What to use ? Long distance radiator.

I need something to get the coolant from my engine to the radiator and back, about 25 feet round trip. Looking for budget friendly suggestions, the cheaper the better. Not for the 2017 challenge I am way over budget for that, but so I can retire some day.

So, I need 1.5 inch diameter hose to make the run from the ej22 in the rear of the car to the rad in the front of the my kelmark gt.

Aluminum, Stainless, Copper, Rubber, any of the first three with rubber at the bends ? Aluminum and Stainless in long lengths would have to be ordered, and when not ordered in quantity it gets expensive, Copper might be the route to go. I cant seem to find rubber heater hose in bulk with a diameter of 1.5 inches, 3 foot lengths yes, but that gets pricey when you need 8-9, a lot of clamps and splices.

Whats the 818 use? Any one know if a source for 1.5 inch rubber coolant hose?

Thanks !

What about galvanized plumbing pipe? Or pvc? I know that some hot water tanks run at 220 degrees for industrial kitchens.

My first plumbing when I front mounted the radiator on my Fiat was 1.5" EMT conduit. I figured it was easy to work with, galvanized, inexpensive and I already had the tools for it.

It turned out the extra 1.5 gallons of capacity I added to the system was way too much for my cooling system. It took more than a half hour for the water temperature to stabilize. My datalogs were hilarious. CLT would rise to 190, thermostat would open and CLT would plummet to 60, thermostat would close again, then open and drop back down to 63...ect.

I ended up swapping out the EMT for .75" ID Hydraulic line that was on special at the hose shop. Braided stainless over teflon tubing. It was even easier to run, only increased my capacity about half a gallon and allowed me to have much more stable coolant temps. That motor was pretty sensitive to temp changes. It made 10% more power on the dyno at 195F than it did at 150F.

Had not thought about the galvanized plumbing pipe, good idea, but I think it will be heavy. The EMT I had thought about, but figured it may not be as galvanized on the inside and feared rust.

Looks like there is a trip to LowD'pot this weekend to see what they have, the price looks really right on the EMT, about 1/2 the galvy plumbing pipe.

You'd have to pay VAG prices, but Vanagons have long PVC/Vinyl coolant pipes.

Looks like there are stainless upgrade options too

!.5 seems kinda Huge think I would determine what size the t-stat opening is not where it fits but the opening when hot and make the tubes about size.

For the Wartburg, which was also an EJ22 in the back, we used electrical conduit, and a dual core narrow radiator from a 96-00 Civic. It worked well to keep the engine cool even when running Lemons in the summer.

I use stainless tubing. I buy it local. Look for "Sanitary Tubing."

I suggest a smaller diameter because on Our stock cars we of course did not use a t-stat but what looks like a washer with the approprate size opening to keep the engine at the correct temp look at a Speedway Catalog in the cooling section(race catalog). I belive you will find a 3/4in. tube to be plenty.you can use a rubber radiator/Heater hose that can stand the heat at a better parts store in rolls, thats what They did on Clay Young's Fiero's that had engine in back W/Rad. in front.Water can move through the engine too Fast and not Collect heat as well as too slow and not cool the engine or cool it too much.

Sonic wrote: For the Wartburg, which was also an EJ22 in the back, we used electrical conduit, and a dual core narrow radiator from a 96-00 Civic. It worked well to keep the engine cool even when running Lemons in the summer.

it did work well but the insides did not hold up well, the tubes are quite crusty inside. will probably remake them in 1" copper. for long term i don't think emt conduit is a good solution.

In reply to GTXVette: That was a problem with the Ford flat heads. Two water pumps moved too much coolant at high revs. someone finally found the restriction thing.

I think I would be tempted to run an external thermostat up by the radiator. Either a BMW or Fiat unit. This would keep all the water in the tubes from just sitting there "cold" as the coolant would be circulating the whole time until the thermostat finally connected up the radiator itself

I'd find an industrial hose shop

What about PEX? It's rated for high heat and flexible. Available in 3/4" and 1".

No experience using it in cars but just throwing it out there as a material to take a look at.

Copper makes me nervous. It tends to work harden and crack in any situation where vibration and flex might be encountered.

NOHOME wrote: Copper makes me nervous. It tends to work harden and crack in any situation where vibration and flex might be encountered.

Stainless does too. I'd be tempted to just run good quality heater hose with abrasion resistant sleeve where necessary. But I have never done this. Otherwise I would lean toward what the radiator and engine block are made of to avoid adding a dissimilar metal to the mix.

finned tubing could eliminate the need for a radiator

I knew a guy who mid-mounted an LT1 in the bed of an S10. He used plain old stainless exhaust pipe.

There was concern since the stainless used for exhaust is not really high grade stuff. Its fine for looking pretty and not turning to bran flakes in the weather, but not the best for constant water contact. But that was easily 15 years ago and no issues so far. (that I've heard of) He probably hasn't put 20k miles on it, but it worked well for him.

Comments and questions, well questions first.

Aluminized vs Galvanized ? Difference? Which will resist rust better (on the inside) and has less risk of putting bad stuff in the cooling system. Its a road car so I will be running 50/50 mix coolant.

Stopped by the local home improvement store tonight. Galvanized pipe is out, two 10 foot lengths probably weigh as much at the EJ22. Well not really, but at lease 5X more than the same diameter conduit.

Looks like 1.25 conduit has an outside diameter of right around 1.5 inches. Looking down the center, it looks like it is coated on the inside, but not as smooth as the outside. Its cheap, 12 bucks for 10 foot straight pieces, I will need at least 2. They have nice 90 degree bent pieces also, 8 bucks each, I could use a couple of those also.

Biggest copper in the store was 1 inch dia, and about 30 bucks for 10 feet of the thin walled stuff. On line they have 1.25 inch, about 50 bucks for 10 feet.

So, now for aluminized stuff, exhaust stuff. 1.5 inch od, 7.5 feet, 16 bucks at summit. Cheaper then copper, more expensive than conduit, but if it has less of a chance of causing issues, I would go this route. Would have at least 2 extra junctions going this route.

Looks like stainless exhaust pipe is going to run just over 10 bucks a foot. Its going to get expensive quick.

Pex would be great but I did not see anything above 1 inch, and its only rated at 190, all of the heater hose I looked at was rated at 227? or higher. So it looks like PEX is out.

Steve

I'd go with SS sanitary tubing. like this.

Find the flow, gpm,of the radiator then match with correct size pipe or restrict the flow. thermostat might do that.

In reply to iceracer:

Figured the subie engineers did that. Trying to match the ins and outs of the engine and rad, which are 1.5 od or there abouts, coverting from metric, thus not needing adapters to connect.

The opening on the tstat is 1.25 inch, so I am looking to not go below that for ID.

Rigid aluminum conduit for some reason is 1/3 the cost of thinner walled aluminum pipe/tube, and seems to aviable at local electrical supply houses. Will be making a run by one tonight to verify availability and pricing. Can't take it with me tonight due to a snow storm and being 10 feet long requiers driving with a window down and it sticking out said window.

Thanks for all the help.

I am also interested in this thread.I have been thinking about what I was going to use for my truck since its a engine in the back/rad in the front setup.

I have thought of the Stainless Tubing route, and was going to run a smaller diameter than the rad inlet to restrict the flow.

In reply to MulletTruck:

In the end, I went with the 1-1/4 Galvanized EMT for a couple reasons. 1) it was cheap, 12 and change for a 10 ft stick, needed 2. 2) it was cheap, so if in the process of making things fit I cut something wrong I would only be upset with my self for a couple weeks and was ease to get more if I needed it. 3) The OD of the 1.25 galvanized EMT is close to 1.5, eliminating the need for adapters 4) the connections tubes on the engine for the heater core are steel, probably not even galvanized, so I think I was over worrying about using the Galvanized.

If needed in the future I will replace with something else now that I know what lengths I need for each section.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I see you came up with a solution for now but I thought I'd weigh in for future reference. I've used standard, welded seam, exhaust tubing for coolant with no problems.

Don't use PVC. It makes a nice sanitary looking installation that will soften and deform at engine operating temperatures causing leaks and embarrassment.