DuraPine II

[MikeH]

Yes, it is the hot water line. However, the radiator is a cross flow with an internal partition. Water enters at the top left, flows to the right, then drops into the bottom half and flows back to the left and the outlet. I don't think it would operate correctly with inlet on the top right and outlet on the bottom left.

Bill.

This might be a really dumb suggestion. But could you flip the rad upside down? Putting the inlet and outlet on the right side. I don’t know where the cap is or if there is a drain petcock. But looking at Toyanvil’s pic post, it looks possible. I guess this would put the outlet on the wrong side. But on my Crown Victoria the lower hose runs from one side to the other.

 

[MikeH]

 

[Bill Blue]

Mike, a very interesting idea. I have two concerns:
The cap is located in a corner, not on the flat. Would that have to be duplicated?
The drain petcock would have to be relocated and I see that as a potential problem. The top and bottom headers do not seem to be as thick as the side headers.

Where would you place it?
The mounts would have to be removed, no biggy, they will be cutoff anyway.

Mike thanks for the input. Some very good thinking. However, I've decided to go with Fergusonic's elbow from Jegs. Cost is reasonable and will allow me to keep the chunk of aluminum for a project that has no commercial solution.

Bill

 

[Barry]

Bill,

If I understand correctly, you have an AFCO Scirocco Left Hand Double Pass radiator and a Right Hand radiator would be a better mousetrap for you.

The really easy, but very expensive solution would be to buy a right hand radiator.

The pretty easy / cheap solution is to cut off the radiator cap fitting and TIG on a plate, put a plug in the drain petcock hole, turn the radiator up-side-down and use one of these in the top hose.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/radiator-hose-fillers

​

 

[MikeH]

If you look at the pic Bill posted of the rad, the outlet is also larger than the inlet.

Guess you could also cut the hose connections off, plug the holes, and create the same openings for the inlet and outlet on the front. The flip it left to right. This would then put the inlet and outlet on the right side.

 

[Bill Blue]

With this style radiator, regardless of what I do, one radiator hose will have to crossover the engine. Due to engine outlet configuration, crossing over the upper hose presents the least challenge. So I will use the 1 1/4" , 90 degree radiator coupling, inserting it into the the 1 1/2" outlet, which has a 1 1/4" I.D. So that should work out very well. Hose for connection will be a 1 1/4" hose slightly over a foot long with a 90 degree bend.

On the rust front, I have declared victory! My first attempt. using cleaning strength (6%) vinegar, was a failure. After 2 or 3 days of soaking, a small amount of rust was loosened . So I upped my game, using 1 cup of sodium metabisulfite per gallon of water. This is the stuff used to lower the pH in swimming pools and comes in a crystal form. I was concerned it would eat away at the aluminum. A small test piece indicated that was not the case. After a total of about 36 hrs of soaking, the radiator is almost totally rust free and the aluminum is intact!

Bill

 

[Toyanvil]

Sorry if this has been covered. But can't you move the AC Compressor down and in more like the alternator?

 

[Barry]

Sorry if this has been covered. But can't you move the AC Compressor down and in more like the alternator?

The picture in post #157 illustrates the problem with moving the AC compressor "down and in".

 

[Bill Blue]

Yes, it can be moved in about and inch and then down maybe a half inch. However, that just gets the problem closer to the center of the pulley. While it is tempting to move it in order to clean up things a bit, it would mean removing the compressor anytime I wanted to remove the intake manifold. That has to be done in order to access the plugs or injectors. I also have my eyes on that space for the coil and fuel pressure regulator. Oh the joys of stuffing ten pounds of crap into a five pound bag.

Bill

 

[Toyanvil]

The picture in post #157 illustrates the problem with moving the AC compressor "down and in".

What am I missing? I do not see anything that would not allow the AC to be moved.

 

[Barry]

What am I missing? I do not see anything that would not allow the AC to be moved.

The round "black thing" with three bolt heads below and to the right of the AC compressor is the drive pulley for the water pump. The water pump housing is part of the engine block.

 

[Toyanvil]

Yes, I see the water pump. I also see it is at least 6 to 8 inches away, so moving the AC down 2 inches and in 1 inch to clear the water hose should work. If it were me, I would look at swapping the alternator and AC locations and even look at smaller AC compressors. But it is hard to know with only seeing one or two pictures.

 

[MikeH]

If you blow up the pic you can see the water pump inlet below the A/C mount.

 

[Bill Blue]

Yes, I see the water pump. I also see it is at least 6 to 8 inches away, so moving the AC down 2 inches and in 1 inch to clear the water hose should work. If it were me, I would look at swapping the alternator and AC locations and even look at smaller AC compressors. But it is hard to know with only seeing one or two pictures.

There is no way I could swap the compressor and alternator locations. I just do not have the ability to wrap things around each other in the 3 D world.
I tried using smaller A/C pumps, two of them in fact. They would not cool the car, I think maybe the rest of the system is too large.
Good picture showing A/C mount and water pump inlet.


Not that everything on the engine is located to its absolutely best position. This build has a lot of things changed from the old car. But while making changes, the old stuff is used whenever possible and not optimized. As an example, in the old build, the alternator is below the compressor. In fact, the bottom of the compressor bracket served as the top of the alternator bracket. Moving the alternator made room for the steering and the bottom of the compressor bracket was loped off. But the compressor was not moved as I cannot move it enough to gain any advantage. As it sets, there is 1/8" clearance between the bottom of the compressor and the inner fender brace. Clearance between the top of the compressor at the exhaust fitting and the intake manifold is about 1/4". So it can not go in or down without without reorganizing the entire engine front and perhaps the engine layout as well.

Bill

 

[Toyanvil]

These are the times you realize just how small the Sunbeam engine bay really is.

 

[DanR]

ust how small the Sunbeam engine bay really is.

John, Just how small, YES! But, the arrangement of the engine bay has lots to do with what is available also.

 

[Bill Blue]

Working on the shifter and shifter cable. Extreme mods on the shifter and have to construct a custom cable. I worked for about a half hour doing a write up with photos. When I posted the finished product, the photos were all screwed up, so I deleted it. So much for a description of the build. A lot of effort wasted working in an alien environment that I am not going to duplicate. Will be posting problems and successes only.

Bill

 

[Bill Blue]

The modified sh8ifter. The actuating lever has been modified to fit the available space. The cable holder has been removed and installed so the cable runs forward instead of rearward.


Hooked up to the cable I'm assembling to fit.


Connector to adapt the cable to the ball on the transmission gear selector lever.

The white thing is the connector. The thing inserted into it represents the control lever on the transmission.

Bill

 

[husky drvr]

The modified sh8ifter. The actuating lever has been modified to fit the available space. The cable holder has been removed and installed so the cable runs forward instead of rearward. Bill

Bill,

Does that mean you'll need to modify the tran's shift lever to keep from reversing the shift pattern?

 

[Bill Blue]

No, I'll just run the cable to the shift lever from the front instead of the rear. That is good, there is precious little space to run it from the rear. This transmission is rather long and I have the engine setting against the firewall. Crank in a 2" wrapped exhaust and you have a very cramped cruciform opening.

Bill