Cooling...

[Sidecarbod]

Like others have said the rad that pilgrim use is an up-side-down sierra 2.3 diesel jobbie. This is only part of the solution but can be made to work with a fairly well tuned 4.6 and even a hot SBC. (Noels). Infact my car runs between 75 and 80 degrees even in the hot weather that we had recently.

If you are running an edelbrock performer manifold then you should drill two holes into the water channels just behind the stat. You should also fit a 74 degree stat (This is important in my opinion).

Other mods include restricting the hose that runs to the top of the expansion tank as it allows water to short-circuit past the radiator. The top hose of the expansion tank only has to allow air out of the system.

Personally I don’t like the idea of relying on the fan to keep the engine cool, in my opinion the cooling system should be up to the job on its own and the fan should only be needed in traffic. A good fan to go for is the pacet pro series 12” version. It pulls a lot of air and not too much current. (The pilgrims ones do the exact opposite!). It is more or less the biggest fan that you can fit to the sierra rad.

I know that you don't have a pilgrim but alot of RV8's end up in Sumo's so it is good to compare what you've got with one.

Another good mod is to make up some plates out of something to fill in the gaps around the side of the rad. (I knocked up some fibre glass panels)

I have also found that some rad caps barely bottom out when fitted to some filler necks. The result is that the blow off pressure that is stated on the cap is nothing like the real blow off pressure. Graham (chedz) and I did some tests on his car and from memory his cap was blowing off at about 7 psi!
We made a couple of extra rubber seals and that got the pressure up to 13 psi (Or something similar).

The tests were done in true Heath Robinson style with rubber tube and a foot pump! (I stand by the results though!)

HTH,

Pete

[DevonFrog]

Originally Posted by stu e

Hi Dave /Laura

I know my car is a Sumo but it has an RV8 as well. If you want to have a measure up and see what will or won't fit you're welcome to.
My rad is a Sierra diesel, as supplied by Pilgrim and so far have had no probs.
I was planning on going for a drive later, if you want I can call round your way.
Stu.

That would be great to have a look - unfortunately I'm away for a week from tomorrow, then back for a week and away again with work so the car won't be getting much use at all 'til mid-June. If I can inbetween trips I'll arrange with you to meet and have a measure up, but if not then definately in June (possibly at meet on 1st - I think that's the weekend I'm back but will need to check)!! I'll do some research into sourcing / pricing a radiator in the meantime!

[DevonFrog]

All fantastic suggests / gems of advice thank you! I'll do some research into the fans / Sierra rads and measure our existing fan.

Will also remove the mesh on the front - though perhaps not with my foot NeilO; could damage shoes and all that!

Will also look into a splitter Lutman and see what I can come up with. I do agree with Pete that I don't want to rely on the fan alone for cooling and plan to re-do the cooling and electrics over the winter months so hopefully a splitter and no mesh will last the summer and radiator / fan amendments can be done then.

I'll let you know how we get on! Thanks again

[stu e]

Have sent you a PM
Stu.

[Neil O]

Dave, a splitter will only make a difference if you're moving (just to state the obvious). Is it running hot all the time or just in traffic etc?

Sounds like you are away a lot, does Laura get lonely?
MikeT said I should ask......