by EVL VEGA » Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:03 pm
When i bought the car the guy before me used it for mostly local night time street racing. He had a tiny steel radiator in it that just couldn't keep up with normal daytime street driving.
He also only had the body of a thermostat to act as a restriction with all the guts of the thermostat pulled out.
I drove it like that for less than a year and i couldn't take it anymore. I was constantly pulling over to let it cool down then drive some more then do it again.
I put in a generic (Summit brand i think) radiator with two side brackets i had a friend TIG weld on..working thermostat..redline water wetter..it already had a big electric pusher fan on the front..electric water pump.
Worked great after that. One time I drove it in the summer (100+ degrees out) 14 miles up a huge grade to the Barona 1/8th mile track. Raced it all day. Then drove it home. It never got over 210.
The electric fan makes it nice to cool it down..shut off the car but keep the fan and waterpump on.
Here are some pictures of the install. Not very good pics since i wasn't actually taking the pictures to show the radiator or fan setup.
EVL VEGA
'73 Vega Hatchback (former Super Gas car)
406 SBC, AFR 210 Eliminator Heads, 9:1 comp, pump gas, 328RWHP/412RWTQ (old heads, no N2O 1/17/04), 6.86 @ 100.8 in 1/8th (No N20 9/4/16), Mike's Trans TH400 (reverse manual), 5000 stall, 12 bolt, 35 spline strange axles, 4.33 gears, spool, hipster transbrake, linelock, backhalved, Alston 3 link, 100 shot NX Hitman+ kit, LC1 Wideband sensor, 31x18.5 MT Sportsman Pros, "Plum Ugly"™ Purple paint.
"Pound to fit..paint to match"