Any successful radiator in engine compartment conversions?, Or other than front trunk installs? Options

[Mueller]

I know this had been tried 7+ years ago, I was wondering if since then has anyone done a watercooled conversion and not put the radiator in the front trunk?

[Mike Bellis]

I had a radiator built to lay flat in the front trunk on my first conversion. It worked great and gave me back some of the trunk space. Con: the air outlet was straight down and would blow dirt around and add unwanted air under the car.

people keep stating cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini as successful engine bay radiators. Keep in mind these cars were engineered for this. Body panels and air flow direct the heat away. $$$$ have been spent in R&D.

The 914 engine bay has horrible air flow. It was not designed to force air through the tins. The fan forces air through the tins. flaps below help to create turbulent air for the fan to force through the tins.

I think if Porsche thought engine bay radiators were practical, they would have used this method on the 911 and Boxster.

There looks to be just enough room under the 914 headlight bucket to use a pair of Boxster radiators. I am going this route at some point. I may also use the center rad with a matching size oil cooler too. I would love to have a front trunk again.

The design would be to raise the center tunnel, creating a raised void under the car to route the Boxster coolant lines. Oil lines and fuel lines could be routed here as well. A cover would be fabricated like a belly pan to enclose the void. Getting past the front suspension with the Boxster hard tubes look like the biggest difficulty.

[Andyrew]

I had a radiator built to lay flat in the front trunk on my first conversion. It worked great and gave me back some of the trunk space. Con: the air outlet was straight down and would blow dirt around and add unwanted air under the car.

people keep stating cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini as successful engine bay radiators. Keep in mind these cars were engineered for this. Body panels and air flow direct the heat away. $$$$ have been spent in R&D.

The 914 engine bay has horrible air flow. It was not designed to force air through the tins. The fan forces air through the tins. flaps below help to create turbulent air for the fan to force through the tins.

I think if Porsche thought engine bay radiators were practical, they would have used this method on the 911 and Boxster.

There looks to be just enough room under the 914 headlight bucket to use a pair of Boxster radiators. I am going this route at some point. I may also use the center rad with a matching size oil cooler too. I would love to have a front trunk again.

The design would be to raise the center tunnel, creating a raised void under the car to route the Boxster coolant lines. Oil lines and fuel lines could be routed here as well. A cover would be fabricated like a belly pan to enclose the void. Getting past the front suspension with the Boxster hard tubes look like the biggest difficulty.

With your small displacement I think you can get away with this fairly easily. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)