Radiator shrouding ideas wanted

[rficalora]

Which cars in addition to Merv Hagen's and Bill Guzman's can you think of that have good shrouding?  

I've modified my radiator mount to angle it forward at the bottom & now I'm able to fit a way stronger fan - one off a Volvo (uses the same motor & blades as a Taurus, just packaged better for custom mounting).

I'l make a fan shroud and one for the bottom of the radiator.  I'm looking for some ideas to keep air from bypassing the radiator over the top of it and to keep engine bay air from recirculating back around.  I re-made my core supports intending to run a piece of channel connecting them to hold a seal, but it's ugly.  

One thought I've had is to use core supports like I had (a panel on each side of the radiator) and figure out a way to hold the seal to the under side of the hood.  I'm thinking that wouldn't be as noticeable.

What have you guys seen that looked good and worked?

[BlownMGB-V8]

I think the one on the Roadmaster is about as trick as anything else I've seen so far, since it also secures the fan, locates the radiator and holds the hood latch as well as shrouding the inlet to the radiator all the way out to the grille. For a simple bent piece of stainless sheet metal that's pretty good, and it eliminates any need for a seal of some type to the hood itself since the grille attaches directly to it. Maybe you could come up with something along those lines?

Jim

[flitner]

I originally built a baffle to the radiator that acted as a bulkhead, this go round I went from the radiator to the slam panel to stop recirculation, did the shroud as a full cover on back of rad. cut out for the fan only, I may add some slots with flaps to allow more flow on highway speeds.

[ex-tyke]

If possible, I'd try to retain the original MGB factory upper rad channel/seal and side panels....nothing wrong with them. You'll probably have to get creative to adapt to your specific rad & shoud setup.

[rficalora]

Think I got it figured out.  Hoped to work ob it some this week, but going to Austin tomorrow... will post some pics of what I'm doing this weekend.

Jim I really liked.the roadmaster - it is slick.  I wish I'd made my frame rails accept a wider before I painted the car.  I ran it around in 100 degree weather here and never saw the water temp above about 195.

[burner1]

Here is the shroud I built:

[BlownMGB-V8]

I put the same radiator in my car. It is huge. But modding the car for it really isn't that bad. Easier the 2nd time and will be still easier the 3rd. It's nice to have excess cooling capacity, and the integrated curb guard is a plus. But I think the local sheet metal shop charged me 80 bucks for the slam panel, untrimmed. Nice radius to the bends though and the bling is nice.

Jim

[smelfi]

I haven't installed my radiator yet. Can someone here point me to a photo of the Roadmaster setup?

[Moderator]

Geesh! You couldn't have looked very hard! How about here?
http://www.britishv8.org/MG/Roadmaster.htm

[Moderator]

Graham, please remind us... did you lay up your own fiberglass fan shroud? Nifty!  

The big tip I have for fiberglass is to use epoxy resin instead of polyester. Slower to kick, which makes it much easier for novice fabricators. No fumes. Typically better for high temp applications.

Here's my lightweight carbon/epoxy recirculation shield, fiberglass prototype, plug, and mold:

[ex-tyke]

Graham, please remind us... did you lay up your own fiberglass fan shroud?  

I did indeed......HLU Polyester resin  -  although the wooden mold has dry-cracked and deteriorated from sitting for 8 years.

[lars49]

I like it but have absolutely no experience in doing anything with fiberglass.  Are there any good web sites you guys would recommend for learning to do this?

[burner1]

I have gotten a lot of stuff here. They have quite a few books wich are quie good. It is all about the mold:


http://www.fibreglast.com/category/Books_Videos

[britcars]

Rob, check out the shroud on this one..............

http://www.britishv8.org/MG/JoeHutcherson.htm

[rficalora]

That is an interesting one Phil.  The style isn't my cup of tea, but there's a lot of work in it.  I like the wider radiator and he did a bunch of trick stuff on that car.

[rficalora]

I'm moving like a turtle with bad knees on this, but thought I'd show what I'm doing...  1st I remade my "core supports" to work with the radiator angle.  I'm going to weld some steel rod following the top contour so the paint wont chip as easy and to give a bit more sealing surface...



Next I made an aluminum frame that bolts to 4 tabs at the edges of the radiator tanks.  The fan mounts to that.  This was just a test fit before making the shroud.


Now I'm making a simple aluminum pan for the shroud.  It'll be sandwiched between the fan and frame.


Turned out to be pretty simple.  Hope to finish it tonight (at my son's school's football game.  He is in JROTC and is commander of the color.guard - carries the American flag)

Almost forgot to mention.  The core supports follow the contour of the hood about 3/16" away.  And I'll add a cap across the top of the radiator.  Then I'm going to scavenge a rubber seal from the salvage yard that I can attach to a piece of aluminum and mount it to the under side of the hood.

[MGBV8]

I'm moving like a turtle with bad knees

I thought you were Italian?  

[kayakjack]

Here's my rad seal.

[Jim Stabe]

Rob

It looks like you are using a bulb type seal along the bottom and sides, why don't you use the same thing across the top? They make it with a 1" diameter bulb. Here's a link to McMaster  http://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-seals/=jids6h   I'm thinking about using the same stuff for my door seals