The Big Fat Track Car Cooling Thread

[TeeLew]

you carry winshield wiper fluid don't you? Just re-purpose.

It'll be a separate system, but this is the plan.

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[Flyhalf]

When I said an oil intercooler, I was talking about an integral oil-to-water heat exchanger built into the radiator, not a separate cooler ahead of it. Your point is still valid, though, anything we stick in front of the rad is going to hurt our cooling. Turbo intercoolers are usually good things to put up front as they heat the air less than an oil cooler.

The spray system is a good idea, but we should be able to come up with something that works without carrying water. If I'm spraying anything, I want it to be methanol in the intake.

Cooling these types of cars is always a bitch. The BMW M4 GT4 car has 8 or 9 coolers hanging off the front of it, and that's a company known for their engineering prowess. This is a relatively tough nut to crack.

Fyi
The use of my spray is.
Use the windshield water tank. I made a switch on the line. And I have 5 nozzles (2 on radiator 2 on the oil cooler. 1 on the trans cooler. 50%water 50% alchool. No dripping. It evaporates at the contact.
Works for 10-15f drop in temps.

 

[TeeLew]

Works for 10-15f drop in temps.

At someplace like Chuckwalla (or Thermal), this must be a huge gain in cooling capacity. How big is your tank & how long does it last?

 

[Flyhalf]

At someplace like Chuckwalla (or Thermal), this must be a huge gain in cooling capacity. How big is your tank & how long does it last?

No separate tank. I use the windshield tank with a 3 way AMAZON switcher.
when on track inderext the flow to the cooler. Or you can direct the water to windshield.
You spray pulling the lever of the wipers
Used a 1/4 hoses and nozzles of MICRO IRRIGATION lol

 

[TeeLew]

No separate tank. I use the windshield tank with a 3 way AMAZON switcher.
when on track inderext the flow to the cooler. Or you can direct the water to windshield.
You spray pulling the lever of the wipers
Used a 1/4 hoses and nozzles of MICRO IRRIGATION lol

Damned clever. How long does it last?

 

[shogun32]

I was hoping with any luck to use the intermittent wiper functionality to drive the pump instead of having to pull on the lever. But I don't know if the wiring is conducive.

 

[Flyhalf]

I was hoping with any luck to use the intermittent wiper functionality to drive the pump instead of having to pull on the lever. But I don't know if the wiring is conducive.

Pump and wipers are in the same fuse.
I just remove the wipers. One bolt 13mm and a press u can buy on amazon.
A tank is 3-4 session

 

[TeeLew]

BTW, I received an email back from C&R saying to call a certain guy. I didn't see it until after closing Indy time. I'll talk to them Monday.

 

[fatbillybob]

Make more power even if NA motor by injecting the intake too.

 

[TeeLew]

OK, Gang, lots of info here.

I spoke with C&R. They have an off-the-shelf radiator option that is for the Shelby. It's a drop-in piece and has a lot of cooling capacity. It's also made with an extruded tube core, which means you it won't balloon when seeing big pressures. Incidentally, the guy I was talking to did comment on the high temps of NASCAR stock cars. They run _a lot_ of pressure in the cooling system, on the order of 80 psi. He said with a C&R cooling system on a street/track, he'd recommend a 30 psi radiator cap (which takes the water's boiling point to ~265 deg), but not the really high pressures which would take a lot of re-engineering.

C&R makes the GT4 Mustang cooling package and they've done work with Ford/Multimatic to optimize that package. The problem with that is they can't sell it outright as it's a bespoke part which you have to buy directly from Multimatic. It's a version of what he recommended for us, but it's a little different. They've made the water side of the rad smaller and use an oil-to-air cooler. Remember, they likely have _less_ power than a lot of street cars due to BoP restrictions. What he thought would be an easier to install/use package is their large water radiator with an oil-to-water heat exchanger to address oil temps.

So the initial recommendation is their Shelby water radiator, which he says has a lot of positive testing on it, and an 18-plate oil heat exchanger for the oil cooling. The Rad is $999 and the heat exchanger is $640. It gets better when we group up and buy in bulk, though. 5 order gives us a 10% discount and 10 orders give us a 20% discount. Keep in mind, these orders have to be all in one shot, so don't just call them up. We have to do it together.

The heat exchanger is a little shoe-box looking thing which hooks into the lower radiator hose. It's basically an aluminum box which has cooled water going in one side of the long end and out the other. The oil goes in & out of the top with AN fittings. Dimensions are 10"L x 4"W x 5"H. The radiator has all the brackets and bosses on it like the stock one and has ~500 in^2 of cooling area. Both are really nice pieces made in Indianapolis by people who build race car parts day in and day out.

He did really emphasize the utility of sealing the airflow into the rad. I told him about Flyhalf who has gone to lengths to do this, has a hood that's more vent than hood and a spray system. He said this info really confirms the rad is just undersized for the heat it's meant to dissipate.

So, time to nut up or shut up. I'll be buyer #1.

 

[SVO MkII]

OK, Gang, lots of info here.

I spoke with C&R. They have an off-the-shelf radiator option that is for the Shelby. It's a drop-in piece and has a lot of cooling capacity. It's also made with an extruded tube core, which means you it won't balloon when seeing big pressures. Incidentally, the guy I was talking to did comment on the high temps of NASCAR stock cars. They run _a lot_ of pressure in the cooling system, on the order of 80 psi. He said with a C&R cooling system on a street/track, he'd recommend a 30 psi radiator cap (which takes the water's boiling point to ~265 deg), but not the really high pressures which would take a lot of re-engineering.

C&R makes the GT4 Mustang cooling package and they've done work with Ford/Multimatic to optimize that package. The problem with that is they can't sell it outright as it's a bespoke part which you have to buy directly from Multimatic. It's a version of what he recommended for us, but it's a little different. They've made the water side of the rad smaller and use an oil-to-air cooler. Remember, they likely have _less_ power than a lot of street cars due to BoP restrictions. What he thought would be an easier to install/use package is their large water radiator with an oil-to-water heat exchanger to address oil temps.

So the initial recommendation is their Shelby water radiator, which he says has a lot of positive testing on it, and an 18-plate oil heat exchanger for the oil cooling. The Rad is $999 and the heat exchanger is $640. It gets better when we group up and buy in bulk, though. 5 order gives us a 10% discount and 10 orders give us a 20% discount. Keep in mind, these orders have to be all in one shot, so don't just call them up. We have to do it together.

The heat exchanger is a little shoe-box looking thing which hooks into the lower radiator hose. It's basically an aluminum box which has cooled water going in one side of the long end and out the other. The oil goes in & out of the top with AN fittings. Dimensions are 10"L x 4"W x 5"H. The radiator has all the brackets and bosses on it like the stock one and has ~500 in^2 of cooling area. Both are really nice pieces made in Indianapolis by people who build race car parts day in and day out.

He did really emphasize the utility of sealing the airflow into the rad. I told him about Flyhalf who has gone to lengths to do this, has a hood that's more vent than hood and a spray system. He said this info really confirms the rad is just undersized for the heat it's meant to dissipate.

So, time to nut up or shut up. I'll be buyer #1.

Did you ask him about anything for the Ecoboost?

 

[shogun32]

So, time to nut up or shut up. I'll be buyer #1.

you'll want to start a fresh thread for that.

 

[TeeLew]

Did you ask him about anything for the Ecoboost?

Not specifically, no. Being in the same boat, I'm just going to run the same stuff as with a GT and potentially over-cool it. Where I am, it gets pretty hot in the summer, so a little extra cooling capacity is not a bad thing. If you wanted to get a smaller heat exchanger for the oil, you could, but it's trivial in terms of $$$ saved.

 

[TeeLew]

you'll want to start a fresh thread for that.

Should I do that here or elsewhere?

 

[SVO MkII]

Not specifically, no. Being in the same boat, I'm just going to run the same stuff as with a GT and potentially over-cool it. Where I am, it gets pretty hot in the summer, so a little extra cooling capacity is not a bad thing. If you wanted to get a smaller heat exchanger for the oil, you could, but it's trivial in terms of $$$ saved.

Unfortunately, the V8 radiators are taller than the Ecoboost rads, extending down into the space occupied by the intercooler. Most aftermarket intercoolers still use this space, with a thicker core. Yes, it is possible to get an intercooler than doesn't use this space, and then reconfigure the rad mounts to handle a V8 sized rad, but it's not simple. And for the vast majority of Eco owners with aftermarket intercoolers, they need to now buy another intercooler.

But at least we know that C&R is very familiar wit the S550 platform. I may reach out to them next spring and see if they have any thoughts on an Eco sized radiator, i.e., stock height with thicker core.

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