I have seen alot of underbelly style radiator set ups and seem to be the favorite location but why?

there is a bay kicking around with the 3l subaru v6 motor and 2 honda radiators i think in one side of the engine compartment, now that's what I was thinking, why is this not commonly done? too hard?

when moving there will be enough air through the vent and when stationary good fans should cut the mustard surely??
i know gazman on kombi club has side mounted alloy one i think in a v6 kombi.

Feed back or pictures would be appreciated.

sorry if this has been brought up before i couldn't find it in my search.

Mike

if you put radiators in your engine bay at the back of you Kombi your just adding more heat, they could be a bitch to work on and get the radiator in there , its hard enough to change a kombi battery

I really don't know why more people don't locate radiators in the engine bay - it seemed the most logical place when I did my conversion - its out of the way, not prone to damage and no one has any idea that you have a conversion - until a Kombi passes them at 110kph on the motorway.
I run a 2L JDM Subaru EJ20 with 2 Porsche Boxster/911 radiators, connected in series either side of the engine - there's heaps of room with the right size radiator. There's more than enough airflow when moving coming through the upper vents and fans cut in occasionally when running in traffic for a minute or two.
The only reason for the Porsche radiator was they were the right size and the right price on ebay - I'm sure many small jap radiators would do the job too. Also the stock Subie fans fitted the porsche radiators perfectly.
I did however move all the exhaust system out of the engine bay to keep all that extra heat out.
The cooling system work brilliantly.
This is my first post and haven't quite figured out how to load pictures but pm me if you like.

9 out of 10 dont work because you havent set it up properly. Seal around the radiator cores sothat all the air goes through the radiator and NOT around it.
I live in Qld and have had no cooling problems in all conditions - even when factory front mounted radiatored cars a shi..ing themselves in the heat. There's more than enough room to get all that heat out of the engine bay, just get the exhaust and muffler out of there.
I've done it and it works brilliantly

I know the kombi that Karmann141 built and has proved itself over a long period of time in the Queensland heat, the only reason the other do not work is a lack of detail in fitting the rediators in the engine bay, a much neater solution than mounting the radiator up front but it requires far more work making all the sheet metal required to seal every thing correctly, moving the exhaust foward obviously helps, as for sitting in bumper to bumper stop start stop start traffic for 20 mins, 30 mins, an hour there is no car on earth that has any air flow into the engine bar other than what is provided by the fans

Porsche radiators with standard Subaru thermo fans - no extra wiring - just plug in.

Radiators

Radiators with fans

Plenty of space for hot air to escape (without exhaust adding to heat load)

Radiators with engine

Exhaust out of engine bay

Mike,
Hope this helps you make an informed decision based on someone's experience that it actually works and not on speculation by someone who hasn't done it.

i am glad that it works for you , but If i was doing a kombi I would just use one radiator like any other car on the street and keep it simple . to much in that engine bay for me . but that's just me.

I'm sure 1 would work too - a Porsche Boxster/911 uses 3 - not saying a Kombi is a Porsche - lots of ways to skin a cat. Just saying that a radiator in a Kombi engine bay can be made to work as efficiently as any other location and does not have any ground clearance/damage issues or spoil the look of a Kombi.

Thanks for the replies guys, I think they look neat in the engine bay there and symmetrical!
I was considering 2 radiators, possibly mounting a fan next to the body where I might put some splitty vents as I have a hole there already from some silly plastic scoops.


What part of qld are you kArmann?

Hi karmann141

That's a really nice setup, where's your battery located now?

Do your fans need to run much highway speeds or do you get good airflow from the vents?

None of us a racing for sheep stations but the only thing I'm not sure about is how much more heat your setup would add to the heating of the inlet tract, probably no more than a stock Subaru car.

I've seen some nice belly mounted radiators on Kombis.

Steve

Just updated my profile - I'm in Carindale /Brisbane - often up the SShine coast at Perygian though.
Battery is now located Beetle style in box under RR bed/seat.
I have cut spare wheel well in half to create more uninterrupted air flow through the left radiator and also to create a sealed compartment for the computer and fan relays - only have old photo - when not yet completed.

I guess theres not much more heat in the engine bay than a standard Subaru or than most cars with the radiator in the engine bay. Water temp remains very stable and fans on come on for less than a minute at a time in traffic evry so often.
Another benefit of having the radiators in the engine bay is all the plumbing is kept short and simple. Comes up to temp quickly and remains constant - with standard thermostat in place - as Subaru designed.

Haven't worked out how to load multiple photos yet - looking to do a bit of reliable touring and camping.

I thought the issue was whether radiators in the egine bay work or not -which they do.
If hot induction air is an issue that easily cure by creating a cold air induction intake - but it does'nt appear to be much of an issue.
Have a look at a Fast Fours mag and tell me how many pod filters you can find in the engine bay.

To add more than one pic at a time click on the side where it says ( - Add Attachment - )


When it comes to Pod filters It's monkey see monkey do.
Every young boy racer slaps a supercheap auto pod on his Commonwhore and instantly thinks he's Craig Lowndes.

Look closely at the Pods in your fast fours mags that aren't on trailer queens and you'll notice they are enclosed in cold air intakes like so



Trouble is with high intake temps you don't know it's a problem till the damage is done.

Here's some pix of the EZ30 Kombi :





The owner used 2 x Honda Civic racing radiators with some mods. Fitted the stock Subie fans with shrouds on them, The fans only come on when stopped in traffic.

We were discussing if there could be any improvements made to make sure the hot air is drawn out the back of the engine bay, without cutting holes in it our louvering it etc.

Someone has previously made a large rubber 'spoiler/strip' that bolts under the car at the front of the engine bay. This helps create a low pressure area in the engine bay and gets the hot air from the radiators sucked out the back.

Anywaym the owner of the EZ30 Kombi is very happy with the twin radiator solution. I think Karmann141's setup is neat and effective.

I know the air box from my Liberty took a cold air feed from behind the drivers headlight so it wasn't getting hot air from the engine bay.

Enclosed pods seems to be a grey area when it comes to cars as old as ours.
I think it's more an issue in modern cars that have factory enclosed air boxes.
When my bug was engineered he was perfectly happy with my Pod filter completely open, just as long as it was adequately supported.
I'm currently working on an enclosed cold air intake similar to Jaks with mine.

Todd, am I right in thinking that EZ30 has fit the type4 engine bay with no cutting?

I think the front firewall needed to be modified.

hey karmann

i am also in carindale i have a76 bay with subie ej 25 in it

I woudl like to catch up with you and see your conversion
paul

Gotta be happy with that.
Why don't more Kombi owners realize how well they fit.

Certainly fits much better than the porch 911 engine in my uncles brothers cousins twice removed sisters mechanics kombi back in the day that lifted the front wheels 6 feet and ate Monaros for breakfast

true story

Thanks for the advice Steve - like the look of your K&N filter. Always happy to make improvements and take advice from someone who has tried it.