Steve P.

Renegade,

This is a lengthy post. It concerns cooling issues primarily my experiences with both Renegades and Simpsons cooling set up. If you are not interested in this topic save yourself some time and delete it without reading it.

By both systems I do mean that I have done both Rod Simpson and also Renegade complete cooling systems. Bottom line is that I could not get my car to run close to being cool with the Simpson set up and switched the entire system from the radiator to the pump and everything in between over to the Renegade set up. Car now runs cool and has never overheated.

I first became interested in doing a conversion way back in the 80's when I received in the mail my monthly subscription to VW Porsche magazine and the 194 April cover story was an a pair of 500 HP canyon racers which featured a converted 911 and a converted 914. i originally ended up buying a 1973 914 to do the project on but by the time I go around to starting the project I had driven the 914 for so many years I opted for a 911, sold the 914 and bought a 1977 911S Targa. When I originally started my project in around 1996 I purchased the Rod simpson kit which is serving its purpose OK. His radiator and cooling setup as I mentioned I could not get to cool the car adequately. First time around had MAJOR overheating issues and kind of put the project on the back burning for lack of interest and not wanting to deal with the cooling issue amongst other things going on . The project sat for a year or two when I tried again to make it work. The first thing I noticed was that I had a major kink in one of the lines going through the rocker panel. Seems that when I put the rocker panel back on it compressed one of the hoses and it was doubtful I was getting much water flow. Repaired that and tried again. Same thing had over heating issues. Checked out the water pump and just about everything else and then decided to run the lines under the car instead of through the side rocker panel. That actually helped but not near enough to run the car for any extended period of time without it boiling over again. After spending all the time cutting out the front fender wells to exhaust the hot air from the radiator and making it look all pretty I really did not want to go with a Renegade style system that does not require the fender wells to be cut out, I really wanted to get my Simpson cooling system to work. I had a few knowledgeable friends help me out and give me their opinion and tips as to what else to try, but had no luck.

I let the car sit for another year or so and talked to Scott at Renegade. He gave me some things to try and some other tips to look for. He also told me that his system would keep my car running cool if I followed his installation instructions. I was not looking to spend the bucks on a complete system so I decide to make small changes. The first thing I did was pull the Simpson water pump and replace it with the renegade water pump which helped but not enough. I then installed their remote filler neck and threw on an over flow tank. That also helped because I think I was able to get air out of the system easier. At this point I could run the car but as soon as I put any throttle on the engine I would boil over and have to stop. It was this point where I decided I was going to change out the radiator. I almost bought my own aluminum radiator to save some bucks but the last thing I wanted to see happen was it not work either, so I purchased the Renegade radiator and changed all the hose to their larger sized hoses and ran these under the car as well. After installing their radiator with fellow board member Terry and installing the aluminum shrouding I gave it a try. First time out after burping all the air out the car the car ran at 220 tops. A big improvement but not what I was expecting. Scott @ Renegade suggested a few things and I found one of the two fans on the rear side of the radiator was spinning in reverse. After taking care of that I gave it another try. 210 tops and never went over. Average running temp was around 200 degrees. Now that I could live with since I was now driving and enjoying the car. Since that time I have made other changes that have brought my running temperature down even further to 180 degrees with spike high of 195 and a spike low of 175. Changes have included re jetting the carb, changing from cast iron exhaust manifolds to headers and redoing the exhaust from a single outlet to a duel outlet. Adjusting the timing with an actual mark not by ear etc.

It's too bad that I sucked in a piece of metal through the carb and the result was a cracked cylinder wall on my 327 engine. Have no idea where it came from. It is a piece of steel about the size of a 1 inch long roll pin. I am running a 750 Rochester Q-Jet. Anyone familiar with this carb and know if they contain a piece of metal similar to the one I described?? I looked at the carb and it appears to be missing nothing.

I will close the story of my life history by saying the following:

1. Would a radiator I purchased on my own have worked? I do not know but now that I have a car I can drive (as soon as I repair or replace the engine)I do not care either.

2. Did I do everything possible to my car to get the Rod simpson cooling system to work? I think I did.

3. Am I a happy camper for having gone with the Renegade system? I think I am.

4. Am I sleeping with Scott from Renegade? Not that I can recall!

5. In the past I have posted to numerous sites concerning other conversions running the Rod simpson cooling system, who was and how it was working. If i recall I only received one response. Can not tell you how many other people have had similar experiences with the Simpson set up and on the other hand I can not tell you how many others have had successful experiences. Bottom line is that I did not. I have talked to others recently that are starting their projects with the Simpson kit and my words of advice have been the kit itself works but watch out on the cooling system. I really hope that the few people I have talked to recently have better results then I did and I am anxious to hear their results.

6. Steve L. If I can provide more detail on anything I wrote about let me know. I have many epics as well and will post a pic of the two radiators standing side by side for a comparison later today. If I do not have a pic you are looking for I can take one.

7. I now own a very expensive aluminum oil cooler that use to be my radiator. It sells for almost $700.00 7 years or so ago. If anyone is interested in purchasing it let me know. My fingers hurt!!!

- Steve P.


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