Pictures of MK IV radiator mounting?

[dav8or 20]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have pictures of the MK IV radiator mounting. I am going to try mounting twin radiators in a MK IV cowling and it would be great if I could see how it was originally done on the MK IV before I start designing my own mounts and radiators. I have one MK IV radiator I believe but I am not 100% sure about how it was mounted. I am modifying my Model C which originally had a side radiator.

 

Thanks,

Dan

[akflyer 1427]

The pictures kind of suck, but here is the section that shows the mounting on the MK IV  I will look and see if I have any pics of mine when I did it.

 

D model Chaper III Cooling System.pdf

[dav8or 20]

That is great and answers how the cabin heat attachment is supposed to mount as well. I will have to modify this a bit but it gives me a great starting point. It would be interesting to see your setup as well. My Avid has the throttle set up mounted using the front 2 engine mounts where the MKiv radiator mounting plate is in this picture. It would be good to know the hose routings as well.

 

Thanks!

Dan

[dav8or 20]

From what I could make out in those pictures the radiators are connected together by hoses over the top of the engine mount and joined by a remote radiator cap. I can't make out the inlet and outlet fittings on the radiator. Are they at the bottoms of the radiators on both sides for inlet and outlet? I am guessing yes since it is forcing all coolant up and over the engine. I was thinking about having the radiators designed with a coolant passage hose crossing under the gearbox connecting the bottoms of both radiators then have the inlet enter the top outside on the right radiator and outlet on the lower outside of the left radiator routed back to the water pump.  Any thoughts on a setup like that?

 

Dan

[akflyer 1427]

If your radiators have a cap on them then you dont need the remote cap.  The fittings on the bottom go to the engine and the top is just a cross over.

 

I will charge up my old phone and see if I have any pictures on it of my install.

[dav8or 20]

I am going to have the radiators custom made and done in aluminum so I can modify the design a bit and I can decide to have the cap either on a radiator tank or separately between the tanks. I will determine the highest point and work it in there. I was thinking that a connection between tank bottoms might allow more efficient cooling more like a standard radiator.

[akflyer 1427]

If it was me, I would have the cap on the radiator and do away with the inline cap.  It is a pain in the butt, and additional connections to hose clamp have potential failure sources.

 

[dav8or 20]

If the radiator can be mounted high enough that a cap mounted on the tank would be the highest point in the system I will go with that. I need to get as much cooling efficiency as possible so I can still fly when the outside temp is hovering around 100 degrees. I plan to seal the radiators to the cowl inlets well. I know that has been an issue with some MK4's cooling. I would rather be over cooled than under. My current Kitfox style belly radiator is cooling very well even in summer but is vulnerable to damage being under there. The new cooling system I am working up will have either the same number of clamps as the current set up or less if I skip the bottom cross over between radiators. Of course there would be 2 more clamps eliminated if I can work the cap into one of the radiator tanks.

[akflyer 1427]

I have the radiators sealed off to the cowling on mine and at 80+ temps I have to step climb.  I can get over 200 deg if I run it WOT for more than 5 minutes or so.  Of course, I am running 50/50 on the antifreeze so if you run more water and some radiator ice or water wetter and you have a 4 pass core or more, you should be good to go.  It would be easy to have the radiator tank as the high point, thats how my original radiator was on mine when I got it, but I tossed those and went to the belly mount after I had some overheating issues.  I should have just baffled that radiator set up and kept flying it like that but I went for the sure quick fix

 

[EDMO 1078]

I believe that Joey was talking about getting rid of his cheek rads and going belly mount, to move some weight back? Or, was that a side mount?  Or, was it someone else?   I'm getting OLD! 
EdMO

Edited 16 Jan 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[C5Engineer 1170]

Side mount elimination for me Ed.

[dav8or 20]

The 2 keys to shedding the side mount radiator and using just the belly mount are:

 

1.  Remove the lip (if you have it) at the bottom of the cowling that deflects airflow down and effectively under the radiator.

 

2.  Keep the heated air from the muffler/exhaust from passing through the belly radiator.

 

I made an aluminum pan that attaches to the center section of the cowling, fits between the 2 mounting brackets of the belly radiator and ends just past the top of the radiator creating a tunnel where air entering the small oval opening around the prop can exit. exhaust air can also still exit the bottom of the cowling at the sides away from the radiator. The only issue I think I have with this setup is melting the muffler mount on the inlet end of the muffler probably due to the reduced airflow through the cowling.

 

I'm not sure if that will help Joey since his muffler appears to be mounted lower than most of the others I have seen but I am sure there is probably a work around.

 

Dan

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

Dav8or, I was reading through some of these posts and this thread caught my eye. I just purchased a Mark IV and it has the cowl type radiator set up. The seller told me the engine had cooling issues to the point that the engine had to be overhauled. I now have a never ran 582 and would like to keep this issue from happening again. Can you provide an update? Did you have the new aluminum radiators made and if so how did they work?

My set up looks stock and the radiators have no gap seal on the side to deflect more air into the radiators. Joey mentioned I may need to add the gap seals. I'd love to hear what works with this set up. I do fly in lower temperatures than most here in Northern Idaho but we do get some warm summer temps. 

Any input would be appreciated.

Thank you

Rvsimons

[dav8or 20]

I had a side mounted radiator with scoop which was an early C-model feature I believe. I switched to a kitfox style belly mounted radiator that I got off Ebay. I had planned to switch to a MK IV cowl with twin custom radiators but the cowling I was going to use burned up in a storage fire last summer. I believe the key to getting those radiators to work is sealing them very well to the cowl openings such that no air can pass around them to get into the cowl. Make sure the bottom lip of that cowling is still there. It helps to create a vacuum which pulls the air through the radiators into the cowling. My belly radiator works fine even in the 100 degree days we get here in the Houston area. I was wanting a cleaner, more protected install with the MK-IV cowl but have abandoned that plan when the cowling burned in the storage fire. Good Luck

Dan

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

Thanks Dan. Much appreciated 

[1avidflyer 1983]

I agree with sealing the radiators to the cowl.  JImChuk

[C5Engineer 1170]

I'll post pics of how my MK4 is done when I get it back into my hangar.

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

Thanks Joey. Sounds good.