Who knows the story on this track nose - esp. the insert?

Call Barney Navvaro and ask him his number is the same as it was when it was in the magazines in the 50's that's how i called him

 

I would think you could use a smaller radiator if it was aluminum.
Just a thought.
r

 

"Can't put it forward of the axle either...the inlets are impossible to get to like that." There are available cast aluminum hose doglegs for flatheads, designed to solve various problems with later flatheads in '32's and A-V8's. Maybe 2 or even 4 of those might help with a rad dropped in front of the X member.

 

look into a fork lift radiator they are really small but have 5-6 row core.

 

I patterned mine after the Spalding Brother's #43 track roadster... which incedentally has the same insert as the Navarro car.

My effort is the best I could do at the time using what I had to work with... which was a '53 Chevy pickup cab and some aluminum and steel. Mike Bishop hung out and documented the build, which will eventually go to print.

Pat Ganahl zoned in on the grille when I had the car at the March Meet two years ago... he said the name of the guy who made them up, and also knew who had each one that was cast. If I remember correctly, someone also has one hanging in their shop that never made it onto a car...

The reason I've always liked this grille is that is is stubby and does not stick out past the tires... or even the drums... mine could be perfected in the grill area... the band that surrounds the grille could be made thinner and have some curve to it so it blends into the shell. It also needs to be lowered another inch or so, it makes the hood that Steve made for it look like it is going up hill (even though it is over an inch lower than the cowl the way it sits.
Sam.

 

Heres some more shots of it.

 

The way I got around the problem... I mounted the radiator BEHIND the crossmember and the track nose in FRONT of it... the nose comes back up over the crossmember to hide more than half the radiator (so it doesn't look lame with the hood off.
Sam.

 

Custom job...
What id you had tanks top and bottom but the bottom tanks' outlets where on the outer sides?
You know, pointing away from the center of the car?
then you could pump the lower hoses toward the radiator and then down to meet the outlets at the lower tanks...
That way you coud mount the radiator lower to fit the nose.
just thinking out loud here.
r

 

grim,
there was a story in rod and custom a while back,this older dude was building radiators of any shape,and water flowed around the tubes,with the tubes paralell to the airflow.
he called it the "heat sponge".
might wanna do a search on it.
looked to be quite stout.
hope this helps.
later

 

How much for the lights?
r

 

[ QUOTE ]
grim,
there was a story in rod and custom a while back,this older dude was building radiators of any shape,and water flowed around the tubes,with the tubes paralell to the airflow.
he called it the "heat sponge". might wanna do a search on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

That was the HAMB's own "Smokey" (right?) and it was on the HAMB first!

BTW... How's that thing coming anyway? I miss Smokey's tech....

 

Choppit til it fits and hope for the best. You can always spend lots of money later if you have to.

 

put the radiator in the trunk

 

Those guide 682C's?
Round or pointed marker lenses?
E-Mail some pics & price please.

 

Grim, send me a outside pattern, and a sketch, have I ever let you down before!

 

Grim,
PM me on what you want to pay or trade (I'm talking about a lot less than the "heat sponge"). I've been planning to design a plate and tube heat exchanger for my "A" project. I know it will work.

 

There are a couple of guys out here that are running radiators out of forklifts. They're short, have a 4-or-5 row core and you can find them relatively cheap. And from what these guys were saying, the air flows through them pretty well and keeps the motor running cool. I don't know about where you are, but there are a ton of places that do forklift parts sales and repair out here. Might check into it, it would be worth it to save that cool track nose.

 

Grim,
Your car is a 28-29 right? I'm just sayin...(You can totally insult someone as long as you put that term in front of it, but I'm just voicing my opinion not trying to tick you off. Example: "I'm just sayin" honey you could lose a few pounds. Try it, it works)...I think a T-roadster looks good with the track nose, but not the 28-29. I like the looks of the original shells on the 28-29 and that's what I'm going to use. Plus their only $110 or so and are real shiny if you want some chrome up front. Anyone got a picture of one?

 

The nose and grille on the Navarro car was made by Art Ingles - Body Man for Frank Kurtis - Father of the Go-Kart. Sure is a great looking car

Bob

 

How much radiator room do you have? If you had 20” x 22” a sprint car radiator would be a good choice. It doesn’t need to be installed exactly vertical. The forklift radiator is a good idea if you could find one that both fits within your space constraints and has the required heat transfer capacity. Many forklift models have engines of less than one liter. Your flathead runs around four times that size. Having the exhaust valves in the flathead block makes cooling the old gal more of a challenge. I will grant you that forklift radiators are oversized compared to what the same size engine would need going seventy on I 435. The fact is somebody should "do the math". Good luck finding one “relatively cheap”. I looked-up a mid nineties Toyota forklift radiator, and the list price was $751.00. If you could find a used forklift radiator I know it would have been rode hard and put away wet.

I have worked with heat exchangers for years as Mechanical Engineer. I could build a radiator similar in concept to the “heat sponge”. I’m willing to barter for model A parts.

 

try these guys.. they will build you a custom radiator

http://www.afcoracing.com/

They are pretty reasonable. I got a radiator from them where they chopped several inches out of a "stock" sized 32 radiator and it was the same price as the stock 32 radiator- something like $425 at the time

I've never had any problems with it other that when a rock hit a tube and created a leak when I used to run without any grill

car runs really cool(too cool actually) no matter the conditions

plus they have stock radiators for racing ( that are alot cheaper) that might fit your shell

 

Grimlock said [ QUOTE ]
smalls - It's a 30-31. And track noses don't look good on a 28-29? Just last week weren't you accusing someone of only having taste in thier mouth?...I'm just saying...



[/ QUOTE ]

Perfect use of "i'm just sayin" I think the Navarro car looks tits, maybe because the narrower profile of the T matches well with the track nose? The picture you posted looks good too. Matt