Good morning All,
I'm in the process of rebuilding my 351C and replacing the entire cooling system during this time. Just curious if anyone has ever tried to relocate the radiator to the rear of the car and eliminate the long tubes. It appears one could fabricate a mount and relocate the A/C Fan Condenser to the front of the car. Two pusher fans could be mounted to the radiator and exhaust air thru the same area the condenser now uses.
Is this a crazy idea?
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Yes. It is.
Larry
Very. At speed the stock location for the AC condenser is starved for air. This effect with a radiator would be multitudes worse.
...Agreed All!! And as far as the weight transfer, the Rear is already Too 'Heavy', at what? 42% front 58% Rear, guesstimate?? The Nose is Too Light, by comparison, so the Nose will 'Lift' at speed. Loosing traction Control. So Keep the BRASS Radiator Maintained and keep the Radiator in Front, for better balance.
Besides...You would Move the AC Condenser to the Nose?? You would then have to run Those Hoses to the Front. Last, with all of that in the rear...you could NOT use the 'Trunk Tub'.
Leave it as it is, and 'Improve' it, have it inspected and Repaired, while mounted in the Nose. Before getting into a project You Will regret starting!!
...Believe Me Now!
MJ
Thanks to everyone for their opinions and experience. I figured it was a long shot.
I have a Ron Davis rad on order along with all the hoses and cooling pipes. Hope to have most to the cooling system back in before the 351C shows up from rebuild.
Best Regards,
JW
The only problem with the long coolant tubes is they increase resistance to coolant flow which in turn increases the likelihood of cavitation at high RPM. If you want to counteract this, you can add an electric booster pump at the outlet of the radiator. I used a Stewart because if it fails, it won’t restrict coolant flow. There are other mods that help, such as increasing the size of the coolant tubes from 1-3/8” to 1-1/2” and using a single pass radiator. George Pence’s self bleeding mods work well too. That being said, all these mods do is add headroom. A stock cooling system with all the correct parts and properly maintained will cool just fine!
@davidnunn posted:The only problem with the long coolant tubes is they increase resistance to coolant flow which in turn increases the likelihood of cavitation at high RPM. If you want to counteract this,...George Pence’s self bleeding mods work well too. That being said, all these mods do is add headroom. A stock cooling system with all the correct parts and properly maintained will cool just fine!
the other nuance is moving the pressure cap from the pump's discharge on the "swirl tank" after converting the overflow to a "pressure tank" on the suction side of the pump
and of course a water pump impeller that design provides internal sealing for pressure vs just volume
I would imagine the heat from the engine would be counter productive as well with a rear mounted radiator...........
a radiator placement change I "thought about" was laying it at angle with base foward and top back, so air would enter from above and exit under car. (dispairing the notion of hood vents)
I don't know but it stand to reason that the heat from the engine bay would be counter productive to cooling..................but I don't pretend to be a professional engine cooling guy........
From a pure cooling standpoint, I’d think the best position would be the original position; vertical in the front of the car. In that position, you maximize the cooling effect of the car moving through the air and air bubbles will rise to the top of the rad. where they’re easily removed.
