v8 swap cooling system anticipation.

[jhstealth]

Hey everyone, I just picked up a 930 shell in which I am going to do a ls swap into. Over the past few weeks I have been researching the cooling system and what options there are and what I could possibly do on mine. First, the toy jet radiator I am not a fan of the wing so that is out, renegade's is nice and its kind of my worst case scenario at the moment, reason being is I don't really want to make essentially a duct that directs air under the car. So I had thoughts of flipping the radiator and venting through the hood but I don't know how I feel about that look. So I have been thinking, my car has 964 bumpers and is going to have 11in front flares so does anyone have any input on trying to use 996 style wheel well mounted radiators and possibly even the aftermarket center lower radiator? This option has me really curious and I'm pretty sure the room will be there to run the radiator and some fans on each. As I understand the 996/boxster setup is parallel with separate lines going to each cooler, would it be possible to run them in a series say engine out to the top of the left cooler bottom goes to center center to top of passenger cooler and then back to the motor? Any input on why or why not this would work? Any other options that I'm missing? Thanks a lot for any help anyone can give me. All of your projects are great and I love reading them. The craftsmanship on a lot of the builds here is amazing.

Thanks

-Jason

[drive-ability]

I built a V8 914 and am building another now, using a number of radiators isn't new as you stated and surely can be done. Cooling is a mathematical calculation, but I have no clue how to write it out
Get the body setup and mock up your radiators, its all about taking the time and testing. Cooling a Boxster is done well so your LSx project is just a little bigger source of heat. Post some picks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I'mThatGuy]

So if you check out this thread 911 track car build , the hood exit cooling like this is what I'm doing to circumvent this issue, if you can fabricate a xj jeep radiator is about the same size as the front opening and with some minor modification could cool a v8 although I'm only relying on it to cool a Honda k24 turbo potentially this is a solution, Kennedy engineering sent a sheet describing cutting holes ahead of the front tires in the wheel wells which I wasn't a fan of but I have a renegade radiator and cut tank I'd make a huge deal on if you were just looking to get it on the road, it does just dump the air below though....
Hope that helps.
-Keith

[jhstealth]

Originally Posted by drive-ability

I built a V8 914 and am building another now, using a number of radiators isn't new as you stated and surely can be done. Cooling is a mathematical calculation, but I have no clue how to write it out
Get the body setup and mock up your radiators, its all about taking the time and testing. Cooling a Boxster is done well so your LSx project is just a little bigger source of heat. Post some picks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, yup that's what I figured. I know they usually have the two fender well radiators and the center one is an aftermarket option to have three which I think would make up for it. I wonder what the affects of running a series opposed to parallel. Will definitely post pics once the project starts moving.

Originally Posted by I'mThatGuy

So if you check out this thread 911 track car build , the hood exit cooling like this is what I'm doing to circumvent this issue, if you can fabricate a xj jeep radiator is about the same size as the front opening and with some minor modification could cool a v8 although I'm only relying on it to cool a Honda k24 turbo potentially this is a solution, Kennedy engineering sent a sheet describing cutting holes ahead of the front tires in the wheel wells which I wasn't a fan of but I have a renegade radiator and cut tank I'd make a huge deal on if you were just looking to get it on the road, it does just dump the air below though....
Hope that helps.
-Keith

Thanks a ton for the link. I was looking for a thread where they showed the build on the hood vent. Hmm thanks for the heads up on the Xj rad, I will have to look into it. I just assumed that nothing that would fit would cool enough. I may have to take you up on the renegade stuff, I'll shoot you Pm later. I could always change it later on with some fab work. Once my M3 sells things should be moving pretty quick. I'd love to have it done for Tx2k but I feel like it's too optimistic.

Thanks a lot for the replies and ideas!

[Mitch Leland]

Hey everyone, I just picked up a 930 shell in which I am going to do a ls swap into. Over the past few weeks I have been researching the cooling system and what options there are and what I could possibly do on mine. First, the toy jet radiator I am not a fan of the wing so that is out, renegade's is nice and its kind of my worst case scenario at the moment, reason being is I don't really want to make essentially a duct that directs air under the car. So I had thoughts of flipping the radiator and venting through the hood but I don't know how I feel about that look. So I have been thinking, my car has 964 bumpers and is going to have 11in front flares so does anyone have any input on trying to use 996 style wheel well mounted radiators and possibly even the aftermarket center lower radiator? This option has me really curious and I'm pretty sure the room will be there to run the radiator and some fans on each. As I understand the 996/boxster setup is parallel with separate lines going to each cooler, would it be possible to run them in a series say engine out to the top of the left cooler bottom goes to center center to top of passenger cooler and then back to the motor? Any input on why or why not this would work? Any other options that I'm missing? Thanks a lot for any help anyone can give me. All of your projects are great and I love reading them. The craftsmanship on a lot of the builds here is amazing.

Thanks

-Jason[/QUOTE]

Jason,

I'm just finishing a LS3 install in my 996. The 3rd radiator that Porsche sells is for a Tip trans oil cooler. I duplicated the cooler and had Wizard Cooling build it. It was wider, longer and thicker than the Porsche 3rd radiator, plus it was cheaper. Wizard was great to work with. I had them make up custom "T" and "Y" to connect to the 2 corner radiators. I'm sure you could use my name since they should have their engineered drawings on hand.

If you want more info, PM me...

[jhstealth]

Ahh I got confused because in the diagram below it looks like its piped into the cooling lines. That radiator looks awesome though and seems as though it will be a lot better anyway. Ill definitely shoot you a Pm in the next few days. I'm working on getting this one area straightened on the front end and then I can start mocking up coolers. Thanks a ton for the reply! Ill definitely be contacting wizard at some point.

[MichiganMike]

Mitch, how much did Wizard run you on that radiator? Im curious to using a used Porsche center rad, or just getting a new one made. Im looking to do a conversion myself and want to try and replicate the 986 cooling system. I know the PVX build did custom rad's but they weren't cheap as i'd like. Im told they work well though:
PVX build thread: one view from the slope

JH - Keep us posted, I'm curious to what you find out.

[Mitch Leland]

Mike,

I paid Wizard Cooling $550.00. I'm sure if you can find a used Porsche 3rd radiator it will be cheaper. However if you're interested in max cooling then the Wizard that I mocked up and had built will do a better job. It was an 1" thicker, taller and longer.

Since your application is unique, I would consider where the tank outlets are, be sure they're conducive to your water lines, etc. In my case I had the inlet place high on the tank, and the outlet low so there was the correct water flow. Also I used 1" inlet and outlet, the Porsche ports are 7/8".

Interesting enough, I think... my C4S has the cooled radiator water running down the left side of the car, the water after going through the engine runs forward back to the radiators on the right side. I think the standard 996 water system is just the opposite. Be sure to establish all of this first before getting too deep into your design.

Are you using an electric water pump?

[jhstealth]

Will do Mike, once the weather breaks things should move really quickly.

Thanks for the info Mitch! Yea That was the one aspect I was weary of and definitely making sure that it flows from high to low. I have been studying the 996 design in hopes to take some flow ideas from that. I will most likely go with a wizard one as I don't want to have to do it all again. I was hoping to use an electric pump but if all else fails use a renegade one, those are belt driven I believe. Would an electric one be better? I know they are a little more precise.

[Mitch Leland]

Renegade uses the Mezier electric water pump. So far the Mezier pump has worked flawlessly. I never got directions from Renegade with the pump, so I mounted it to where it fit the pipes and water hoses in my installation. However it turns out that I mounted the inlet and outlet level with each other, the directions say that the inlet should be higher than the outlet. Because of where the pump was mounted low in the system I might have dodged the bullet. Mezier recommends installing the inlet higher than the outlet to prevent an air lock in the system. The pump is well made... The Mezier people are very helpful if you need any technical advise...





Meziere Remote Electric Water Pump Guide - YouTube

[jhstealth]

We'll that makes it easier. I thought theirs was belt for some reason. Now if this weather will just break I could get things moving.

[jhstealth]

Okay so due to all the snow we keep getting I haven't been able to tinker at all so I have been researching. I talked to a friend who used to race a 930 competitively and now builds tube frame race cars. He said to just go with the renegade setup and he will help me duct it so dumping under the car isn't an issue. So if anyone is selling any renegade stuff in the meantime shoot me a message. Ps I just got the 14in qp flares. Getting pretty excited to get this moving.

-Jason

[PacificP]

make sure the radiator is a triple pass radiator and restrict the water going to the motor with 3/4 water line to slow water enough to pick up heat from the motor.

[MichiganMike]

Well, I've been pondering this idea lately for my build and believe I am headed this direction. Once April hits, I plan to buy a radiator, split it, and re-weld them to in the front fenders. I may still need a center radiator like Mitch has, but since they will be in series, its should be pretty good for cooling with fans. Thought you guys may be thinking the same thing. Here's the writeup for the idea:

Make it Fit- Building and Modifying a Custom Aluminum Radiator With the TIG 200 | Eastwood Blog

[jhstealth]

^^^. Sounds like an interesting idea. Will it be a lot of work though to cut and weld? It seems as though 996 radiators are pretty cheap.


Okay so I'm getting the drivetrain this weekend and was trying to decide which swap kit to get. I like the renegades water pump but it seems the Simpson parts are made of better materials and are around a thousand cheaper. Is there a reason why it is soo much cheaper? I almost just want to go renegade because of the pump but if there is that big of a price difference it may not be worth it. Any ideas?

[drive-ability]

1973, 914, LS1, G50, 996 complete front and rear suspension.



I'm using a double pass radiator along with two Spal fans, 12" @ 1900 cfm each. I also am using a 200 amp alternator to fee them. I don't believe slowing down the
flow using spacers is something that helps with cooling. I'm using 1 1/2 & 1 1/4 inch hose and a 55 gph electric pump along with an electric power steering pump to run the 996 steering rack. I like the idea of fitting radiators in the fenders etc. sounds like a lot of delicate fabrication but worth the time. I may run a second radiator in the passenger side rear fender well just depends on how things go.

[lin7310948]

i have a couple of v8 conversions and went mostly with renegade kits stuff...i do use the mezziere 55 gph electric pump and i had my own radiator built locally at griffin. i tried to be as simplistic with my conversions and never considered going with multiple radiators. i used as large a radiator as space in front would allow and exhaust it beneath the car. i have never noticed any problems with the air going beneath the car...short of nascar speeds! so to me it is not a problem at the speeds that i run and i do not do track events! i get my cabin heat from the radiator shroud with hot air ducted to the interor.

[jhstealth]

Lin. I was just thinking of using the rad as a pseudo heater core and ducting it to the hot side of the system. Seems like a simple awesome idea. So basically the renegade is probably worth the extra coin for their cooling.
Drive. Beautiful fabrication on that 914. It seems like it will be amazing when finished.

[lin7310948]

if you look closely you can see that i placed a sealed bulkhead between the radiator and the fuel tank. the bulk head is removable and sealed to the inner fenders as well as the hood. i get very little heat migration from the radiator shrouding to the interior. well worth the time and effort as the porsche dash has lots of openings. also i carry a spare tire up front as well.

[lin7310948]

spare tire and jack in place. also the hot air to cab ducting.