That's a GSL-SE engine, wearing an FC water pump housing, intake manifold (note bulb to cover air port), and oil pan, sitting on modified FC mounts, bolted to an FC subframe, in an FB chassis...

Because, that's why.

 

The old "it's what I had laying around the shop" build.

 

lol

 

Will be interested to see how this holds up to your abuse. Have any pics of it installed in the car?

 

It's been in the car for two years now. (Avatar pic? FC suspension. Check the videos on my YouTube page - EVERYTHING from 2010 and 2011 has the FC suspension) Maybe 20, 25k on the chassis mods.

Holds up just fiiiine...

 

Ah, didn't realize you'd been running it that way already. good stuff!

 

I'm running an FC water pump housing on a 12a, and I'm using an fb water pump on it to boot! lol. All aluminum ftw.

 

Planning to do that mod tomorrow

 

I've got the all aluminum water pump/housing setup too. Modified FC water pump housing, with an FB GMB water pump. It's soooooo much lighter than the stock cast iron stuff. You're going to be stunned when you see how light the aluminum setup is.

 

lol, I thought I'd be the only one to use the fb pump on the fc housing.

fb/fc/fb Hm, I wonder if our cars ever get confused?

 

gotta say that i love the idea Pete!!

 

I'm only using the FC unit because it's supposed to work better than the FB unit. Saving a couple pounds is pointless if you can't drive the car because it's overheating.

 

fb pump seems to be working fine for me Peejay. I've never had temp issues though. So why am I bothering to upgrade to a 3 row radiator? I have to wonder about my decision processes sometimes....

 

I've had a LOT of belt issues that I think I've traced to cavitation causing irregular loading on the belts. I only get about 500-1000mi from belts before they are stretched out!

Switching pumps did no good because, unlike I was suspecting, the FC and FB pumps DO have the impeller in the same place. One thing that did help was to make sure that the lower hose had no kinks in it. This is very hard to accomplish with the current state of aftermarket radiators. I have YET to see a radiator that has the lower nipple bent properly. The latest radiator was the worst, instead of pointing to the side, it points straight up!

Helpful tip: Get a radiator hose for a, say, '98 ZX2. Really, any Ford-engined post-1990 Escort should work, I just chose the ZX2 because that's what I had in front of me. Anyway, the key factor is that the ZX2/Escort hose has a little bend and then a big J-bend, like a sink drain. You aren't going to use all of the hose, but you will be able to make this hose fit "perfectly" with some trimming. Put an anti-collapse spring in the hose.

I still have belt issues, but the car stays much cooler. Between the FC housing, good lower hose, and 300M cooling fans, I can cool the car in real time. By that I mean, I had the car on the dyno, started a run at 195deg, and the coolant was at 185deg at the end of the run.

Now I just have to get it to stop eating belts. Those Gilmer drive units are starting to look nice at $200, since I'll probably spend $300 on belts this year otherwise... but somehow I think that there's got to be a more elegant solution.

 

I don't feel like starting a new thread.

Introducing the 4-speed mod for the smoothcase.

 

you know, i put a generic hose on Peepers, with a wire spring in it, and it runs really cool, i wonder if that's why?

 

ha! welcome to the club! we did that in 2003...

 

Ouch! (4 speed mod)

Peejay, there must be a reason for the belt issue. Are they stretching out because you have to tighten them too much in order to prevent slippage? Or, do you maybe have a "wobble" in system?

I've never had cooling issues, even with the beat up (falling apart) 1st gen radiator. Even with the two little (but powerful) MR2 e-fans. Then I ran a 2nd gen radiator (non-aluminum) with those fans, and again, no issues.

Make sure you are treating the cause, rather than just chasing symptoms.



.

 

Bumping this up. You got any other pics of that extension on the subframe peejay?

 

That is normal. All belts stretch out initially after a couple hundred miles and then you just tighten them up.

What is different about your situation and why can't you just tighten the belts?

 

Peejay should get a 300 or 305 to start. Then it will stretch out and be in the middle of the alt bracket.

Or your pullies are misaligned which causes fast wear.

 

I've been servicing cars professionally for something like 16-17 years, I know the normal slight stretching that happens in the first five minutes of use.

My problem wasn't really "stretching" so much as actual wear - the belt would get narrower and narrower until it would start riding on the inside of the pulley. A belt that needed the alternator pushed all the way down and pried on with a screwdriver would be at the end of the adjustment limit in a very short time.

The solution was twofold: Stop using a minibelt on the water pump, which was a step backwards IMO, and switch belt brands. I'm using a Continental belt, it's been on the car for six or seven thousand miles and I haven't even had to adjust it yet.

Of course, I had two interesting failures recently... one was an FC strut mount that tore itself in half, and the other was the rearend housing that split up the middle like a chef cracks an egg. The 225mi drive home destroyed the front pinion bearing... and I'd put that diff in a few months ago, and the gearset had JUST broken in to the point where it was quiet. (gears from the front of a 4x4 never see load on the drive side, until you put them in an RX-7) And I only bought it because $100 for a junkyard Kia pumpkin is cheaper than new bearings for the old one. Le sigh.