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Thanks, Eddy. That might do it. But maybe not, as the 4.5-inch dimension is slightly bigger than what I’ve been quoted for the Saab unit. What I want is the narrowest box I can find. The space behind the TD grill is about 15 inches on top and it tapers as it drops to about 12 inches. A 14-inch height becomes a 14-inch width, and the length is not as crucial because there’s a good amount of depth-about 22 inches just inside the grill shell, with a bit more below it.
So I’m thinking a 14 x 20-inch single core radiator will fit if I install it 4-5 inches behind the grill, which gives me enough room to hang a fan out in front of it.The thing about radiators is, more square inches cools better, and there is a formula for figuring needed radiator size for a given engine’s displacement and horsepower. The Saab 900 from the mid ’80s through the late ’90s had engines between 2 and 2.3 liters. So the chances of it working are pretty much sure–as long as I can get the air to flow through it.I have a theory about how to do that too.on my fiberfab I get into the steering links at about 19″. and I don’t want the rad right at the top either. Do you think airflow will be a problem? Looks to me like it would be far better than the poor air-cooled gets at the back!
There’s gotta be lots of tractor rads that would fit in there. multiple core and rad cap in the middle on most too! I’ll do a little research there!
Ordered my Megajolt ignition kit ($175) and an EDIS4 (Ford) setup with a 36-tooth wheel from a ebay dude ($100).
Spoke to my transmission guy; will trade my older model IRS for a newer, stronger box, put a 3.44 R&P, super diff, etc in that. All done I’ll be doing 70mph at 3000 rpm.
Saturday: pulling the sooby engine, inspecting, ordering new cam belt and (probably) head gaskets and head bolts.
OK Ed, the challenge is on.
I wasn’t going to start my project yet but… since you are starting, I am going to get going on mine too. I also have the engine to transaxle adapter, the flywheel, the donor car, and lots of hope I will get this project done this winter. My TD is still just a partially assembled kit so that may be an advantage when it comes to running plumbing and locating the radiator.I am planning on using subaru electronics to fire the mixture and the stock fuel injection to feed it. That means stripping the wiring harness out of the donor and modifying it as needed.The radiator and electric cooling fan is going in the front for the ease of cooling it. I like the idea of making replacement metal side panels for the front hood area and putting louvers in them for air flow from the radiator. That idea seems better than trying to open up the louvers in the fiberglass panels.OK, guys, so here’s what I just wrote to the two experts most qualified to answer:
Dear Click and Clack: I have a problem I think you two are uniquely qualified to ponder, if not answer. It involves my ???52 MG TD replica, into which I am about to install a new engine. My question: will a 1995 Honda Civic radiator work to cool the 2.2 liter 1995 Subaru engine I???m planning to install?Some background: As of now the car has no radiator at all, since it is powered by an air-cooled VW engine of 1500 CC???s producing the period-correct 46 horsepower. The Subaru motor will bolt to the transaxle with an adaptor kit, but will require a radiator. As the stock Legacy radiator is too big to fit behind the TD???s grill (and is a cross-flow type and so unsuitable), I???ve searched for downflow radiators no more than 15 inches wide.The Civic radiator fits the bill: 14.5 inches wide by 16.5 inches tall. I can get one with an electric cooling fan thrown in for $70. The problem is that the Civic engine was only 1.6 liter. So I wonder if the extra coolant in the long pipes I need to run from the back of the car, where the engine is, to the front, where the radiator will be, will make up for the smaller radiator size. I know there must be some mathematical formula that would govern this, which is why I thought of you two. Well, that and the fact that my car could pass for Tommy???s TD at 20 paces.Thanks for the help.Stunt Midgetif I hadn’t lucked into the used Sprint car radiator for my car, this one would have been my second choice. I think it would fit into my TDs radiator housing, but I don’t know how yours is set up with the steering gear box.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spike-Chassis-005-2009-Stand-Up-Mini-Micro-Sprint-Radiator,40627.html
The old rule of one square inch of radiator core front area for each cu in of engine plus 10% would mean that this radiator could be used up to 200 cubes or 3.3 Liters.Also, here is a good collection of cooling tech articles.
http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/technical_articles.htmedsnova2013-11-02 14:26:23
Ordered the 3.44 R&P, super diff, strong side cover and tranny work. Bringing cash to the man tomorrow.
Almost got the soob engine out–the bottom bolts are tight under the cross member on this one & not sure if I have to disconnect the torque converter to the flexplate before pulling it or not (manual says to, but….)Bought a new alternator–the old one tested bad.Ordered the Honda Civic/Del Sol rad: “Size: 16.5″ x 14.25″ x 2″. Inlet/outlet size : 1.25″ 2″ Core thickness, provides more cooling effect than stock.”Civics this radiator fit came with up to 160 horse. I think it should get ‘er done.$62 and free shipping from Amazon.Also looks like there’s enough free air outlet under the front nose that I won’t have to mess with the side louvers–just make a shroud to direct air flow down. I should keep between two-thirds and three-quarters of my existing cargo space up front.Progress.If you unbolt the convertor, you should be able to slide the trans back and just drop the engine.You said this is a 1995. You haven’t mentioned it but I’m assuming this is only a 4×2 model. As of 1996 everything was 4×4. I researched the drive ratios a while back. The base Scooby’s run a 3:73 final drive, while the GT’s run a 4:11. The only difference in the drivetrains are the ring and pinion.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Went to Acme/Berrian Buggies & gave Jimmy Sartwell $430 to cover the cost of the new ring & pinion, super diff, stronger side cover and shipping for those parts for my trans. He’s got a late box he says he’ll rebuild for me if I trade him my transmission to build for a guy who is building a trike. Turns out you need an early, two-side-cover box if you want to flip[ the R&P and run a mid-engine configuration.
Quite the operation they’ve got up there. I didn’t want to hang around but Jimmy gave me the penny tour anyway, which took over an hour. All kinds of VW engines under construction, a stack of transaxles, nine whole buggies going to a caribbean island. That’s one room.Frames under construction. Race cars. A Spyder with a 2.4L 6 Porsche motor (pictured).
Wild place.Jimmy finally gave me a receipt and said he’d probably get the trans done in another two or three weeks. It’ll be another $400 or $450 all told. So: not cheap. But I do like the idea of having a transaxle that’s made to handle a bit more power and put the tach closer to where Subaru would have it.Once back home I had just four more bolts to undo to get the engine out. Unfortunately, three of these were inside the engine, attaching the flexplate to the torque converter and accessible only through a little port. Took some doing.The last one was the nut holding the lower driver’s side quadrant of the engine to the transaxle. No access there, with the brake booster, steering column, trans cooling lines and heater hose hard ends, plus the curvature of the block itself. Took like an hour and a half to figure out how to stack wrenches to get any kind of torque on it. Then…got it.Chained up the engine and hoisted her up. Rocked her a bit and…nothing. Got out the sledge and some 2 x 4 scraps to give a bit of persuasion. Banged on her for 20 minutes, coated the seam between the tranny and block with penetrating oil. This went on for some time.Finally got the 8-foot prybar out and really let her have it. Just as I was getting into that the phone rang, a colleague calling to say he’d been jailed–for taking pictures of cops while they busted up a party. He was out, luckily, so I put the phone on speaker and listened to him vent while I rocked the engine some more with the big bar wedged against the crossmember.Yeah, baby!Another bit of time adjusting the chains and
edsnova2013-11-04 07:21:10
Congratulations, Ed. A tough but satisfying job.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"I don’t think I’ll run in the 2014 Carlisle Autocross.
……very ambitious Ed. I’m impressed. I’m jealous.Really looking forward to a ride in the “new” Bridget next year!
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
please, guys, hold the applause. I think I just finished the easiest part of the project!
Fingers crossed I manage to get the beast running right in time for Carlisle.
Ignition junk in da house!
edsnova2013-11-04 22:48:41
Here’s an awesome thing. Huge disagreements on head gaskets in the inner webs. The item is available for $68–HGs, new bolts*, many other random gaskets included. We must NEVER USE THESE, says the innerwebs. Use only OEM Subaru head gaskets.
Or Fel-Pro.But Fel-Pro is junk . . .etc. forever and ever amen.Then too, the collective wisdom of the innerwebs is that it is the 2.5 liter Soobs that blow head gaskets all the time. Those and sometimes once in a while the latest version of the 2.2.1990-early 1996 EJ22s? F’gettabout ’em. Not a problem unless someone overheated the car and made it pop.So…but. Here is the best part: The torque specs for the heads are: tighten to specific torque. Then tighten to a higher torque…then loosen them a half turn. Then another half turn loose. Then tighten to a specific torque and then…tighten them a quarter turn. Then another quarter turn. Done.You may ask, well, what would the torque spec be on that final quarter turn? The answer is: don’t ask.Christ, what have I got myself into?*Oh yes: head bolts. The book says always to replace to head bolts when doing the head gaskets. Innerweb guys who claim to be mechanics with hundreds of Soob head gasket jobs under their belts and no failures say they “never” replace the bolts. The new bolts, of course, come in the cheapo kit with the gaskets the innerrati say never to use… mmm, yes. Missing the days when we’d call the Napa guy and the truck would come to the shop with whatever we’d asked for and I’d install ’em and not think twice about it.edsnova2013-11-05 21:08:39
Ed, I was talking to by brother (a true unstumpable get-er-done country super mechanic) about your swap. He said that certainly the easiest and probably the best way to pipe up your radiator is with Pex pipe. Thought that I would pass it on for your consideration. (This is the same guy that built an electric Yugo and an electric powered speedboat this past spring – as a change from his usual Jaguars)
My listings for head bolts indicate “replacement required”. They are sold separately from the gasket set. Your “book”…what are you using? Check online for a Subaru service manual. I found one for my 2012 Impreza, over 4,000 pages, and downloaded it for $10.00. Does that last 1/4 turn require a degree wheel or you just guesstimate?
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Haynes manual. Good advice on the Soob Service. Will do.
final two turns are each “80 to 90 degrees.”
Supposedly these are not torque-to-yield bolts, despite what the package says. They’re grade 8 (or metric equivalent) sunk in aluminum, so they can’t deform the way a true TTY bolt would. Again, according to the internet’s anonymous experts…
Thing is, reading around, and looking at Dave Stroud’s experience, it looks, anecdotally, like those who change head gaskets for no other reason than “while I’m in there” experience head gasket failure at a fairly high rate. You see it again and again: the BF pulls the GF’s engine for something, the car already has 168k miles, so he figures he’ll do the head gaskets while he’s at it and, two months later, the boy reports a blown head gasket.
Makes me think that–absent any evidence that there’s a reason to pull the heads (i.e. signs of coolant leakage, oil in water, etc.) I’m going to leave it be. It is an 82,000 mile engine. It’s getting the cam belt and tensioners, a new water pump that will be an improved design compared to stock, a totally legit, Subaru-approved, OEM theromstat, and maybe or maybe not an oil pump, depending on how things look.
I’ll replace all the gaskets I disturb, look over the valves and rockers from the top, look at the crank and rods from the bottom and, unless I see something needing further investigation, leave it all as-is.
Not afraid of head gaskets, per-se. Just think I got enough other stuff to do that I don’t need to be making work for myself.
I agree. Don’t fix anything that’s not broken (outside of cam belts). An 82,000 miler? Barely broken in with today’s engines.
Thanks, Gabe. I figure if I’m wrong I should be able to pull it and fix then.
By the way, Roy, Pex apparently does not like automotive anti-freeze. I also don’t like the insulative properties, for this application at least. It’s down to Sched. 40 aluminum 1.25 or the same size aluminized steel exhaust pipe.
Got all my big parts either in house or on the way now except a high-pressure fuel pump. Think I’ll order that fine item after I pull the wiring and see if I can actually sort out the CPU and injector harness.
edsnova2013-11-06 18:35:12
When you decide to pull the heads, make sure you have an automotive machine shop resurface them. That’s probably the reason for the failures you’re reading about. A simple step overlooked. When you’re into the front cover, reseal the oil pump. Be sure to use the Grey Permatex in that location. I’ve seen the black stuff used and then the pump pushes it all over the engine. What a mess. If that happens then you’re definitely pulling heads…and crank…and…
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Permatex Ultra Grey, yeah. heard that.
Megajolt unit just came.
No instruction in the box. Here they are. Hey, Roy, weren’t you looking for a shift light last year? There’s a shift-light-out port on this plus three other “user-defined” ports.edsnova2013-11-06 22:15:53
Hey Ed, listening to all the progress you have made makes me want to go out and get my “Big Jug” BCW wired, running, and tuned up in time for Carlisle!!! Then I would just need to find a driver with the “courage” needed to compete with you in the autocross — hmm, maybe Billinparts’ son…??? If I tried it, I’d probably only be able to beat Royal’s last autocross time…??? (only kidding, Roy) –Jack
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