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 Post subject: Radiator remote filler
PostPosted: May 27, 2020, 9:14 pm 
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Joined: December 24, 2007, 5:11 am
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Location: Seattle area
My radiator is completely under the nose cone. To check coolant or fill I have to remove the cone. Was wondering if anybody ever tried one of these?


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PostPosted: May 27, 2020, 11:10 pm 
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Yes, I used one on the Caterham for the same reason you are. The radiator was in the sidepod and a pain to uncover. Having the filler in an accessible location worked much better.

Ron


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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 12:02 am 
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Slight variation on that, I needed to use a steel J bend to connect my rad hose to another hose on the engine, so I welded a socket to the pipe and then put an ORB plug right at the highest point. Just something to consider if there's no convenient place to install that inline remote filler.


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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 12:11 am 
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If memory serves me correctly Larry, guys that have used that usually put a higher PSI rad cap on the rad so that the inline filler/cap can be plumbed to the overflow and act as the primary coolant system pressure control cap.
That being said, my memory ain't what it used to be so I could be just blathering here.

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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 12:52 am 
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Perry, Zig, and Ron,

Thanks guys. And Perry I'd listen to your blathering anyday.

My thought was to just add a filler in the top hose and leave the original pressure cap and overflow arrangement the way it is. Works good and I don't want to screw that up. The added filler cap will have it's overflow blocked. Hopefully it will just serve as a place to top off. Place the filler in between the bends of this hose.
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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 7:30 am 
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Unless your hose connection and remote filler cap is the highest point in the system, it is going to be a PITA to get all the air out of the cooling system. You can use the stock rad cap location and just install any fitting that can be easily pumped to the current system that will allow you add coolant at the highest point. I used one of the rad flush system tee fittings at the highest point in the cooling system.
[see photo] The tee fitting is attached just in front of the heater plenum. I use it to fill the last 10% of the system. It makes life a lot easier when it comes to bleed the air while adding coolant.
Davew


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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 10:57 am 
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Larry is that just a plain steel pipe behind the hose? You could consider welding a bung there and using an o-ring plug as your filler. To me it would be a cleaner solution, long as you trust yourself to weld a pressure-tight seal. You can also use a taller socket to make good and sure it is the highest point.


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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 11:31 am 
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Also, you can sometimes use a jack to raise the car and get a slightly low filler, higher.

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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 4:54 pm 
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Zig,

No that pipe is a chrome plated brass p-trap. I couldn't weld into that. Solder maybe.

All good responses and points to ponder. I never have had any problems with heating. The original filler is about 2" above where the inline would go. Taking the nose cone off isn't a big problem, would be a hassle at a gas station in a remote area.

If I were to change out the coolant entirely I would use the original filler. It's the highest.

At this point I'm thinking of abandoning this but I already bought the filler. Hate to waste it.

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PostPosted: May 28, 2020, 11:18 pm 
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benny_toe wrote:
Taking the nose cone off isn't a big problem, would be a hassle at a gas station in a remote area.

That brings back memories, we were cruising down a remote hardtop road in my first build, the Che7enette. Nice big cloud of white vapor blows out of the car, it's BIG. Pull into a community hall parking lot to see what happened. Open the bonnet and there it was, the bottom rad hose came off the connecting pipe I had fabricated (and was supposed to roll a raised lip on and forgot to). Anyhoo I made my nose cone attachment points with Phillips screws. Took a couple of minutes to remove the nose. Another couple of minutes to re-connect the hose. The roadside fix I did was tie wire the hose clamp to another opposing hose clamp tp prevent the hose from sliding off again (I always carry wire in all my vehicles, something I learned from growing up on the farm :D ).
Luckily there was a house nearby with a watering can and outside water tap.
All in all we had about a 45 minute rest stop, then continued on our way.
BTW I always make up a basic tool kit for these cars, never know when you might have use for them.

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PostPosted: May 29, 2020, 7:40 am 
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Larry, browsing through one of my Lotus 7 books, and I found several Twin-Cam Caterhams with an in-hose filler like you're contemplating. They were installed right alongside the left cam tower just behind the cam-drive bulge, right where you have that section of pipe! Food for thought!

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PostPosted: January 6, 2021, 11:11 am 
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horchoha wrote:
If memory serves me correctly Larry, guys that have used that usually put a higher PSI rad cap on the rad so that the inline filler/cap can be plumbed to the overflow and act as the primary coolant system pressure control cap.


Yes. The radiator in my RX7 was lower than the engine when I swapped a V8 in, so I added a remote filler on the firewall. Ran a 22-psi cap on the radiator and a 15-psi cap on the fill tank. It worked just fine.


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PostPosted: January 6, 2021, 1:23 pm 
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You want the rad cap and overflow at the highest point in the cooling system.
This way any air is collected and purged during normal operation.

Ideally You want no air in the cooling system. Air contributes to corrosion and allows coolant foaming.

You can do a no overflow setup if you use an expansion tank.
An expansion tank would need two hoses a 5/8" to the highest point and a 1/4" to the top of the radiator.
The small hose to the rad is to burp the radiator.

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