Suby-conversion advice?

[MikeVW]

There has been many posts here and on other forums about the use of rear radiators. I think panelfantastic is the only one I know of that actually made it work and I am not sure his is working as well as he wants it to. It seems to me that the duct work to the radiator would not be too difficult but exhausting all that hot air is more difficult. Extra louvers in the decklid and maybe even in the rear apron would help. Although with this you run the risk of sucking up some exhaust gas back into the engine bay and into the motor since there is not much airflow down there. Some good size fans on a large radiator with some of that stuff that lowers the temperature of the coolant couldn't hurt. Just some food for horsepower.

Mike

[ricola]

MR2s and boxsters have front mounted radiators, their side intakes are to help keep air flowing over the engine for additional cooling. The Lambo was designed for a rear mount from the start so the whole shape of the car is aerodynamically optimised for it..

Unfortunately I had to sell the G50 when the chance to buy another car came up, mine was a late one so pretty long, best ones to use are the early ones as they are much shorter, you would still have to cut through the torsion housing tho' I ended up using the 1303s box as I really don't abuse my cars, plus I could move it forwards about 50mm by reversing the rear cradle and that gets the cam covers under the stock body.

Rich

[Last Triumph]

Sorry to hear that you sold the G50. I'd go with a Type 1 box, but the cost of buying a strong one is at least £1500 (G50 money), and I'm still stuck with a 4 speed.... Which would get the engine furthest forward, a short early G50 box or a type one with reversed mount?

I trust the inner wings need to be cut to clear the heads, and engine side trays removed?

[Last Triumph]

Also, has anyone ever run the coolant tubes through the heater channels?

You could either run the tubes up the inside of the door pillars like the de-mister tubes and then forwards to a front mount rad, or run the tubes all the way to the front of the channels and out of the front bulkhead and along the frame head to the rad?

Any thoughts?

[Axl]

As I am eventually planning on a custom tube-frame chassis , I was planning on running my heater tubes through the frame tunnel . I am still unsure what type of tubes to use , either copper or aluminum . I was planning on doing some more research before hand . Also , with a custom frame , I am able to open up my choices of transmissions . I have been e-mailing back and forth with a custom frame builder , who specializes in VW frames for stuff like Manx buggies and such . Its going to cost about $1500 US . I am hoping this will solve alot of the apperant problems I might encounter .

[ricola]

Originally Posted by Last Triumph

Sorry to hear that you sold the G50. I'd go with a Type 1 box, but the cost of buying a strong one is at least £1500 (G50 money), and I'm still stuck with a 4 speed.... Which would get the engine furthest forward, a short early G50 box or a type one with reversed mount?

I trust the inner wings need to be cut to clear the heads, and engine side trays removed?

IT is easy to compare just the cost of the trans, but you are also pretty much on your own for flywheel, clutch etc etc not to mention turning the chassis into a BIG project. For a road car I'm hoping the AT will last a while, especialyl as a second car. Having said that I was offered a low mileage early G50 with LSD for £1500 which did tempt me!

Yup, inner wings need cutting/widening and the trays are long gone!

Rich

[Panelfantastic]

Just to chime in on rear mounted rads.
The problem is getting airflow. The factory cars had the advantage of a windtunnel and engineers to calculate flow. You CANNOT guess that a few ducts will be plenty. You CANNOT double the volume of coolant to overcome poor airflow, doesn't help at all.
Mine now works like a charm. What worked for me? Stripping back down to a more basic system in the rear AND adding a small FRONT mounted rad. I waaayyy over engineered the rear trying to compensate for lack of airflow, all sound ideas, agreed upon by others as the thing to do, got worse with every thing I tried... until I added the Boxster rad up front.



Jeff-

[Rob]

Since we're on the topic of Rads (not trying to hiJack this thread), has any of you tried either a water mist system or even NOS for additional cooling ?

Basically you spay water / NOS on the front of the rad, which helps A LOT with cooling. Obviously not something you want to do all the time, but could be something for trackdays etc.

I think it's mostly used for intercoolers but I was wondering if it would also work on a regular rad.

Rob.

[Last Triumph]

Originally Posted by ricola

IT is easy to compare just the cost of the trans, but you are also pretty much on your own for flywheel, clutch etc etc not to mention turning the chassis into a BIG project. For a road car I'm hoping the AT will last a while, especialyl as a second car. Having said that I was offered a low mileage early G50 with LSD for £1500 which did tempt me!

Yup, inner wings need cutting/widening and the trays are long gone!

Rich

All good and true, BUT, the guy with the orange Scooby bug in Volksworld is now on his 3rd type one trans. I guess he abuses it? I wouldn't abuse mine, but it would be nice to know that you're not going to leave a pile of bits on the road if you occaisionally want to smoke 'em up or shift in anger?

Does anyone sell mega tough type one boxes with the stongest and best of everything (Mendeola are too exoensive, but nice idea...)

Plus there is still the 4 speed problem?

Surely someone has mated G50 to a scooby before now and know what to do clutch and flywheel wise?

It would seem a front rad really is the way to go then? I ain't cutting holes though.... No sireee!
I see a big catfish, under valance, C4 'vette style scoop in my future?

Coolant tubes in the heater channels?

If a type one was used with a reversed mount, would that allow DOHC covers to clear the bodywork?

Again, sorry for all the questions.

[MikeVW]

The problem with reverse mounting a type one is reversing the ring and pinion. There is a lot of controversy about the gears ability to handle the high load in the opposite direction. There are type one transmissions that are built for drag and sand racing which should handle the power of the turbo suby motor. I can't imagine they are cheap though.

Mike

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by Last Triumph

Coolant tubes in the heater channels?

If a type one was used with a reversed mount, would that allow DOHC covers to clear the bodywork?

Again, sorry for all the questions.

Don't worry about the quesitons. I'll try to answer the questions I can. About your coolant lines. What is the car going to be used for? Daily driver...? I think the lines in the channels is a good idea, but if by some chance you have a problem you can forget about trying to get to them. I concidered this route myself.

I'm not sure about reaversing the rear mount. I think you gain about 2". I'm sure it would help, but the belt covers would still be close for clearance.

Originally Posted by MikeVW

The problem with reverse mounting a type one is reversing the ring and pinion. There is a lot of controversy about the gears ability to handle the high load in the opposite direction. There are type one transmissions that are built for drag and sand racing which should handle the power of the turbo suby motor. I can't imagine they are cheap though.

Mike

The way it looks to me, he wasn't talking about a mid engine. He was talking about reversing the rear craddle mount. To move the transmission forward.