J15 Ordered

[jeffw]

Honda B18....lovely

JDM B18C was the most powerfull version of all B-Series which was used in JDM Integra Type R. With hand polished ports and revised itake, wilder camshafts, low friction pistons, lighter connecting rods, fully balanced crankshaft, lighter inlet valves, dual layered inlet and exhaust valve springs, this engine was actually designed as a race engine. It was delivering 210hp right out of the factory and even after 10 years since its production ended, it is still one of the most sought after Honda engines.

[kdempsie]

Hi Folks,

Decided to stick with the 2.0 litre Duratec in the end. Picked up the kit last Tuesday after Stoneleigh, went to the show on Monday so got a good look at the J15s in attendance which was very motivational!

I have a question on radiator mounting that perhaps someone can help with, how high and what gap have you set your radiator to? I have been mocking up brackets but would like to keep it as high as possible to protect it. Just wanted to check what clearance is required under the bonnet. I'm using the ubiquitous Golf1400 radiator.

I'll get some progress pictures up when I work out how to do it.

Keith.

[RobMsport]

If it's higher than the lowest front chassis member that's all the protection you can give it , apart from a front end collision which you can't protect it from anyway. Seeing as it'll be full of water it's needs to be as low as possible and tilted forward at the top to collect the air near to 90 degrees

[Paul AS]

Hi Keith,

Mine was one of the three J15's at Stoneleigh.

My radiator sits 5-10mm under the bonnet. 10mm static, and I would guess about 5mm at speed. It doesn't hit the bonnet ever! The further back you go, the higher you can get it, but then you start to get tight on space for fitting the fan, unless you use a push fan in front, or a smaller fan behind, to dodge coolant pipes and chassis rails.

Whereby I don't have any cooling issue with my 1400 zetec SE, the fan is set at 95 on, 92 off. It does come on in traffic even on a normal day, so getting the cold air into the bonnet and engine, and the heat out, efficiently does give you lots of benefits.

The 2.0 Duratec car belonging to David Cockburn that was also there is running a fancy (expensive) Radtec aluminium radiator. From talking to David, I got the feeling that he's not convinced that there was a massive benefit to running this mod, but I'm sure he's happy to share his experience.

Post IVA I've already fitted an engine cover vent and changed the grill mesh to the biggest I can find. I'll see what difference that makes and look at further airflow from there.

There is a good inch below my Polo radiator, before the chassis rails so there is quite a bit of fiddle room available.

Good to see you on Monday. If you think any of my build photos and info would be useful, please feel free to ask.

Enjoy your build. My 1.4 Zetec SE is fun and lively so the 2.0 Duratec in a J15 will be a seriously quick (scary) car!!

Paul

[deecee]

Hi Keith
Try the Golf radiator first, you can easily change to the expensive Radtec if you have problems. The Golf one I started with was wider than JP had allowed space for and I widened the hinge bracket to accommodate it. The cores of the wide Golf rad and the fancy Radtec one were virtually identical. I have only ever driven my car in cool conditions but wonder if it may struggle in warmer weather. I have not yet made any ducting for the rad so that may help Having said that it performed OK at a fairly intensive rolling road session.
Hope that helps.
David

[deecee]

PS What colour did you go for in the end?

[deecee]

PPS Graham Blackwell on the Uphill Racers forum has installed a Duratec in an older Fiesta, http://www.uphillracers.com/showthread. ... -2786.html if you want to wade through umpteen pages. I believe he ditched the bypass hose and thermostat to overcome cooling issues. No doubt it takes a good while to warm up though.

[deecee]

Keith you have a PM.

[kdempsie]

Went for red in the end, Jeremy told me that he hasn't actually sold that many red cars, it seems from Stoneleigh that perhaps red car builders are the fastest in that case!

[NeilEverett]

Went for red in the end

Good choice