Bay window cooling questions..

72_bay_simon · Padawan Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 79 Location: Hampshire

I am putting a subaru 2.2 in my 72 bay. I dont want to be able to see the radiator, so front or rerar mount is out. That leaves either behind the beam or between the chassis rails, once I have removed the belly pans. Which is best? I am leaning towards between the chassis rails, at an angke with some sort of scoop....

Also, would I be better off using flexi pipe the whole length or using solid steel (stainless?) or copper? I dont like the thought of copper in the long term although it is easy to work with.

I have looked through the pictures of cooling systems on here and so far nothing grabs me as being how I want to do it!

jp · Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 1:42 pm Post subject:

I've tried a couple of options with the same criteria as yourself ie hidden. Originally I had one behind the front beam using stainless corrigated pipe which worked great unfotunately I wanted to lower my bus and the rad was then scraping along the ground Sad

I then moved it to the rear on a angle and added a scoop and used rubber hose worked ok but got pretty hot when the weather was a bit warm and relied on heaters to keep temp down which was far from ideal.

My next attempt will be mounting a (or maybe 2) rads flat between chasis rails, with scoop and using copper pipes to help disperse the heat a bit more.. seen quite a few Aussie buses using this set up and if it works over there then should be fine here in the UK.

Copper does seem to be the pipe of choice what concerns do you have with it ?
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1971 Devon Bay with 1800 Ford Turbo Diesel Engine (wip)
1983 VW Golf GTI Campaign
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2013 Scirocco TDI GT

steamo · Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 2:47 pm Post subject:

Havn't got much to say on the cooling issues - havn't started yet.
However my name is Simon and I have a 72 Bay - bit of a coincidence lol.

72_bay_simon · Padawan Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 79 Location: Hampshire

I am just concerend that it is not a very strong material and may get damaged under the bus. It is nice and easy to work with though!

Covin · Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 11:04 pm Post subject:

Hi Simon

Copper pipe is VERY strong and will probably outlast the life of your Camper if fitted and soldered up correctly.
I'm a Refrigeration engineer by trade and Refrigeration Copper pipe is 3 times thicker grade which you silver solder or braze together and is capable of pressures over 30 Bar. If your really concerned use this grade of pipe but to be honest there's no need as regular copper water pipe will be fine for cooling systems and you can easily reduce the diameter to avoid pressure drops and slow flow over long runs which is a common problem when using standard water pumps with higher volume cooling system.
I usually solder an olive 40mm down the pipe for conecting engine hoses to as this helps to get good seal and grip on your water hoses...

15mm copper pipe is also a great size for running to your heater.
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72_bay_simon · Padawan Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 79 Location: Hampshire

Ok. I will respect your experiance and give copper a go. What size should I use for the long run to the front or middle of the bus, depending on where I decide to fit the rad? You mention 40mm pipe?

I have only used 15 and 22 mm for general household stuff. Where can I get bigger? The water inlet / outlet on my motor are 35 mm OD. I guess that I want something as close as possible to this?

Also, good tip about the olives, I was thinking about how to do this, using an olive is just so simple!

Thanks for all the advice, I am sure I will be asking lots more questions as the project progresses!

Cheers

Simon.

PS. Hello the other Simon wih a 72 bay!

ricola · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 8:49 am Post subject:

Simon,
I've always used 28mm for the long runs, you can get reducers which go from 35 to 28 to fit at each end if you like. 28mm pipe is much cheaper than the 35mm and is easier to get hold of.

Rich
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Covin · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 8:52 am Post subject:

Hi Simon

I never mentioned 40mm pipe. What I said was..."I usually solder an olive 40mm down the pipe for conecting engine hoses to as this helps to get good seal and grip on your water hoses"

If you go for the usual water/heating pipe I think you can only go to 28mm so if you want bigger than this you'll need to get Refrigeration grade pipe but this will cost quite a bit of money.

When working out pipe sizes forget about the OD as it's the ID which is the important bit so check what ID your water pipe inlet and outlets are on your engine/radiator and take it from there.

I would think 28mm copper pipe will be fine for the job . . .

Another trick for making good pipe ends to connect rubber hoses is to buy some straight conectors as they have nice rounded ridges on them, you then cut them in half and solder each half to the pipe ends like you would do with an olive. Advantage with this method is you get it nice and straight and they give bigger OD for tighter grip on rubber hoses. You also get 2 end fittings for the price of one... Grin

_________________
DARREN

I LOVE RUST ME
Patent Pending "The Ultimate In Rust Remedy"

www.vwbaywindow.co.uk - - www.covin.co.uk - - www.flat4dubs.co.uk

72_bay_simon · Padawan Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 79 Location: Hampshire

Your right, I mis read your post! I will ask my plumber friend nicely if he can get hold of some 28mm pipe and fittings.

Would I be better doing any bends with a pipe bender to get a raidus or will 90 degree soldered fittings be OK?

Thanks for all the good advice.

Covin · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 4:00 pm Post subject:

Any "Swept" bend is better than a 90 Degree one so if you can borrow a good pipe bender that will help the flow.
Sometimes you need to have 90 Deg bends but where possible use pipebender or 2 45 deg bends staggered will do the same job.....

If you have a friend in the trade this will help save a few quid.. Grin

_________________
DARREN

I LOVE RUST ME
Patent Pending "The Ultimate In Rust Remedy"

www.vwbaywindow.co.uk - - www.covin.co.uk - - www.flat4dubs.co.uk

Youthy Giblets!!! · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:57 pm Post subject: pipe bends

bend copper pipe where you can thus giving you better flow and less soldered joints that can be weaker than the origional copper pipe.
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famous phil · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:44 pm Post subject: water pipes

or you could try and find a t25 in breakers yard ,and get the water pipes off that after 1985 were madeof plastic ,, also have long lenghts of ruber heater pipes with some nice joins in at the front end ,, and remember if you cut the pipe so theres no rib ,, always duble up on your jubarlee,,,, clips ,, i used a sim setup on my old bay pug 1.9 d would have been : better with rad at the back with fan power`d by the engine

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