AW11 rear mount radiator?

**EVO 747** · 17-06-2010, 12:07 AM

hello, well the saga continues in my on again off again project. while everything is completely stripped i have found major rust problems in the cooling system, the steel pipes that run from the engine bay to the radiator (both heather and radiator pipes) and FULL of rust flakes. im not even going to bother inquiring at toyota for replacement pipes as the price will be prohibitively $$$, if they are available at all.

this leaves me with 2 solutions (unless someone can offer another). the factory piping has a few bends and would be quite $$ to get remade, so seeing as the interior is a one seat only, and fully stripped (circuit car), i could purchase some straight sections of steel from an exhaust shop, and run them through the firewall, fixing them to the floor pan inside the cab, with flexible radiatior hose for the bends at the engine and radiator.

OR i could relocate the radiator to the back. my mate suggested mounting it flat, above the motor, which is not a bad idea, but i dont want to have a custom engine lid made to suit. this leaves me thinking perhaps in the boot. how important structurally is the material in between the engine bay and boot? im not talking to entire section here, just a cut out the size of the radiator. or would a better option be mounting it at a 45 degree angle from the back of the boot, and cutting out a section in the floor of the boot, and having a sheet metal duct fabricated to direct airflow up toward the radiator. the boot will of course, need to be vented to expel the hot air.

i am quite partial to the rear mount solution, as it gets rid of all that piping, i am just looking for some advice on the structural rigidity issues with doing this

matt

**StuC** · 17-06-2010, 12:37 AM

There's a few problems i see with mounting it at the rear.
1) you need to have a breather/expansion bottle setup higher than the radiator itself. This would be at the the top of the glass then if you set it up flat as above.
2) thats a fair few kgs you're adding to the rear
3) You dont really want to be cutting up rear structural parts as the motors back there unless you can rebrace/mod around it.

If it were mine id run some piping back up to the front. Go talk to some plumbing supply places and see what size piping you can get by the metre. At the end of the day a few metres of piping wouldnt really cost that much and would be much easier to run through than modding/customizing shit up back

**Jonny Rochester** · 17-06-2010, 12:37 AM

If it was me I would leave the radiator in the stock position. I would also get a (trade) price quote on new pipes from Toyota. You never know... A lot of my AE86 is new parts from Toyota and I think it works out best in the end.

If it realy is a race car, then the stock parts still work the best, but you can go to 2 strait pipes to make it cheaper.

**knightrous** · 17-06-2010, 08:22 AM

Or just buy some second hand pipes that arn't rusted.

**trdee** · 17-06-2010, 08:27 AM

what knightrous said ^

running the radiator at the front makes for quite a complex cooling system on an AW11. if toyota could have made it fit at the back then they would have. ie; dont screw with the factory design in this instance....

**Duk** · 17-06-2010, 01:19 PM

You could always take the pipes out and get an exhaust mob to remake them in stainless pipe. Would be a good idea to insulate them from the body to prevent any possible electrolysis.

**EVO 747** · 17-06-2010, 07:48 PM

update. parts are no longer available from toyota. adubs are rare enough and i havent seen any advertised wrecks here in perth unfortunately.

**knightrous** · 17-06-2010, 08:02 PM

Try asking in the AW11 Anonymous thread in the General section, only about 50 AW11 owners in there and a bunch from Perth

**Harreh** · 18-06-2010, 09:50 AM

I cant imagine there is an easier way or cheaper way other then getting some pipe made up and bent into shape.

Hell even a few straigh cut section with rubber bends would be enough to get you by. I wouldnt do it personally but it would work.

**StuC** · 18-06-2010, 01:19 PM

I'd use rubber bends. Much cheaper than stainless pipe and if its used in all cars for radiator hoses then why not. Just get the ends of the pipes flared so there is a lip on them. If you're worried about the rubber then get silicon hoses.
At the end of the day if its in a stripped out track car and you can run things through the cabin then go the cheapest, easiest solution. If you do run it through the cabin just make sure you put some sort of shielding over it so you dont burn yourself

**Mr Ed** · 18-06-2010, 01:45 PM

Just get some thin wall steel stuff made up and run proper Toyota red coolant through it. Being a race car you likely dont need to have the pipes running the stock route and you might be able to simplify the design a bit.

According to CAMS, if you run the pipes through the cabin you cant have any connections in the pipe within the cabin, will have to be welded if there are any bends.

**AdrianS** · 19-06-2010, 12:03 AM

Try taking the pipes to an exhaust shop and getting them to quote you for a replacement set. I own an aw11, and the pipes are no more complex than a typical exhaust system.
They don't need to be stainless if you run the right coolant.

**NeoNasty** · 25-06-2010, 09:43 AM

Id stick with what everyone else has said here. Dont mess with the orig design.

Option 1. Remove them off the cartake them to a decent exhaust place and have them re-made.
Option 2. Remove them and take them to be treated, perhaps they can be acid dipped and recoated? Not as bad condition as you thought?