914 engine conversion: water-cooled hose specs, Engine-to-radiator and water-air intercooler hoses Options

[strawman]

I've searched but can't seem to find definitive answers about what size and specs for the coolant hoses for my turbo Subaru engined conversion. I'm interested in real world experience from others that have running water-cooled conversions. Based on my research of this site, I've decided to follow most conversion guys' use of rubber hoses in lieu of SS or aluminum pipes for the long run between the engine and radiator -- run in the recesses along the bottom of the chassis.

Renegade Hybrids sells Gates Green Stripe (or equivalent) hose, in 11' of 1-1/4" ID and 13' of 1" ID for -- including clamps -- for $100. According to their website, they recommend 1-1/4" I.D. from lower radiator to pump and 1" I.D. from upper radiator to the thermostat housing. Those sizes provided by Renegade would require that I use adaptors for both ends on each hose(engine and radiator), so I've searched the usual suspects like Ebay, NAPA, Rock Auto and marine suppliers for bulk heavy-duty 1-1/2" ID hoses -- but my head is spinning from all the options.

Is a "hardwall" rubber hose required (the type with wire reinforcement) for the engine-radiator hose? If so, marine exhaust hose seems to sell for ~$5.00 to $8.00 per foot on Ebay. It seems like the suction side should be beefier so that it doesn't collapse when hot, but maybe that is not important, so a two-ply polyester-reinforced hose might suffice. Any opinions from you Chevy V8, Subaru or other guys?

I'm also looking for 25' of 3/4" ID heater hose for my water-air intercooler setup, as my heat exchanger is mounted in front of the radiator. Again, is hardwall rubber hose required, or would any high-quality two-ply polyester-reinforced hose work?

Thanks for your opinions!

Geoff

[Britain Smith]

Ok, since we are on the subject. What radiator do you recommend? Size?

This will be paired up to a Subaru 2.5L Turbo engine for AX applications only. I want to run a very compact, efficient radiator. Any suggestions.

-Britain

[strawman]

Ok, since we are on the subject. What radiator do you recommend? Size?

This will be paired up to a Subaru 2.5L Turbo engine for AX applications only. I want to run a very compact, efficient radiator. Any suggestions.

-Britain

Our engines are different; I'm using a stock EJ22T engine with OEM ECU, but with a larger TD05-16G turbo, slightly larger injectors & a fuel cut defenser setup. I also plan to use a manual spring-ball boost controller -- at least at first (electronic unit to follow, unless my cheap ass finds one sooner!). It should put out ~190hp at ~10psi, according to the "experts" on the LegacyCentral website. I'll use my car as a spirited canyon carver and occasional AX toy, so I need the car to handle hot summers here in the Sacramento Valley.

I have adapted a Griffin aluminum radiator into my tub; specs found at:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRI-1-25241-X/

I bought this radiator off of Craigslist, and it is rated for up to 400hp as shown in http://www.griffinrad.com/race_radiators.cfm. If you're really going to pump up the boost on your engine, you might need some additional cooling capacity... but since you're only using it for short AX runs, you might just go for a "Scirocco" drag racing radiator. Those can be found cheap at Summit, JEGS, etc.

I am also using a huge 4600cfm radiator fan out of a Lincoln Continental Mark VII. It is used by a lot of the rockcrawling 4x4 crowd, since it is lightweight and cheap (bought mine for ~$30 at a local Pick-n-Pull). See my build blog for pics on how I setup the shroud and radiator mounting. Again, you'll probably need a much smaller fan & shroud to cool the system between runs.

Caveat Emptor: mine is not yet running, so this is all theory!