Front mounted rad
Turbo Mini Forums

Has anyone got a front mounted 97 on rad. I was wondering how easy they fit in. I still have the dizzy and the engine mounts are standard, but I need more cooling. Any help is appreciated. thanks.

The dizzy alternator and oil filter housing I think will interfere with trying to get the std late rad in a round front car........

Any ideas on what will go in there or what to modify as I need to cool more

how about an additional cooling fan in the inner wing worked brilliantly on my other car i just had it on a switch.

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

I've used a heater matrix before mounted on the clutch housing, worked well and cheap enough to get one out of an old heater.

I have an old heater matrix. How did you plumb it in

I put mine in series with the heater but before it to dump some extra heat out, without having to heat up the car with the fan on.

Thanks Tom

"The dizzy alternator and oil filter housing I think will interfere with trying to get the std late rad in a round front car........ "

Tom this is not correct it just depends how you go about it. If you plan on an intercooler setup then it does make things intresting however it is still possible.

If you ditch the standard alternater for a small jap alternator then it fits rather well. (its either that or time to start making brackets and move the alternator to where the twin points have them).

Depends what subframe you are using. If you use the injection front subframe to move the engine forward slightly for more clearance at the back it does not fit, as I tried. My shell is a twin point so has the later front panel with the cut out for the front mount rad.

Mine is a MK3 with 2 bolts per tower. I do not have a heater connection on the left side of the head so where is the best place to return the water. Top of rad? Do you know of any small rads out there that might fit in?

Why not drill the head in situ, do it with the rad full of water so that any swarf gets washed out of the head rather than going in. It is worth having this take of used as it allows water to circulate round the head better.
If you've got a heater matrix I'd try that first?

Thanks for the info.Ill drill the head.

You do need to be careful. Get one of those magnet on a stick things and keep getting the swarf out as you drill. When you are just about to break through then if you are careful you can stick the magnet to the bit of material left and give it a smack with a hammer and punch, break it off and thus recover it so it doesn't get in the cooling jacket.
I am fairly sure all the heads have the holes tapped already, they might just need a tap running down them to clean them up.

yeah the head is tapped. Thanks for the info