It's been a long time since my last update, partly because I didn't get much done for about a year. Very busy with family stuff. I was reflecting on this build the other day, and realized that I had two kids when I started this and I have six now. God builds much faster, and better, than I do.
Another thing that has contributed to my lack of progress was the addition of an '84 Corvette for my almost-16 son. It was really cheap, and I thought it would be fairly simple to just get it on the road, plus give him some experience working on a car. However, it turned out that the car had a fire in the transmission tunnel that destroyed the fiberglass there as well as a lot of the wiring, carpets, interior plastics, shifter and kickdown cables. A small project has become a stupidly big one. Doesn't make much sense to spend money on this car, so we're trying to get it to run and drive as cheaply as possible. That also slows things down a bit.
I have gotten a few things done in the last month. Finally. It was always the plan to put the radiator in the back, and I now have that done except for the rubber hoses to connect things. I had a terrible time sourcing 1.5" aluminum tube locally, and what I did find was both pretty thick (1/8") and not a well-bending alloy (6061, probably T6). So it was a lot of cutting and welding instead of bending. I was careful to only make joints with smallish angles, but I know it won't flow as well as bent tubing. It's a bit oversized, I think, so it should be fine.
I used the aluminum tube for the long run under the car, and for the bit that squeezes by the exhaust. The hose connection under the car allows me to assemble/disassemble without messing with anything else, and also provides a very convenient coolant drain point, as it's the low point in the system.
I have measured the system and it will about 10 pounds of tubing plus about 12-14 pounds more coolant. I would have planned to get some of that back with the simpler mounting of the radiator, but various shields/ducting in the back will probably make it a wash. However, I prefer the look of the front without a radiator, and it takes weight off the front of the car (one of my key objectives for this build).
The cooling system will have two high points: the expansion tank in the front, which is plumbed to the heater hoses and steam vent line; and an expansion tank in the back. Both will be sealed with radiator caps, but the lower pressure cap will be on the back, since that's where the overflow reservoir will be.
Pictures of the new plumbing:
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Hopefully I'll have more pictures soon. I did order a Speedway radiator (19" x 24"). The rear expansion setup will need to be completed before I can begin sourcing/splicing hose to get it plumbed. Until then, I'm trying to get the driver's seat solidly mounted so that I can make real plans for the pedals and steering.