That is interesting that one coolant pipe was actually a frame tube and the other coolant pipe was an added pipe. There had to be a reason to do it that way.
Update by Tim Suddard to the
Elva Mk VI project car
Jan 28, 2025
|
Elva,
Restoration,
Vintage Race Car,
Elva Mk VI
Photography by Tim Suddard
The cooling system of our Elva Mk VI sports racer perhaps served as our biggest mystery. Until just recently, we couldn’t find any photos showing how the maze of tubes ran from the mid-mounted engine to the twin radiators up front.
Thankfully, the twin radiators did come with the car as did a few odds and ends of piping.
One of the first things we discovered was that the left frame tube, running fore and aft, actually doubles as a radiator tube. At the front, the tube ends with a Y that feeds the outlets on both radiators. This tube ends at the rear with a hose that goes into the water pump housing.
Next, we found places where an aluminum upper tube clamps along the frame. We sourced some 1.25-inch aluminum tubing and ran it most of the length of the car.
We just found pictures of one of these cars without the seats mounted. We could clearly see that this upper tube ends with an L-shaped pipe that runs perpendicular to the car and ends with another L. From there, a hose runs up to a header tank (that we had to build as it was missing) and then heads into the back of the engine.
We will pressure test and probably remake our original radiators if they prove to be damaged.
While we still need to source some small, electric fans for stationary cooling, we now have the cooling system figured out.
That is interesting that one coolant pipe was actually a frame tube and the other coolant pipe was an added pipe. There had to be a reason to do it that way.
Displaying 1-1 of 1 commentsView all comments on the CMS forums
You'll need to log in to post.
