40 replies to this topic

[Rob Burgoon]

"its just too bad saferacer was of no help when the replacement brackets that i waited an extra week for, still didn't fit right. and the hoses don't come with the rad. and SD/saferacer refuse to say, 'x part number is the correct hose'. yes, they work, but for the price, its ridiculous that it doesn't fit. if a $130 ebay special can drop right in, why not a $600 SD?"

Not to thread jack, but 100% in agreement with you. Neither Saferacer or Springfield of any help at all!

Bad fitment is part of the fun of running Springfield Dyno products.

[Duane Polsley]

Looks like were going with the C&R triple pass. Not much more than the SD w/o the issues.

What psi rad cap ? I'm thinking 16 psi.

Thanks, Dewey

[Todd Green]

So the only thing a stat can do is fail in the closed position causing the car to overheat.

It can do one other thing: actually bring your car up to and maintain proper operating temps if it is cold outside. Ran an enduro in like 40 degree weather years ago and my car ran at like 150-160*. Figured I had a tstat suck open, but inspecting showed a gutted tstat. Put in a proper tstat and haven't had an issue since. Hot temps are the same as running with no tstat.

Of the failed tstats you've experienced how many of them were new that you tested before putting in the car? Genuinly curious. If I didn't race in a desert at altitude, where we get huge temp swings, I might feel differently, but a tstat has worked well for me. YMMV.

[Johnny D]

I have a Koyo 53
Cap
http://www.koyoradra...diator_caps.asp
Tstat only in cold conditions.
None in hot, watch the temps after race/turning off car, may spike.
May want to "NASCAR" overflow tube to squirt your passenger side of window.
J~

[dstevens]

It can do one other thing: actually bring your car up to and maintain proper operating temps if it is cold outside.

The big boys don't use tstats, they run restrictors but not stats for the reasons Dave W mentioned. They warm the car up but they have a rules package where they can run tape or other restriction devices to limit air across the rad and increase the temps. Once one looks outside the world of SM and club racing in general race cars don't have tstats in the cooling system. I don't plan on putting one into mine, never used them in the hobby stocks nor do my clients or compadres.

[Todd Green]

The big boys don't use tstats

Operating parameters for the "big boys" are very different than ours. Taping up the radiator isn't practical for what we do. Running a tstat is.

[Tyler Dahl]

People were taping up there grills at the run offs. Sd radiator is a pos, mine doesn't leak but it doesn't cool worth a da&n either.

[Jim Boemler]

It can do one other thing: actually bring your car up to and maintain proper operating temps if it is cold outside. Ran an enduro in like 40 degree weather years ago and my car ran at like 150-160*. Figured I had a tstat suck open, but inspecting showed a gutted tstat. Put in a proper tstat and haven't had an issue since. Hot temps are the same as running with no tstat.

Of the failed tstats you've experienced how many of them were new that you tested before putting in the car? Genuinly curious. If I didn't race in a desert at altitude, where we get huge temp swings, I might feel differently, but a tstat has worked well for me. YMMV.

My experience as well. Taping the radiator is hit-or-miss. Our ECUs behave repeatably only within a temperature range, and the thermostat is the control that keeps the temps there. Leaving it out is like going back to manual ignition advance.

The other thing is that without the thermostat the car takes a LONG time to warm up -- specifically, longer than the drive to the grid. That means you have to be warming the car up in the paddock, which is both painful and annoying. Any part can fail, but thermostats don't seem to do it any more often than anything else.

[dfuser]

People were taping up there grills at the run offs. Sd radiator is a pos, mine doesn't leak but it doesn't cool worth a da&n either.

I have been running Koyo's for a long time, but after a failed one, due to electrolysis, I switched to a SD radiator of which I am not happy with at all. I have used in the past and continue to use a fail safe thermostat, specially here in our hot Texas weather, I do however at the recommendation of a fellow racer drilled small 1/16" holes in the thermostat to create a slightly continuous flow. I will be switching back to the 53 Koyo.

[Tyler Dahl]

I've had mine since 2007 and it has never kept me under 205 in a draft let alone by myself in 90+ temps. I've emailed them and tried everything they say and replaced alot of parts.

[suck fumes]

Just an observation.... when I got my first SD radiator 4 yrs ago when they first came out (which I still have in my 99 car) it worked awesome, but then it sprung a leak due to fan rubbing so I patched it up. I just recently got one for my 97 car and I am very disappointed in it. The car can't stay as cool as the 99 in the draft under the same racing conditions there have always been which I thought was strange. Then a buddy of mine just recently bought an SD for his 99 car and found out it was USED and refurbished. He calls up saferacer and tells them, then they say oohhh yah we refurbish them now and re sell them cause they are better! REALLLLYY!!! So now they sell you used parts without telling you and apparently if you want a brand new one you have to ask! And I can't help but think the latest ones purchased don't work as well as the first batch?

[trimless]

There are other options, I went with Trackspeed's 76 mm triple pass dual core radiator. It has no problem keeping my 1.6 cool in the Texas heat and is priced about the same as the SD radiator. Just required a new upper hose which you can buy from them and fitment was not an issue.
http://trackspeedeng.../products_id/83

[Todd Green]

People were taping up there grills at the run offs.

Runoffs aren't enduros. I'm certainly not going to make an extra pit stop when I've found out that I have too much or too little tape. Not to mention that access to the rad is sealed off and would be a PITA to try to adjust during scheduled pit stops.

[LarryKing]

People were taping up there grills at the run offs.

Potential protest (aero advantage)?

[davew]

Taken from the trackspeed website as posted above

1990-1997 NA cores out of stock. Estimated ETA June 2012
1999-2005 NB cores out of stock. No current ETA

Just an FYI. I have no further knowledge of this product or supplier

Dave

[Rob Burgoon]

Taken from the trackspeed website as posted above

1990-1997 NA cores out of stock. Estimated ETA June 2012
1999-2005 NB cores out of stock. No current ETA

Just an FYI. I have no further knowledge of this product or supplier

Dave

Yeah, they don't get them often, however I'd imagine if you guys built up a wait list, Andrew would order more. Last I heard he had about 3 left from the June order but that may no longer be the case. Call!

[Tyler Dahl]

Todd, I said they were placing it on the grill not the radiator. It's not rocket science to figure out how much is too much, in one practice session you could establish how much to cover up. I'll stick with a t-stat though

[dstevens]

Potential protest (aero advantage)?

My understanding from another thread is that tape is not in compliance while decals are perfectly fine. Push the gray kids, push the gray.

[Todd Green]

Todd, I said they were placing it on the grill not the radiator. It's not rocket science to figure out how much is too much, in one practice session you could establish how much to cover up. I'll stick with a t-stat though

Sorry, my mind read that as radiator since there is no rule to put tape on the grill, but rads are free thus the tape is just part of the design for your custom radiator.

Anyway, you forget how my car likes to defy physics and change from session to session even though you make no changes to the car. But seriously temps can swing pretty wildly in 90 minutes during our enduros as you know. Tennis balls are mandatory in the vents at the start of the stint and at least during one year I was debating pushing them out and having them go bouncing down the track by the end because it had warmed up so much. Figuring out a matrix of temp vs tape sounds like a lot of work when we already have a device that does it for us and doesn't push the rules boundary.

[Jim Drago]

Not sure why this seems to be so complicated... or expensive etc. I have been using these, texted them, they work perfectly and very inexpensive

http://www.longacrer...d=1094&catid=11