Date:         Tue, 26 Mar 1996 13:39:33 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dlytle@as.arizona.edu (Dyer Lytle)
Subject:      coolest of the cool (engine that is)



Hi all,

By cool, I mean a relatively lower temperature, not 'way rad', etc..

As I continue to work on building an engine for my '66 microbus I
am attempting to build a cool running engine.  This will be a 1600cc
engine.  The things I'm doing to run cool so far are:

  1. Doghouse oil cooler conversion.
  2. Dual-port heads, manifold, tin.
  3. "cool tin" under the cylinders. (does this really make much difference?)
  4. Full flow oil filter with option for easy addition of extra oil cooler.
  5. Full engine balance.
  6. Keep the engine stock size with stock intake and exhaust systems.
     (that is, not too powerful = not too hot)

The only thing I can think of that I'm not doing is to use a very low
compression ratio.  The people building my engine convinced me that
I could use an 8:1 compression ratio as long as I use the "unshrouded"
combustion chambered cylinder heads (they provide).

Is there anything I'm missing that I could do to make my engine run cool?
I've got new radial tires so rolling resistance should be minimal.

I live in Tucson where the summer temperatures get fairly high and I do
like to drive up into the mountains on occasion so running a cool engine
is a top priority for me.

Thanks for any ideas,

 -Dyer