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Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe? 
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Part built GTM

Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:56 pm
Posts: 58
Location: Bergen, Norway
GTM: Spyder
Post Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
Just finished rerouting the cooling system in my Spyder, and will be testing it as soon as I receive the last aluminium pipe on Monday. Pictures will follow! :-)

Have anyone ever replaced the aluminium pipes (running under the car) with silicone hose?

I cut out the feed/return from heater, and this improves space in tunnel. The two lines runs over the petrol tank (under body). Did anybody try to fit main cooling run here instead of the normal run below the tank? Need of course to be hose instead of stiff pipe. :wink: This could improve aerodynamics under the car, but I am unsure if it could be too hot for the petrol tank. Anyone tried this?

Terje


Sat May 06, 2017 1:04 pm
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Part built GTM

Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:56 pm
Posts: 58
Location: Bergen, Norway
GTM: Spyder
Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
Here are pictures of my new routing:

- Fitted a Rover PRT valve in front.
- Use main flow for heater, and removed heater pipes in tunnel. The extra space was nice when I fitted Mike Satur cable gearshift.
- Return line to coolant tank.
- Also fitted two new fans.

Arrows show flow with cold and warm engine. After first small test run it seems to work fine!


Mon May 08, 2017 9:37 pm
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Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:56 pm
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Location: Bergen, Norway
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Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
Cold engine


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Mon May 08, 2017 9:38 pm
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Location: Bergen, Norway
GTM: Spyder
Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
Warm engine, PRT open.

Spent my wages on hoseclamps... :-)


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Mon May 08, 2017 9:39 pm
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Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:32 pm
Posts: 502
GTM: Libra
Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
Hi Terjea,

Its certainly good to get the heater pipes out of the tunnel isn't it - I've just fitted a Mike Satur change myself and have started to re-plumb the car A-la Rogers H's system which has done away with one heater return and the pipe from the rad to header tank so happy days.

To be honest, I'd be a bit worried about having the PRT that far away from the engine hot water outlet (presume you are running a K-series?), the water has to travel a long way and push against a rad full of water before getting to the Stat. Not sure at what temperature the PRT opens but the actual water temp in the head could be quite a bit warmer than the water at the PRT and we all know how sensitive the k series is to water temps!

Edit - I do realise that the way yours is plumbed puts the stat closer to the hot water outlet than the same set up in a Lotus Elise for instance (I did look into the PRT system before deciding on a traditional remote stat), that has the PRT on the return line in the engine bay but I really can't get my head around a stat in the return flow??

I'm no expert though so I'm probably talking b*****s :lol:


Tue May 09, 2017 5:36 pm
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Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:06 pm
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Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
I agree. the PRF should be engine end as in the MGF

I plumbed mine like this with a remote stat.


Image


Tue May 09, 2017 6:41 pm
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Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:56 pm
Posts: 58
Location: Bergen, Norway
GTM: Spyder
Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
You are probably more of an expert then I... :)

- Engine is a 1,8 VVC with 145 bhp
- The PRT is the low-temperature type, as recommended in some websites.
- I basically used the Steve Butt setup from [url]http://web.tiscali.it/elise_s1/
[/url]. I found a website where a guy had measured water temperature with a similar setup, and this gave a more even temperature and less termal shock. Sorry I can't fint the page just now.

Agree that a PRT should be before the rad to bypass it until engine is warm... Wasn't that the point? :?:

How is Roger H's setup?

T


Tue May 09, 2017 6:57 pm
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Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
When I did it years ago it worked perfectly on 3 2000 mile Euro trips in some very hot weather and at least a dozen track days. Some 30,000 miles.

I always found that it had very steady oil and water temps partly I expect due to the laminova oil cooler warming the oil on start up and cooling in general running.

To my knowledge it's still going strong. Perhaps Ken can give us an update?


Tue May 09, 2017 7:17 pm
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Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:32 pm
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GTM: Libra
Post Re: Use of hose instead of aluminium pipe?
terjea wrote:

Agree that a PRT should be before the rad to bypass it until engine is warm... Wasn't that the point? :?:

T


Definitely, it will certainly bypass the rad until warm and thats a good thing. The thing to keep an eye on is that the hot water has a long way to flow to the stat through the rad before it opens and that may cause the head to get a bit hot in the meantime - might be worth checking the temps at the head with an infra-red thermal gun (cheap as chips on eBay) when you feel the PRT open and see what the difference is?
Having said the above, I'm aware that the PRT also works on sensing the pressure drop between the outlet and inlet sides when the engine, and thus the pump, speeds up the water flow as the revs build. I'd be slightly concerned that the PRT being so far away from the pump may not sense the pressure drop as designed - they were close to the engine in the original design.

Thats only my guess though so if its working its all good :D Keep an eye on the water temp near the head and if its reasonable then happy days. Its a neat installation and cuts down on the pipework for sure so I'd be really interested in how it goes.

Have you used a jiggle valve in the system at all?


Tue May 09, 2017 8:38 pm
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