100mm deep, and most of the flat portion of the nose wide btw
[Edited on 26/12/12 by RickRick]
Anyone made a vent for rad air from the top of the nose on a vortx? pics? or any other radiator duct ideas on the mnr
i had a nose vent on my mnr. but was more to get air in than out. pics in my blog
I am currently redoing the entire nosecone to vent the rad upwards. The ducting was a nightmare until I decided to switch to a "lost foam" type design. I'm not quite finished... having those dampers in the way is a bit of a complication. I recommend using Dacron to take care of the majority of the ducting.. it's saved me a ton of time.
what is dacron?
where's the pics?
I've got as far as making a rough template from card at the moment, it's sort of v shaped between the radiator and the top cross bars, then
leans back further to go to the back of the nose cone. however, it also takes up the space i used to have my rad fans mounted in, so i need to figure
out how to get round that, been busy making an electric handbrake, for security, and in prep for bike disks and calipers on the back
I seem to recal ducting being discussed here, but not sure if its the same as the caterham vent you mention...
http://locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/4/viewthread.php?tid=165858
that's the chap, just a bit more tricky on a mnr with the inboard suspension
Indeed, trickier with inboard suspension.
Still, let us know of any developments for a bonnet vent with a VortX - I'll do anything for a little downforce at the track...
By any miracle, is there any "graphic"/image data for the aerodynamics of our cars? It would be great to know where the natural high and
low pressure areas are for intake and (radiator) exhaust, respectively.
Perhaps an intake hood-scoop (sorry, that's american for bonnet intake...thingy) would produce its own low pressure zone behind it for radiator
exhaust. Now, wouldn't THAT be cool (pun intended...).
I have a CSR style hole in my nosecone, but I've had to cover it up because of the butchering necessary to fit the nose over my intercooler
piping. I'll definitely post pics once I'm done.
The hole is handy for reaching things too, as well as letting air in/out.
quote:
Originally posted by RickRick
that's the chap, just a bit more tricky on a mnr with the inboard suspension
does this look like a suitable size hole for a rad vent (quick photoshop job
100mm deep, and most of the flat portion of the nose wide btw
[Edited on 26/12/12 by RickRick]
progress pics added
Bit late i know but...
I'ev had this setup done (ish) now all summer, and it's been great, cools quickly in traffic when the fans come on, and stays around 90
when driving, also keeps the under bonnet temp down a lot. i did think i'd be having to make the hole i'd cut bigger (that's why
i've not put mesh in yet) but it's ok. just need to add a bit of mesh and a small lip at the front to make a low pressure area to help the
hot air out.
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Hi RickRick, looks really good, do you have any other pictures of the rad ducting that you have done? This is one of the jobs on my to do list, but I havent managed to get round to doing it yet.... another winter task!
Is that a large plate a few inches behind the radiator 'ducting' up to the vent?
[Edited on 7-10-13 by loggyboy]
Yer it's carbon fiber layed onto cardboard because of the shape it's curved front to back but then it's sort of leant back above the
shockers so it almost meets the edges of the rad lower down then meets up with the return on the molding for the nose cone makes it a bit of a fiddle
to get the nose on and off. i've not ducted from the nose to the rad, it's vaguely closed off by carefull cutting of the nose when i first
built it
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Not convinced its any better than leaving it open to be honest.
Air comes through a 300x400 nose through a rad with a free air area of about 50% of the nose, then is expected to turn through near 90degrees to go
through a vent which must have a free air area of about 20% of the radiator, and thats before its meshed. I would open up some holes in that CF
backing to let some air escape in other directions.
All you have there is a giant air dam.
I know what your saying, it would be great if there was more space behind the rad to let the air come out at a more gentle angle, i did look at
trying to do the duct behind the shocks, but then would they like being blasted by hot air, and it got too close to the engine.
It's certainly no worse than standard for water cooling, and helps keep engine bay temps down about 20c and i guess whatever air is going through
the rad is coming out the top of the car, rather than going out the bottom, so less lift at the front.
like i say i was expecting to need to open up the hole in the top more than i've done but it seems ok, and adding a lip at the front will help
too
Thanks for the R&D dude!
Please don't patent it before I've copied it!
Steve, in the NLs
Rickrick what did you use to cut the hole out?
i made a cardboard template for the hole, lined the edge up with the edge of the nose to make sure it was straight across the nose, then used a 3" cut off grinder for the straight parts, and to rough out the round portions, then finished with a large dia sanding drum in a drill
I was also looking into this and considered all mentioned. inboard shocks are a pig. I was considering making the rear duct go between the shocks but
stay open so air can get through where the shocks are. imagine making the perfect rear duck without the shocks and then cutting out the bare minimum
to refit the shocks.
The other thing I was considering was to duct through large ducking to the side pod exits.
[Edited on 8/10/13 by bi22le]
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
I was also looking into this and considered all mentioned. inboard shocks are a pig. I was considering making the rear duct go between the shocks but stay open so air can get through where the shocks are. imagine making the perfect rear duck without the shocks and then cutting out the bare minimum to refit the shocks.
The other thing I was considering was to duct through large ducking to the side pod exits.
Because of the latent heat from the Chevy I needed to allow heat out at rest.
In the bonnet I've got louvres that I sourced from a chandlery. This has mitigated the fuel vapourisation I was getting in really heavy traffic
!
I've also let in two vents above and behind the fans to dissipate the rising heat. BMW Radiator grills (kidney shaped) from a 3 series are very
easy to source and then dremel out the recess.
This is what the ducting looks like from a caterham csr with inboard suspension.....
Suprisingly restrictive looking!
Looks quite close to what i've achived, maybe a little bit further from the back of the rad to the duct on the caterham one, and it's enclosed at the top, but the rad in the mnr is up at the top of the nose already, leaving a nice space for airflow into the engine bay
I have just done some lunch time googling on this and have come across this interesting blog entry. Its about kit planes but the detail is
relivent.
http://silencetwisterbuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/radiator-theory.html
Have a read if your considering doing this.
It has made me think about leaning my radiator backwards forwards, doing this will allow me to reduce the sixe of the inlet exit duct and
therefore get better flow for the oil rad as it will have its own cold air.
The question is, do I have the space? Probably not!!
Hmmm it would be really quite easy for me to lean the top of my rad forward, which would also mean air coming out the back would be at less of an angle to the ducting, longer rubber hose, and some threaded bar are all i'd need i think, i could even lift the bottom up a little to leave more space for cold air into the engine bay.
Radiators can be angled very steeply, as long as the air is ducted through them. Ultima rad for example
http://www.macgracing.co.uk/ultima_build3.shtml
The Elise's Rad is completely horizontal, but as said above you need to get the ducting right.
Going back to OP the issue is with inboard shocks.
I wonder if mounting the rad at an angle is even possible. The striker is small and has a diagonal brace bar which means its very difficult to get any
kind of angle.
Oh I wish I had time to go outside and spend the evening with a beer working this out on my car.
So much fun!!!
Just to add into this convo.
The CSR supposedly reduced alot of lift adding in this mod.
We tried it on the Pulse and completely ducted out the back of the rad up top and found the car struggled too cool as well. Our theory is although the
radiator ducting was working well, it then meant that it restricted any air getting into the engine bay and in turn would do more harm to cooling than
good.
This might have affected us even more as we have no other ducts into engine bay (Flat floored etc..) But bear this in mind if you guys choose to do
the mod.
PS. We did it with inboard dampers and theres still a fair bit of room.
[Edited on 9/10/13 by eddie99]
i'd have to lean the top of the rad forwards, no room to lean it back
Can you not just cut a vent in the nose cone and leave the radiator without the ducting. Then hot air will escape out the vent and at the same time air coming through the front of the nose can get to the engine through gaps between side of rad and nose.