Cooling a V8 lux

[jakco]

We've got a ln65 lux with a 308 transplant and needing to know what will cool it adequately. The donor car just had the solid engine fan, no shroud and the lux radiator. It was terrible, got over 100*C in carparks, can't imagine temps during hard lowrange work! The biggest issue we have is space, on the doner, the the radiator was recessed into the body and it didnt leave any strength whatsoever in the front crossmember of the body..

Just wanting to know what you other guys have done for cooling with so little space?

[flyinwall]

try using the biggest radiator that you can fit in there with a large electric fan and make sure you have a shroud so that the fan draws air from the entire radiators surface

[wabbit]

yeah mate i fitted a v8 in a lux last year for a mate we used hj 45 rad custom mounts and twin thermos custom shroud also check thermostat maybe a rad flush and new coolent, with the shroud i just use 2mm alloy sheet made two round holes in it to fit thermo fans so it sucks air harder never had a problem

[DUDELUX]

Diesel Lux radiators are bigger than petty Lux radiators.
The V8 conversion I was going to do had a diesel 75 series Cruiser radiator as part of it.

Could you put spacers on the bonnet hinges?? Space the bonnet hinges from the bonnet so the hot air can escape through the back of the bonnet?? Just under the windscreen??
Might help a bit.

[ZD302]

I have the same setup in a solid axle 4runner.
i am using a VS v8 rad with a derale electric fan fan Part# 16925 in front of the rad and a plastic fixed fan on the engine with a 1/2" spacer and a 160 degree themostat.
I had to trim the blades so it didn't hit the crank pulley.
I went out to today and it didn't go over 180.

Dale

[Baja Burley]

The truck isn't running yet after the re-body so trial and error solutions will have to wait.

I have read using a VN commy radiator works well, I'm not sure if I can fit one though. I also have access to a 40series radiator. Which would be better?

The setup I want to run is twin thermos on the front and then might as well keep the mechanical fan if there is room.

Cheers

[johnsy86]

rear mount 60series rad works a treat

[Baja Burley]

I would love to rear mount but unfortunately it's a regoed rig...
I'll try and see if a 40ser will fit tomorrow. Are they 2 or 3 core?

[johnsy86]

regoed rigs can be rear mount

[Baja Burley]

regoed rigs can be rear mount

THIS IS AWESOME!!! Do you know of any in QLD?

How would a rear mount handle cooling at highway speeds? Obviously the fan would run continuously.

[johnsy86]

yeah mate has a 5lt in a lux, runs 60series rad rear mounted with a thermo and extra water pump just incase engine one stops working, runs cool all the tima regardless of if your crawling or hauling.

[Baja Burley]

Which would be better, vn radiator or 40series? These are the only ones I have access too to trial fit... Unless someone else can say first hand they got a different rad to fit. Cheers!!

[V8 Middy]

The VN in my MIddy always ran hot with the 75 series radiator. I would avoid 40 / 70 series radiators as they are narrow. I'm pretty sure a Lux will fit something wider. I ended up with a custom Rad from Aussie Desert Coolers. With my body lift, I was able to go much taller in the rad without risk of it getting hit from underneath and they went deeper too. Now its rare I need My thermo fan unless I'm crawling up a hill. On road it never turns on.

For the narrower radiator, a mate found me a thermo fan off a Ford Taurus. It had an inbuilt shroud that made a huge difference compared to the old fan (same diameter) that I was using before, once things heat up off road

Hope this helps!!

[Baja Burley]

I know a custom Rad would be the shiz but I just can't fit it in the budget.. I will see if I can fit the VN Rad in and run a thermo on the front.. What should i do regarding shroud on the front? Obviously its gonna multiply the efficiency of the thermo fan but what about highway driving? It will just be defelcting air flow...

[flyinwall]

NEVER put a shroud on the front only put it on the rear as you block the cooling air flow and you will never keep anything cool

[Baja Burley]

NEVER put a shroud on the front only put it on the rear as you block the cooling air flow and you will never keep anything cool

That was my thought...

So just have to put up with ineficiencies of a front mount thermo fan? I have absolutely NO room for one on the rear. and the mechanical fan was not up to the task.

Re. Front mount fans.. Am i just going to have to fint he biggest fans and bolt them up as close as possible to the face and hope for the best? Will this create hot and cold spots in the core?

[Hilux_Ryan]

I have a 253 in an LN46, it had a Hiace core with custom tanks and brackets also set into the rad support with an engine fan, still would start to get warm sitting idling probably due to no shroud. I also spaced up the bonnet hinges with a couple pieces of 16mm-ish RHS which dropped the temp from around 96C at 100KPH to around 85C. When I took it for a little bit of fun the fan hit the rad and it sprung a leak.

I removed the engine fan and old radiator, I found a good later model diesel Hilux radiator at work and got it serviced and outlets relocated. It bolted straight in, but it is taller so I had to modify the top tank a little and relocate the filler cap to get it to fit, and it also sits alot further down than the old rad, I still have to trim the overkill chassis bracing the previous owner fitted so my big radiator will fit properly.

Still havent gotten around to fitting a fan due to no room for the fans I have, and no time to figure out another solution, but so far it runs even cooler again than the old rad (about 76-80C on the road) and when idling for extended periods takes I would guess 10 minutes to get up around 100C.

[Struth]

Get a Hilux or 4 Runner V6 radiator, have it rebuilt with 4 cores and 38mm inlet and outlet, run a VK commodore 6 cylinder engine driven fan and a 72 deg celsius thermostat. Fit a manually switched 14" 0r 16" thermo in front of the radiator to assist with long lo range work.

Cost for the radiator rebuild for mine was $450.

The Toyota V6 radiator has a larger surface area than a 308 radiator and is adequate with the extra core.

Do it right straight away.

[MikeH]

There is room. you just run two or 4 smaller fans in a box shroud so there is clearance in the middle for the water pump

[Zuri92]

Spacing the bonnet only sllows air to escape when going slow. With speed it pressurises the engine bay due to the high pressure zone created at the base of the windscreen. And please search it for an hour or so before you say. No it doesnt or something silly like that.

Rear mount fan is the key. And a damn good one (not supercheap)

Or a rear mount radiator so you can fit fans

[WRXZook]

I used a vn v8 radiator and a au falcon twin thermo on the back, which only required a little bit of modification (top and bottom hoses on opposite sides was the main issue IIRC) to fit quite nicely. The radiator is wider, so had to do some fabrication to widen the mounting area and move the radiator forward (not much room at the bottom) as much as possible, with the top tilted forwards a little more than the bottom. Also found out that another model engine (mine was a vn) used a shorter water pump, so used that to gain about 20mm extra clearance (the 308 may be the shorter one?). With the shorter pump and the little extra tilt of the radiator it all fitted snuggly with sufficient clearance. Long time ago now so can't remember much more and didn't take any pictures.

[Struth]

Yep 304s tend to have twin bearing water pumps, so a longer snout.
The 308 has a single bearing water pump so is shorter and allows for fitting and engine driven fan. Straight bolt up to the engine but you need to run 308 vee belts and pulleys too.

Cheers