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Gipsy Turbo Intercooler  Modification

by

Tudor Morgan

 


 

The charge cooler system on our Gipsy has worked quite well but we had some problems with air getting into the system and impairing the flow of water. This was due to the position of the top up bottle which was located behind the front headlamp, the highest point achievable.

I was using a Papmahl radiator which sandwiched in front of the main T25 radiator which is the same length, so the topping up bottle didn't have much head of water.

We decided to do a complete re-design by making it a full pressure system.

Various connectors and T pieces were made, the filler pipe at the rear was connected to a 2m length of 16mm ID hose and the cooling system header tank from the donor car fitted at the end of the hose.

The intercooler pump was taken from the bulkhead mounting and put on the lowest point on the rear chassis. Special brackets were fabricated and welded onto the right hand back bumper cross bars, which enabled the header tank and hose to be easily detached without removing the rear bumper.

The header tank can be lifted right up, primed with water until it flows out of the bleed valve in the front, the cap then tightened down sealing the system, the hose coiled up, the bottle fixed on the brackets, all neatly tucked away.

There are no worries now about air locking, the system is completely sealed and can be forgotten.

The problem with the Gipsy when fitting a water intercooler is that there is nowhere to gain the height. when these systems are fitted on a normal T25 the back pillar and vents are an ideal space to fit and access the top up bottle.

The radiator HA-Projekt supply for their system is more oblong in shape than the Papmahl and fits lower down in front of the radiator allowing a bit more head for the top up bottle.

But if you are going down this route with a Gipsy and you have the donor car header tank the pressurised system is the most reliable.
 

Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image

 

1. Turning up brass connectors and T pieces 2. Silver souldering T pieces 3. Finished connectors
     

4. Connectors in place for drain 5. Testing pressure system 6. Welding fixing brackets
     
   

7. Header tank mounted before fitting bumper

Lengenbachweg 8

75328 Schömberg

Tel: 0 70 84 - 6192

Fax: 0 70 84 - 5280

 

 


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