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My thoughts, and I know just enough about VW's to be dangerous, you'd be going from hidden cylinders by the dog house to hidden by pretty big fans. If Rex's calculations are correct and I trust them, 10 HP of fans is a fairly large fan, not to mentions the additional power requirements to drive them, even short term.
I gotta admit, I like the "out of the box thinking" and really like the idea of sprucing up the look of the VW engine with uncovering and polishing the cylinders.
I don't thinks you will ever find a "better design" than what the germans did, the VW is tried and true, but you might come across a design that works for those low speed times and free the engine from the dog house ... :D
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[QUOTE=FuzzyWuzHe;556218]My thoughts, and I know just enough about VW's to be dangerous, you'd be going from hidden cylinders by the dog house to hidden by pretty big fans. If Rex's calculations are correct and I trust them, 10 HP of fans is a fairly large fan, not to mentions the additional power requirements to drive them, even short term.
I gotta admit, I like the "out of the box thinking" and really like the idea of sprucing up the look of the VW engine with uncovering and polishing the cylinders.
I don't thinks you will ever find a "better design" than what the germans did, the VW is tried and true, but you might come across a design that works for those low speed times and free the engine from the dog house ... :D[/QUOTE]
Ok, I never said I would "hide" the cylinders with "big pretty fans". Acually I said maybe mount fans "below" the cylinders. And sorry but I think 10 hp fans are WAY overkill, especially when Rex has NO fans.
And I'll agree, but I'm not looking for a better design than the germans for a CAR, this is a bare bones trike. Bring something to the table other than "he said".
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Watne,
A couple of thoughts about fans under the cylinders. Incorporate a lower shroud similar to the stock VW car shroud but put the opening facing forward. Mount the smaller pancake fans at the front opening pushing air back into the shroud. This would accomplish 2 things. It would keep the fans out of the engine heated air flow and the shrouds would act as air rams at speed. The air flow would follow the natural convection flow path upward.
VW cars needed the larger fans and elaborate tin work because the engine was surrounded by a body and they needed to force the cooling air down, against the natural air path of heated air, and out from beneath the body.
Here is pictures of the typical lower shrouds. They normally hang off the tins above the cylinders with the curve forward and the flat end rearward. This was to direct the heated air out the back from under the car. These are usually the first thing to come off a dune buggy, baja bug, or trike application.
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Now that's a good idea Tom, coming from the bottom of the cylinders then looking forward, join the two sides into a single 8" intake with a fan. All under the trike. One of these days,,,Oooone of these days.
I'm still surprised that there's not some kind of elec fan kit for buggies and kit cars and such, like from EMPI, haa.
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I,m thinking a richer mixture and advanced timing at low engine speeds would help with cooling also....the fans with tins underneath sounds like a workable idea. thinking that tins should be designed to use road draft to help pull air thru at road speeds if possible.
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[QUOTE=chopptrk;556327]Now that's a good idea Tom, coming from the bottom of the cylinders then looking forward, join the two sides into a single 8" intake with a fan. All under the trike. One of these days,,,Oooone of these days.
I'm still surprised that there's not some kind of elec fan kit for buggies and kit cars and such, like from EMPI, haa.[/QUOTE]
I was thinking that with a smaller (fit the duct opening) fan on each side, the fans would "freewheel" when powered off at highway speeds. Ducting to a central common duct might add too much restriction and affect the high speed operation. It would also add a lot of bulk under the trike and mess up your lean trike look.
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Yes
[QUOTE=chopptrk;471520]Just wondering if anyone here ever substitute elec cooling fans on top of the cylinders pointing down and do away with the belt driven fan, doghouse, and all the tins. Would it be as good or better at cooling at low rpms since the belt driven fan isn't turning as fast? I realize the oil cooler would have to be relocated but that's not a big deal. I was thinking one 8"x8" low profile fan on each side. I know the front mounted engines (Rex) doesn't use fans at all but catches a lot of air being up front. And I'm guessing it cools better at slow speeds with the tins off. Seems rear engines with elec fans would be ok too. My trike doesn't restrict air flow much, bare bones, so the eng gets plenty.
Would like to know what y'all think, or maybe it's been done and doesn't work. Not sure if I want to go that route, but I have to think it's been done.[/QUOTE]
I did with my formula Vee that I autocross raced with. [ATTACH=CONFIG]101511[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101512[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101513[/ATTACH]
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Formula Vee with FANS
Here is my old Formula vee that I autocross raced with 2 BIG 12V fns. NEVR overheated on a big motor.[ATTACH=CONFIG]101514[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101515[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101516[/ATTACH]
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