My AW11 Fritzinger widebody. Some years of work in pictures

[XLarge]

The old radiator and the original fan shrouds are rotten and had to be replaced anyway. So why not replacing this parts with upgrade parts ?

My solution may be overdosed but I wanted to prevent all possibilitys as I do longer trips with my cars and the heat stress while driving german autobahns is not to underestimate.

[PW@Woodsport]

I intend to disconnect my rad fans as I doubt they ever cut in

If all is well I shall remove them altogether

I really don't like the things you do to your Mr2 Peter, why on earth would you take your fans off? Weight saving? They hardly weigh anything, plus you're removing weight from the wrong area on a Mk1. I can think of a thousand other weight saving things rather than ditch something you're going to need. The first hot summer day you're stuck in traffic or trackday and you're going nowhere, crazy.

In everyday driving i agree it rarely comes on, but removing them is just stupid especially just for weight, it often amuses me that people will go to these extremes when it won't make a single bit of difference and the drivers probably weigh more than they should themselves.

The only areas of a Mk1 i'd consider losing weight from are the seats and the doors, they are both stupidly heavy.

Nice rad and fans Eric, i'll be doing the same to mine

[XLarge]

... the drivers probably weigh more than they should themselves.

I did the best weight saving to my car ever while changed my nutrition. Lost 55 kg in one year.




To be honest it wasn´t to lighten my car. The reason was my heart disease. My doctor formulated a bit more matching: "Your heart is like an very weak VW Beetle engine, but Your heart in Your body is like a very weak VW Beetle moving a Mercedes S class. "

[elbon50]

I intend to disconnect my rad fans as I doubt they ever cut in

If all is well I shall remove them altogether

I really don't like the things you do to your Mr2 Peter, why on earth would you take your fans off? Weight saving? They hardly weigh anything, plus you're removing weight from the wrong area on a Mk1. I can think of a thousand other weight saving things rather than ditch something you're going to need. The first hot summer day you're stuck in traffic or trackday and you're going nowhere, crazy.

In everyday driving i agree it rarely comes on, but removing them is just stupid especially just for weight, it often amuses me that people will go to these extremes when it won't make a single bit of difference and the drivers probably weigh more than they should themselves.

The only areas of a Mk1 i'd consider losing weight from are the seats and the doors, they are both stupidly heavy.

Am removing weight from all around the car Paul

Only mentioned this in contrast with what Eric is doing

I use my car differently to most folk (short runs & competitions)

Shall experimentally disconnect not remove the fans, as said previously

[coanda]

XLarge - Nice fans, no probs with keeping things cool there.

I'm going to go for one fan of the same size as yours, or two smaller ones. I should think that these newer fans are much more efficient than the originals so you could get the same cooling from one new large Spal type fan as the two older fans - I do like the fan cowls on the old set up though.

Do you have AC in your car? I can't remember if the fans automatically turn on when AC is on - they run when AC is on in my 911.

[XLarge]

Most cars with AC have a additional fan and the fans are switched on by the AC.

I did some AC instalations back in my time as a car mechanic and in the AC kits from Toyota was always a additional fan included I had to mount next to the stock one.

My MR2 have no AC like every AW11 delivered to germany. It wasn´t even an option to choose here. But every AW11 I´ve ever seen had two fans though. So I decided to use two of them again, even with the higher flow of the Spals. Not sure about the heat stress a AW11 have to carry stock, but the big system with the two fans in front and the small one in the engine bay plus the fact that they put a even bigger rad to the Mk1b bring me to the conviction that Toyota thougt that a efficent cooling system is necessary and so I choosed to use the upgrade possibilitys.

I know the stress a cooling system have to carry in summer very well from my Celica where I already fitted an oil radiator and will put an alu rad with Spal fans in next winter.

[kaiowas]

I use my car differently to most folk (short runs & competitions)

Shall experimentally disconnect not remove the fans, as said previously

I did a couple of seasons with no front fans in our sprint mk1 as I too thought they never came on. The car never overheated without them but as we have had some wierd coolant pressure issues I stuck a lightweight fan in there just to rule it out as a cause. The new fan is much noisier than the stock one and as I result I definitely notice it coming on every now and then.

Still not found the cause of the pressure issues (though I suspect a partially blocked radiator) but it's been enough to convince me that you're best off having some sort of fan on there.

[MartG]

FWIW the fans and their shroud weigh about 10kg - and ( importantly for a car used for sprints ) are right up front so removing them will have a positive effect on the polar moment of inertia of the car, making it easier to change direction. Removing the rear bumper bar ( 7kg ) will have a similar effect ( leave two short sections to support the bumper skin ).

Across 5 Mk1s the only time the front fans have come on is when restarting the car when it has been switched off for a short while after a track session on a hot day, so the coolant has heat soaked through not being circulated. They only stayed on for a few seconds.

[elbon50]

Many thanks for the info Mart & Kaiowas

Very very interesting & just what I needed to know

Have already removed the front bumper bar & foam pad

[PW@Woodsport]

I'll have to weigh those fans again, i'm pretty sure they are more like 5-6kg. Why not just fit a lightweight fan and not eat breakfast that morning?

Front bumper bar and foam insert... Peter do you have a death wish or something? You're really affecting the crumple zone of your car there, not to mention you're still removing weight from the wrong area of a Mk1.

How have you mounted your indicator/sidelight? Glued it in?

[PW@Woodsport]

Just weighed the fan assembly, exactly 5 kgs.

[SuperRedMR2]

I'll have to weigh those fans again, i'm pretty sure they are more like 5-6kg. Why not just fit a lightweight fan and not eat breakfast that morning?

Front bumper bar and foam insert... Peter do you have a death wish or something? You're really affecting the crumple zone of your car there, not to mention you're still removing weight from the wrong area of a Mk1.

How have you mounted your indicator/sidelight? Glued it in?

I removed my bar for a few weeks while it was being welded and I found it to be very skittish at the front especially in the wet. You need the weight up there. I cable tied my indicator units to my cover but it looked abismal.

[elbon50]

I have my sidelight/indicator units fastened to the cover with two ali brackets on each

Lamps appear & function absolutely same as stock setup

[kaiowas]

Front bumper bar and foam insert... Peter do you have a death wish or something?

This is definitely an area where I would leave well alone on a mk1. Without the bumper bar, if you hit a tree or post dead centre you've got nothing of substance to protect you until you get to the bulkhead at the front of the cabin.

It's less of an issue for a pure track car as such objects shouldn't be there anyway but if your car is EVER on the road you want the bumper bar to be there.

Rear bar is a different issue because there's still a couple of bulkheads and an engine between me and the outside world, I've got rid of most of that one.

[elbon50]

Without the bumper bar, if you hit a tree or post dead centre you've got nothing of substance to protect you until you get to the bulkhead at the front of the cabin.

It's less of an issue for a pure track car as such objects shouldn't be there anyway but if your car is EVER on the road you want the bumper bar to be there

I totally agree and would offer eactly the same advice to all members

[PW@Woodsport]

Awesome, Peter do you remember that pic of Laurens Mk1 wrapped around a lamp post? Imagine the same scenario except the lamp post is inside the car, that's you without a front bumper bar

There are some things that are never worth risking your life for.

[elbon50]

Awesome, Peter do you remember that pic of Laurens Mk1 wrapped around a lamp post? Imagine the same scenario except the lamp post is inside the car, that's you without a front bumper bar

There are some things that are never worth risking your life for.

My car is used almost exclusively for competitions now Paul

Trailered there & back

If I was using it for fast road work the bar would be on

I have another car for fast road

[SuperRedMR2]

Paul you forget...Peter can't really go very fast on the road anyway, as he's suspension doesn't allow him too

Toyota may have made some blunders in the past with the amount of money spent on developing the car, but some things quite rightly said, should be left alone. Over engineering is not necessarily a bad thing.

[PW@Woodsport]

Awesome, Peter do you remember that pic of Laurens Mk1 wrapped around a lamp post? Imagine the same scenario except the lamp post is inside the car, that's you without a front bumper bar

There are some things that are never worth risking your life for.

My car is used almost exclusively for competitions now Paul

Trailered there & back

If I was using it for fast road work the bar would be on

I have another car for fast road

I fail to see how using it for the track only makes it ok?

What happens when you hit something hard in the front? You have nothing except that flimsy frunk wall providing any protection, not to mention the rigidity lost, that member helps tie the front of your chassis legs together. You'll wish you had that 7kgs back when there's a piece of armco sharing the interior with you.

As always though you'll do your own thing.

[elbon50]

Awesome, Peter do you remember that pic of Laurens Mk1 wrapped around a lamp post? Imagine the same scenario except the lamp post is inside the car, that's you without a front bumper bar

There are some things that are never worth risking your life for.

My car is used almost exclusively for competitions now Paul

Trailered there & back

If I was using it for fast road work the bar would be on

I have another car for fast road

I fail to see how using it for the track only makes it ok?

What happens when you hit something hard in the front? You have nothing except that flimsy frunk wall providing any protection, not to mention the rigidity lost, that member helps tie the front of your chassis legs together. You'll wish you had that 7kgs back when there's a piece of armco sharing the interior with you.

As always though you'll do your own thing.

No poles, trees, no cars, etc coming t'other way .....

Any armco is covered in thick padding where I go



Eric, this has hijacked your thread