Alfarod re-engine update
- adventurekel
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- Old Hand
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Finally got the old gal back on the road tonight.
It's taken a whole longer than I originally thought but has been worth it.
Boy is if friggin quick
You wouldn't believe that a 2.5 L could be so quick out the gate and would have so much low end torque.
And so willing to rev it's little heads off as well.
Very smooth too although the tune is a bit rough around the edges.
Sounds bloody awesome, not quite V8 kind of awesome but way more awesome than the four ever was.
I can see now why Jeremy Clarkson claimed that they were one of the best engines to ever go into mass production.
Anyway, some video to follow soon.
It's taken a whole longer than I originally thought but has been worth it.
Boy is if friggin quick

And so willing to rev it's little heads off as well.
Very smooth too although the tune is a bit rough around the edges.
Sounds bloody awesome, not quite V8 kind of awesome but way more awesome than the four ever was.
I can see now why Jeremy Clarkson claimed that they were one of the best engines to ever go into mass production.
Anyway, some video to follow soon.
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- Old Hand
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- Mr Cool
- Old Hand
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- Old Hand
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- Old Hand
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- Old Hand
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- Old Hand
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Not unless you're prepared to lay on your back for a couple days washing the crap from the underside of my car.Dave wrote:Skid pan at CRAKK is sounding like a whole lot more fun now you can powerslide!
I'm still cleaning the shit from all sorts of nooks and crannies.
(the older I get the more streetrodder I become)
A bit of test driving today and she's running pretty good now. Tuning this thing is a whole lot easier than the 4 cylinder with it's individual throttle bodies.
One thing I reckon for sure is that I'll need to upgrade the radiator.
I might go a 4 core aluminium. It will have to be custom made so the chink ones are out of the picture, which leaves the other guy...or maybe someone more local.
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Brett, PWR make radiators to order.
http://www.pwr.com.au/#/view=home/
Paul’s dad owned a radiator company called K&J Radiators on the gold coast, they made very good alloy radiators, I used to buy cores off them.
Have a talk to them about what you need, K&J will make the core and PWR will make the tanks and weld them on.
Just be careful going to a 4 row as they are not the be all to end all as they only give a very small increase in cooling ability.
What radiator do you have in it now and do you have an electric fan, you might be able to put a more efficient core in the radiator you have.
http://www.pwr.com.au/#/view=home/
Paul’s dad owned a radiator company called K&J Radiators on the gold coast, they made very good alloy radiators, I used to buy cores off them.
Have a talk to them about what you need, K&J will make the core and PWR will make the tanks and weld them on.
Just be careful going to a 4 row as they are not the be all to end all as they only give a very small increase in cooling ability.
What radiator do you have in it now and do you have an electric fan, you might be able to put a more efficient core in the radiator you have.
Graham
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
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- Old Hand
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Austin 1800 staggered triple core with horizontal fins. I am told that they are quite an efficient radiator.mr imp wrote: What radiator do you have in it now and do you have an electric fan, you might be able to put a more efficient core in the radiator you have.
I had it recored about 5 years ago with what they told me was a heavy duty core.
Problem is a rather small frontal area of about 400x400. I can go another 50 higher but that's about it.
It gave sterling service for the 2L but may not hack it with the V6 in heavy traffic on a hot day. Once the heat gets in it seems slow to cool back down again, but does eventually. In the shed it maintains 90C with the thermo fan on.
I might try relocating the thermo fan to the back side of the radiator where it will cast less of a shadow over the cooling surface.
Also a 70 deg thermostat.
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- Senior Member
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Over time there has been a lot of debate as to which is the best type of core.
Tube type which has the horizontal type fins or CT which is more the type used today.
When I first started in radiators, what you now have was called heavy duty, it is believed more can now be done with CT as they are more efficient at removing heat.
The biggest problem is making a core with too much thickness and the mesh to fine, you can get the brick wall effect, that is air hits the core, but air doesn’t go through the core.
My personal thoughts are going CT with the tubes set closer together and the more fins per inch.
I like the electric fans on the rear of the radiator pulling the air through, always make sure the shroud is sealed against the core.
With your radiator I would try fitting the fan on the rear first to see what happens, it sounds like you are not getting the air flow through the core.
If the back of the core is open, with only the fan on it, then you only need a quarter of the core size as an air inlet.
Also fit a fan that covers the entire core area.
Tube type which has the horizontal type fins or CT which is more the type used today.
When I first started in radiators, what you now have was called heavy duty, it is believed more can now be done with CT as they are more efficient at removing heat.
The biggest problem is making a core with too much thickness and the mesh to fine, you can get the brick wall effect, that is air hits the core, but air doesn’t go through the core.
My personal thoughts are going CT with the tubes set closer together and the more fins per inch.
I like the electric fans on the rear of the radiator pulling the air through, always make sure the shroud is sealed against the core.
With your radiator I would try fitting the fan on the rear first to see what happens, it sounds like you are not getting the air flow through the core.
If the back of the core is open, with only the fan on it, then you only need a quarter of the core size as an air inlet.
Also fit a fan that covers the entire core area.
Graham
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
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This shows the different types of cores.
Tubular come in different types, this includes tube configuration, ie in line or staggered and the fins come in different styles, straight, louvered and dimpled.
Different makers have different styles.
Your radiator sounds like a standard Austin 1800, 65/66
Natra Core number is AUS0833
Height 356
Width 356
Thickness 51 (could be 3 or 4 row, later book says 4 row)
FPI 16
Tank flanges 584X65
When you have the fan mounted on the rear, run it and see how much air it pulls, easy test is to put a piece of cloth on the front and see if it stays there.

Tubular come in different types, this includes tube configuration, ie in line or staggered and the fins come in different styles, straight, louvered and dimpled.
Different makers have different styles.
Your radiator sounds like a standard Austin 1800, 65/66
Natra Core number is AUS0833
Height 356
Width 356
Thickness 51 (could be 3 or 4 row, later book says 4 row)
FPI 16
Tank flanges 584X65
When you have the fan mounted on the rear, run it and see how much air it pulls, easy test is to put a piece of cloth on the front and see if it stays there.
Graham
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
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- Senior Member
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This is a page taken out of the Natra catalog.
The core at the top AL0915P, is a plastic tanked aluminum core for an Alfa 89-92 with a V6 2.5 and V6 3 lt.
The sheet says it is 2 rows think, that is a mistake in the printing, 25 thick would only be one row.
It is correct in the second chart.
As you can see by its size, it is not much bigger than the one you have now.
It is a CT and the tubes are 10.5 apart and the FPI is 20, where yours is 16.
This one shows it as an assembly (one on the bottom of the page).
It is also a cross flow style, that is the tanks are on the side.
This is common in FWD cars, long and low and only one row thick.
If you feel you need another core after trying the fan on the rear I would recommend you recore the radiator you have with a CT type one, 3 rows thick 58 and 14 FPI, this is the same as my commodore and the fan is on the rear and I have no air flow problems or cooling problems.
My core size is 545X442, the engine is 3lt turbo, the fan is 16”.
The core at the top AL0915P, is a plastic tanked aluminum core for an Alfa 89-92 with a V6 2.5 and V6 3 lt.
The sheet says it is 2 rows think, that is a mistake in the printing, 25 thick would only be one row.
It is correct in the second chart.
As you can see by its size, it is not much bigger than the one you have now.
It is a CT and the tubes are 10.5 apart and the FPI is 20, where yours is 16.

This one shows it as an assembly (one on the bottom of the page).
It is also a cross flow style, that is the tanks are on the side.
This is common in FWD cars, long and low and only one row thick.

If you feel you need another core after trying the fan on the rear I would recommend you recore the radiator you have with a CT type one, 3 rows thick 58 and 14 FPI, this is the same as my commodore and the fan is on the rear and I have no air flow problems or cooling problems.
My core size is 545X442, the engine is 3lt turbo, the fan is 16”.
Graham
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it