Radiator in trunk?

I am thinking about moving the radiator to the trunk. Large aluminum with electric fans. Any one heard of anybody doing this. Any helpfull thoughts on this?

Answers to questions not asked yet:
....Because I want to.........................
....I dont care if you think its ugly.......
....May add spun alum tank on front...

 

Yep. It's been done lots. Some inspiration-

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104568

And for the record I bought an A pickup with a radiator in the rear. It had advantages and disadvantages, but all around was more problems than it was worth.

 

Thanks, I knew I came to the right place. Some inspiration is right! Wow

 

haha right on! i was gonna post littlemans build as well. if Deaths Doorstep doesnt get your gears turning, nothin' will!!!

 

I was thinking of stock WP. 1" copper tube from rad to motor. Now the hard part/ How do I go fron Rad hose to 1" tube?
Most post for this mod says go small tube.

 

The easiest thing would be to go to the local hardware store and go to the plumbing section. They will have reducing bells in the copper pipe section.

 

Yup, I didnt think they made them that big.
So how do you put copper pipe together? Solder?

 

1 more thing, is copper a pipe or tubing? Need to do some bending for 1"

 

I would check out desert racing trucks for the best way to route a rear-mount radiator. The baja guys have been running like that for decades.

 

i'll see if i still have pics of it...
another HAMBer (tragic59) was friends with a guy who had the radiator in the back, alternator run off the driveshaft, (IIRC) an electric water pump... no belt driven anything... motor looked fake, but the car was a hard runner... i wanna say late 30s mopar, but don't remember for sure...

i'll dig around for the pics... the thing is wild...

 

Tubing like that you clean, flux, put together, heat with a torch, and lightly push or touch solder all around where pipe inserts into fitting. Some call it "sweating". I think this is right its been a long time. I hope this helps.
Chris

 

Yep, that's how you sweat a joint. I'd practice with some small fittings before you try to tackle a large joint. The most important thing is uniform heating of the joint.

 

I ran 1 1/2" copper tubing in my old rear engined V8 Corvair. The radiator was up front- kind of reversed from what you propose. I wouldn't recommend sweating the fittings together. The lead solder will eventually loosen from vibration. DAMHIK!
My current rear engined V6 Corvair will have copper pipe but I'm planning on using short pieces of radiator hose to connect the fittings to the pipes. There are plenty of elbows available in 90 & 45 degrees. The price of copper pipe might surprise you!
I might go to plastic if I can find a type that will take the heat and pressure.

 

you can buy 1" soft copper tubing this could be bent fairly easy. the only problem is finding someone to cut it for you. also price is gonna kill you. off the top of my head i wanna say 5.00 a foot. the shortest roll is 40'. you could use 1" pex plastic pipe is rated over 200 degrees but fittings might be a problem for you. i work in a plumbing supply place pm me i could answer some questions for you.

 

Blown34coupe:
Sent you a PM.

 

in my mid engine race car i made 1 1/4 aluminum tubing tig welded together for the runs to the rad

 

RatSalad,
One word of advice, make sure you have bleed lines and/or fittings at all the high spots, that's the biggest thing with a radiator at the opposite end of the vehicle from the engine, making sure you get all the air out of the system!

 

Its Alive!
Works great, I used my stock pump and ran 1 1/2" aluminized exahaust tubing. The Radiator is the highhest point so air lock was not a problem. Used ford style rad from afco so everything would be on the proper side with it in the rear of the car.
I need to get a thurmastat in it as I could not get the temp no higher than 150 deg. Remember im in houston so its not winter here yet .

 

Need to weld a bead around each tube so the hose and clamp cant slide off.
A hose slid off of a piece of tubing today going down the highway. The bad part is, the steam sucked in from the rear windows and I could not see the road for I dont know how long
If you do this for whatever your reason, consider how your going to put a raised bead on the material you are choosing.

 

He did it! I saw yaz easing down I 45 yesterday south of the Woodlands. Fine looking ride !

 

Talk about an opposite approach, I put the radiator where the engine used to be in my mid engine vair. Bent up some 1-1/2 galvanized electrical conduit for now. It may not last but I have a good pattern to get some better tubing bent for it later.