Placement of cooling tubes under front control arm

[Joel K]

Hi everyone,

Have a question about placement for the cooling tubes under the front control arms at full droop. Based on what I see, if I place the cooling tube with small gap, say 1/16” under the front control arm, the bottom of the cooling tube is about even with the underside of the chassis or maybe a small amount lower. The p-clamps and rubber portion are lower and that is with no stand off from the chassis.

Is it recommended to have a stand-off on the front portion of the cooling tubes and do most builders mount that section of tubing lower than the chassis?

Here is a pic at full droop, but now I realize the shock is not in. Now the more I think about it I should install the shock and then at full droop the A-Arm should not be so low.



As always, thanks for the help.

Joel

 

[Joel K]

Answered my own question. With the shock in and at full droop it placed the lower control arm angle differently and leaves plenty of room for the cooling tubes.



Glad I didn’t rush and start drilling holes!

 

[Jasper]

Thanks for sharing your learnings though, i'm sure someone might run into a similar issue at one point in time, and stumble across your post.
I'm so lucky for finding this forum, i'm reading posts 15yrs old and they are very valuable to me still.

 

[Johan]

Answered my own question. With the shock in and at full droop it placed the lower control arm angle is much different and leaves plenty of room for the cooling tubes.

View attachment 108126

Glad I didn’t rush and start drilling holes!

Correct Joel. I placed my cooling tube with minimal clearance to the LCA, I think I have 1 or 2 millimeters in between. I figured how often are you at full droop.
Another thing when it comes to cooling, at least with my engine set up the stock water pump does not supply enough flow below 1700-1800 rpm. If I’m below that rpm the temp starts to increase, so I configured my EWP to come on below that rpm and it works great. Ok, the EWP might have some restriction when not running but it’s minimal. So even when driving the car hard the radiator keeps up as long as there’s enough flow.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Joel,

I am catching up with you. We can't have that, you are my guide in this adventure!

Finished my passenger side coolant pipe install today and yes, at full droop with the shock attached there is just enough room to fit the coolant pipes and insulation under the lower control arm.

I still need to trim the bolts on the clamps (otherwise the road will probably do it for me someday).

 

[Joel K]

Thanks Kurt, something tells me you will be far ahead of me by winter. My build timeline is 4 years, I think you wanted to do yours in 2.

Question Kurt, did you add any standoffs or are your p-clamps secured directly to the chassis. I added a 3/8” roughly 10mm standoff to add room for extra heat insulation on the chassis and cooling tubes,

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

I used 3D printed brackets to mount the long tubes that are covered by the spider. These brackets provide about a 1/2" air gap between the header wrap on the tubes and the chassis. The tubes are wrapped the entire length and the brackets fit over the header wrap.

The two shorter tubes in the front wheel well area are mounted with p-clamps and I mounted them directly to the chassis to keep things nice, tidy, and compact. In this area I wrapped the header wrap around the pipes, 45 degree rubber hoses, and hose clamps. I wrapped the entire length with two wraps so I think it is insulated well enough that I should not see any significant heat transfer into the chassis. Time will tell. The p-clamps fit over the header wrap.

 

[Hector]

Answered my own question. With the shock in and at full droop it placed the lower control arm angle differently and leaves plenty of room for the cooling tubes.

View attachment 108126

Glad I didn’t rush and start drilling holes!

with the insulation is a very tight fit, but works

 

[Joel K]

Correct Joel. I placed my cooling tube with minimal clearance to the LCA, I think I have 1 or 2 millimeters in between. I figured how often are you at full droop.
Another thing when it comes to cooling, at least with my engine set up the stock water pump does not supply enough flow below 1700-1800 rpm. If I’m below that rpm the temp starts to increase, so I configured my EWP to come on below that rpm and it works great. Ok, the EWP might have some restriction when not running but it’s minimal. So even when driving the car hard the radiator keeps up as long as there’s enough flow.

Hi Johan,

I was thinking more about this setup. Am I correct in thinking you don’t want the EWP to run when the thermostat is closed? if so, do you have logic set up so it only runs when engine coolant temperature reaches the point where the thermostat opens and RPM is below 1800RPM?

 

[Johan]

Correct Joel, I set it up to come on at 92˚C and below 1800rpm but have now changed to only temperatur regulation. I will switch back to temp/rpm set up once I figure out a ”time delay” on the rpm. Pump turns on/off alot if cruising around that rpm.

 

[Howard Jones]

I'm afraid that if you snag those T bolts at speed it might pull the whole works right off the car. Could you change their orientation so that they don't point downwards? Or maybe even cut off the excess?

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

I'm afraid that if you snag those T bolts at speed it might pull the whole works right off the car. Could you change their orientation so that they don't point downwards? Or maybe even cut off the excess?

Yes, I plan to trim off the excess bolts on the t bolt clamps. I have them pointing down for easy access to tighten them if needed with the body on.

My system is completely plumbed now and pressure tested. Fixed three leaks and all is well!