.

[FWDRacer]

No Fan on mine - System has enough coolant capacity (big swirl pot) not to get too hot in the paddock and on the grid, and runs bang on 65degrees where I want it when racing. For road applications I'd suggest a fan would be a necessity if you intend getting stuck in traffic.