Overall, drivability is very good. However there is one key issue I’m continuing to work through. For starters, I’ve been fighting water temperature problems almost since almost day one. During the summer months, I have problems keeping my water temperature under 215° when I’m climbing long steep grades at highway speeds. On the freeway, my RPMs are at about 3000-3,200 which makes the EGT’s quickly climb to 950°+. At this point, the coolant system in the little 40-series is unable to shed the cylinder head heat quick enough and I can watch water temps climb within a matter of minutes.
I’ve got the following ideas on the drawing board which I hope will make improvements:
-Replace the Chinese champion aluminum radiator with a quality Ron Davis unit.
-Swap to waterless coolant
-Install an auxiliary oil cooler with Spal fan to help shed latent heat from the oil supply. (I’ve got most of the components sitting on the shelf to make this happen but have been unable to find an oil filter sandwich plate with built-in thermostat that will fit the 24 mm oil filter housing. Safari makes one with their auxiliary oil cooler kit but they don’t appear to sell it as a separate item as my emails have gone unanswered).
-Swap the CT 26 for a Gturbo Grunter in the hopes that it, coupled with taller gears, will allow me to build boost/power lower in the RPM range and keep me from winding up to 3000 RPM (I’ve got the IP detuned to the point where it’s almost undrivable off boost [anything below 2,500rpm]).
-I’m also toying with the idea of installing a front mounted A2A intercooler since I’ve ruled out a top mounted A2A or W2A system for various reasons. However, cramming a 2 1/2 inch intercooler core between the bib, AC condenser, and radiator then routing the plumbing to avoid my AC components and dual batteries will be very tricky. (…Not a lot of room to work with.)
-If none of the above pan out, I will probably settle for some sort of water injection cooling which I’m hoping to avoid.
Overall the conversion really puts a smile on my face and I would probably do it all over again… Although I’d look for a DI engine rather than the IDI motor I found.
