Another rad location?

[regis101]

Greetings.

I have the upmost respect for the ingenuity of radiator placement that comes from the Euro continent.

Water cooled lumps into lawn mower bays hasn't caught on here. Glutten for punishment maybe.

But anyway. I've noticed that bay window campers from Europe sometimes have a large white box on the front of the nose. It also appears that the front bumper is extended from the body. Am I correct to think that this is the spare tyre?

Can this be made to house the radiator?

On this side of the pond, peoples sometimes mount a bracket on the nose (camper and non-campers) on which the spare tire hangs. And usually a leather cover is installed to finish off the look and keep the weather off it. So all you see is a round thing that is black ( or white ). This thing is gonna be ~25" in diameter.

There have been a select few of air-to-water conversions here that try to make a radiator fit onto the nose disguised as a spare tire. My question, finally, is, would something like this be acceptable in your part of the world?

Peace, Regis
78 campr

[famous phil]

the next bay that i do will probably have the rad at the front , one from a landrover discovery 200 tdi as this rad is nice n square , this will fit in a fiberglass spare wheel cover trimed off at the base ,

there are a lot of people over here that dont want to spoil the look at the front , where as i think rad and spare wheel cover and suport frame at the front also double as crash protection
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Auto Union Munga Jeep ,T4 2.4td , T4 2.5tdi ,Mercedes S Class on LPG , 66 splity deluxe , GP mk1, 3 type 25s 1 with 1.9dt pug engine + 1 with N/A pug engine ,,there are 6 t25s with pug power in Darlington

[regis101]

Cool.

Another type of radiator here is from a late model Jeep. It is 11x35 which should equate to ~280x890. I've like the size of these. It is used in the Jeep for their 4.0 6 cylinder engines. One or two of 'em should fit nicely under the bus. Maybe one in front incorporated into a bumper/brushguard. At eleven inches tall, it would only be about 3-4 inches above and below the bumper.

Same goes here for not spoiling the clean nose. But, well oh well. The spare tire bracket and cover is about the only thing we see. Even on splits.

Just some thoughts.

Peare, Regis
78 campr

[famous phil]

yes good thoughts there , i've already mention'd this jeep rad,
i've got one from the 2.5 td , and thought that it would fit nicely between the sill and chassis ,,,,
or if yuo remove the rear vallance it would fit low down in place of engine lid , would need something like a toe bar to put the stength back ,

have a look through other topics to find rad fitments m8 ,,,,

,what engines get put in over your side of the pond then ?

the extended front bumper with larg white box that you refer to is unique to the later westy's i think

_________________
Auto Union Munga Jeep ,T4 2.4td , T4 2.5tdi ,Mercedes S Class on LPG , 66 splity deluxe , GP mk1, 3 type 25s 1 with 1.9dt pug engine + 1 with N/A pug engine ,,there are 6 t25s with pug power in Darlington

[regis101]

Popular engines here are mostly subaru. They fit the vanagon but not too well in the bay. There are more conversions with the vanagons than the bay or split bus. Chevy V-6's get a mention.

Fastforward in Canada has gotten into the diesel swaps. Once again for the vanagon.

We have more involvement with the smog dept when doing engine swaps. Especially air to water. If it ain't stock, the smog stations don't want to deal with it. Not all states here have strict smog laws as does California. I'd need to go to a referee and blah, blah,blah. On a good note, in Cal, 75 and below has no smog checks. For now. They keep changing this crap every few years. Depends on who has the most money. But enuff of American politics.

Were still trying to find a suitable 2 litre plus lawn mower that'll (live) in a bay bus. They kinda max out at 120 ft/lbs of torque.

I've been hashing over a 1.8t. It'll fit. The hp is fine and the torque band is a flat 150 from ~2k to 5k. Should be OK with the bays gearing. I think the torque to Nm is a factor of 1.36. Ft/lbs x 1.356 = Nm, Nm x 0.738 = ft/lbs

Peace, Regis
78 campr

[richbaker78]

the 1.8T is a great engine - I have one in my daily passat estate...with its factory standard 150bhp and 130000 miles on the clock ive had 128mph out of it and its very smooth. The advantage (as you prob know) is of course thazt the early ones AEB codes (and i think the later ones) use the same basic block as the older golf GTI engines (going right bak to the mk1)...and this of course bolts straight onto a T25 diesel bellhousing which in turn fits nicely to the bay box.

the tuning potential is also huge...either using standard stuff with the 225bhp version being found in the Audi TT, and the Skoda RS with the 170bhp version - or with some aftermarket management. Skys the limit!!

if you look in kool rides - Jace has a mk1 GTI powered van...his plan for the coming yr is swop it for the 1.8T

as for cooling - theres not reason your wheel cover idea wont work - in fact its prob the best location for it - I may be wrong but I think those square ones also housed a small gas cylinder...well the one I saw did....this may have been modified though...altho not a mod I would do!!!
ITs all about aesthetics in the end...hence many poeple going for the under-mounted rads these days.

[regis101]

Lots of kool rides in...Kool Rides. Jace has it goin'on. Gotta keep an eye on him.

I'll keep digging around for engine spec's and whatnot on the 1.8's.

Thanks for the vote of confidence about the 1.8t. Could've been barking up the wrong tree.

My ( German ) mechanic loves the vanagons. He has a syncro with the 2.3 ,20v audi 5 cylinder. I think they're a tad too long for the bay. My extra BMW 2.5 is too long. Hence the inline 4 or the V-6.

Regards, Regis
78 campr

[ElusiveStranger]

Hello and welcome, Regis

You might want to check this out:
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=58872

The Aussies have it licked style wise with their Baja buses. Slap on a Roo Bar, rad and jack it up. Way cool IMHO - would look stupid over here but you could look down on a BMW X-5

I'm seriously thinking of removing my spare from the front of my bus. If I did hit something that tyre would do a hell of a load of damage to my panel!
_________________
The advice you receive on here is worth the paper it's written on.
Your experiences are worth shed loads to others, including the f'ups - live and learn.
Wouldn't YOU rather learn by someone else's mistakes? So would they.

'78 Bay, 2 litre 091 box, EJ20 NA & the ashtray's on the 'right' side.
I don't lean forward for hills any more
Bugger, missed out on "Live fast, die young"

[roadcow]

Here is Roadcow' alternate location. Folloe link and click on details. I overcool most of the time.

www.roadcow.com

If you want a look sometime I'm about 60 miles North East of Livermore past Stockton.