I took a long lunch today and put 50 miles on the new radiator set-up. Air
temp ~85deg. , air flap for heater box shut, but with valve open of course.
After 5 miles at 75mph on the freeway, I dropped to about 60mph out country
roads to a climb of about 900 ft up to the top a hill. No problem, 185 deg
on guage. I got brave and turned up a local road that climbs 2100ft in 4.7
miles. By the time I hit the steepest part at the top the temp was 200 and
steady. Considering that the heater was 'off', I was thrilled. I've never
dared to take the bugeye up this particular hill before.
It looks like the $50 Korean radiator will be the answer to valley
temperatures and my desire to drive this little sucker every day. I'd
hesitate to suggest this course of action to others unless they were adept
at plumbing and metal work, and willing to chop off the left radiator
support. And unless you live in a climate as hot as this one gets in
summer, I doubt that you will need such a drastic solution. One nice
feature of the slanted installation is that I have room for a 10" fan BEHIND
the radiator (which everyone seems to say is the best way) with the water
pump fan still in place, . The WP fan draws through the upper right corner
of the radiator and the electric fan will draw through the lower right
quadrant, very little overlap of fan blade areas. The radiator even has a
thermo switch for a fan in the bottom tank right where I need it.
Regards,
Glen Byrns
'59 bugeye
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