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BotswanaAlfa
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Location: Gaborone Botswana

Need some cooling love

Post by BotswanaAlfa »

Hi guys,
Im heading back to hot old Botswana in a few days and ive decided when i go back i want to do some cooling work on my car, the radiator is leaking and my right side header has a broken bolt on the down pipe which i want to fix. i want your advice on the following:
While my pipes are out i want to exhaust wrap my headers, downpipe and piping under the transmission tunnel as i believe it may reduce in car temps a fair bit. maybe gearbox too? :roll:

Also i want to get a new radiator but replacement radiators are scarce and expensive is there a modern day common car which has a compatible/ superior radiator that i can fit instead? a bit of fabrication isnt so much of an issue for me. Thanks!
:D :D :D
'83 GTV6 stock with Wildcat exhaust system
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Fernando
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Re: Need some cooling love

Post by Fernando »

Tips from running a GTV6 3 TT in stop start traffic with outside temps sitting at 40 degrees Celsius versus my stock 2.5 GTV6.

Oom Div fitted a full aluminum radiator coupled to two GTA cooling fans. Problem I first encountered was the alternator could not provide enough Amperage so the battery would drain out and the fans would spin like their foreskins were glued together, result overheating. Throw in a thunderstorm requiring wipers and internal fans going and it rapidly went south.

Fix one, new Bosch Alternator from Goldwagen with a 90 AMP output. Step two the effing largest battery I could stick in the battery compartment at the back. Step three two sets of four relays each for the fans. Key wiring was replaced with small battery cable almost like a cheap jump start set and heat wrapped for good measure.

Now three hours of stop start traffic to cover a grand distance of 25kms in sweltering heat last Friday presents no problems. Temp gauge sits at just above the 80 mark.

The 2,5 get your rad cleaned and recored by Silverton. Replace your waterpump as often that is your biggest problem and you only really pick it up when it starts sounding like a washing machine trying to clean a bag of bolts on a speed cycle.

Get your hands on either GTA rad fans or the Kia fan Kevin has mentioned here before. Uprate your battery and get a new uprated alternator. Redo the key wiring bits and it should have no issue coping with the insane temps you get in Botswana.

I know MD is not a great believer but run the entire system on Castrol antifreeze with NO TAP water. I have seen on my own GTV6 what this excuse for water does inside the engine despite running a part mixture of Total Anti freeze and water.

Lastly try and get your hands on a aluminum expansion tank from Dawie DeVilliers at Glenwood, best investment compared to the plastic bottle.

Oh and replace your pipes as improving the whole system can very quickly expose the old rad pipes and they usually choose the worst time and place to go pop. :evil:
"Racing is life,everything before and after is just waiting."- Steve Mqueen
BotswanaAlfa
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Re: Need some cooling love

Post by BotswanaAlfa »

Hi fernando!
Appreciate the response, ive already replaced my pump when i was getting the car ready to start after its 21 year long parking lot break so im glad thats sorted, ill definitely do the rest as you suggest and take my radiator to silverton.

Ive seen no mention of a Kia Fan in my searches but ill use that as a keyword, are they truly that much better than the twin fan setup?

Regarding the radiator pipes, i havent seen mention of alfa specific parts, do i just get radiator piping thats universal or must i order specific parts?

Thanks for the response! :)
'83 GTV6 stock with Wildcat exhaust system
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Fernando
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Re: Need some cooling love

Post by Fernando »

I prefer the twin GTA fans as one will always keep working if the other picks up an issue.

The single fan is from the KIA Cerrato if I am not mistaken.

Goldwagen can sell you the silicone radiator pipes which is what I intend doing , because finding anything original for the GTV6 here is becoming very difficult.

Then its a simple case of matching and cutting to measure along with brand new clamps.

Good luck. :D
"Racing is life,everything before and after is just waiting."- Steve Mqueen
BotswanaAlfa
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Re: Need some cooling love

Post by BotswanaAlfa »

Hmm not sure how easy GTA fans are to find. We have a KIA dealership in bots so il ltake a gander there.

Thanks for the help! last two things, do i just get standard radiator hoses (silicone) i dont have any dimensions as im currently in the netherlands (makes measuring stuff tough!) so is there a particular kit etc that i need to look out for? :lol:

Also i wanna pull out my headers as i have a broken bolt on the right bank thats leaking and i want to wrap the pipe, do you guys reccomend this? or will my pipes explode like ive read horror stories about? theyre rusty but ill be polishing em back to bare metal and painting in heat proof paint before wrapping. so should i do it? :wall:
'83 GTV6 stock with Wildcat exhaust system
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