James_Russell Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Anything which is better than my CovRad Copper core jobby considered, basic ally right up to fancy triple-pass. Car was at 100 degrees for the duration of the races at Anglesey! Must fit '99 Live Axle car, with or without fan considered WHY? Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardO Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Car was at 100 degrees for the duration of the races at Anglesey! Isn't that normal? Mine's been like that for years..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 Hi Richard, I have been warned by a few classics that the copper rad is barely adequate when used in a race car and although I'm not strictly concerned that the engine is 'overheating' I do think I'm losing power as it heats up (best qualifying and race laps were the 2nd laps of the session!). Of course we have no idea if the caterham gauges are accurate or not either (probably not!). Rolling road tonight should give me part of the picture but I think I'll start by finding a more efficient rad to control the engine temp better. Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gregory Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 James: I've used the copper CovRad radiators on my Classic (X-flow), Super & Mega without any overheating problems. Reason: they are much cheaper than the fancy ally jobs & I can get them repaired at a place in Coventry. It might be the gauge/sender, the Caterham parts are notoriously unreliable, also, do you have a thermostat fitted? HTH, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 Cheers Mark, its encouraging to know someone has used/is using them successfully. I had assumed my car had no thermostat but it turns out I did have one fitted, hopefully now I have removed it the car will run cooler when racing. I'll varify whether or not the gauge is accurate and I'll go from there. [EDIT] Mark- Incidently, where do you get your radiators repaired? I sheared the bleed plug last night and need to source a replacement. Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Edited by - James_Russell on 3 Aug 2010 14:23:34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gregory Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 My policy of not throwing anything away seems to have worked, I've found the receipt. It was on 20.12.05, I hope they are still going. Details: J & J Radiators Unit 10, Napier Street Off East Street Coventry CV1 5PR 02476 226263 The work done on mine was: Caterham radiator: remove both tanks, rod out tubes, resolder both tubeplates. I think they resprayed it black too, but they were too modest to mention that..... Cost: £27.50 + VAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 BUMP! I'm still on the hunt... I have now driven Mr.G's old car ❗ with the copper radiator and it does indeed stay nice and cool. but it has a much larger core then my rad so I'm now convinced its not up to the job! anything which'd be an improvement on my rad considered! Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumster Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 James, I've always run my x/flow with the CovRads and I think they have something like a 3" core? Not had any problems on trackdays, touring or sprinting (I appreciate that is not the same as racing). I'm now converting to Zetec and have decided to go for an ali rad and therefore have a couple of the old CovRads going spare. If interested I'll measure them when I get home. I'm just round the M25 in Orpington. Chris Alston C7CAT Supersprint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gregory Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Oi! Who said you could drive my old car?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Aeroscreens- sounds superb. My current CovRad has a 45mm core I think- If yours are thicker like Mark's (75mm?) I'll be very keen As Mark said, copper does have its advantages on ease of repair/re-core. Mark- I hope you don't mind 'your' car's current owner Paul Hawker let me have a couple of drives at brands hatch a couple of weeks ago. Its a marvellous car to drive, very different to the vauxhall! engine is lovely to use and the spax suspension is more compliant than Biltein... Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpa Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 I have a couple of spare triple-core race rads :) one is for a K-series - like this one Rover rad The other is like this (for K-series and Vauxhall) - R400 rad Let me know if you are still looking. Cheers - Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumster Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 James, Just measured them. The core is 65mm and the headers are 80-85mm. Both rads were reconditioned, pressure tested and painted in the summer. £35 each or £60 for the pair. Also I have a 7" Pacet fan that fits neatly in between the headers - £50 Let me know if you're still interested. Chris Alston C7CAT Supersprint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Simon, cheers for responding but on balance I think the triple core is probably a bit extreme for my car (no thermostat!) Chris- thanks for that. I'll definately have one of your radiators (Is it the black one fitted to your car on your webpage?) I may be interested in the fan too but would like to know how it fits to the rad- is there fitting hardware of is it held one with Pacet's wire ties? Perhaps I can pop over at some point over the weekend, or I'm going to be at Brands Hatch on the 18th and 20th of this month so maybe I could combine trips! Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumster Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 James, YHM Chris Alston C7CAT Supersprint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gregory Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 James, sorry for the delay in replying, I've been away for the W/E. Glad to hear the old girl is still going well. It used to understeer like mad until I fitted new Spax dampers with adjustable platforms & set it up properly. I've never driven a Vauxhall engined car, so I don't know how they compare with the X-flow. I believe the X-flow has more top-end, but the Vauxhall is better lower down the rev range. I was intrigued by the various radiator measurements, so I've measured my 'stock' (Super, destroyed Mega, spare 1 & spare 2). They all measure: header width: 44mm, core width: approx. 35mm, CovRad numbers: 1 @ 58524, 2 @ 73315, 1@ no label. I've run the Super for 4 seasons & the Mega for 0.5 season without any cooling problems. HTH, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 Mark- finally got round to looking at the part number on my radiator... it is 73315 so the same as two of yours. Measurements look the same too. Its not as simple as I thought, this radiator malarkey. I drove Terry Palmer's old classic (now belongs to my friend Stu Higgins)- that car has the caterham ally rad with plastic tanks and to me the car seems over-cooled. I drove it round brands indy for 20 minutes and it didn't get above 50 degrees! I'm now wondering if my rad has lost some efficiency since it was built in 1998, perhaps a re-core and top quality coolant will solve my problems? Q41 ACF Classic Grad #98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Still looking. Re-core will cost almost as much as a second-hand upgrade and if I do find another to use, I can keep my old one as a spare Q41 ACF Classic #98 My Race Videos Here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpa Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I still have a Rover/Vauxhall and a C400 triple-core rad available. Open to offers :) Cheers - Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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