18/02/01 Build Diary Continued
In addition to pre-drilling the holes for the first 3 panels, I also took out some of my anger on the intercooler by taking my angle grinder and grinding away the extra mounting lugs and 'blow-off' valve tube. Now all I have to do is get it welded and this small piece of the jigsaw can also be fit to the puzzle! Come to think of it, building this car is much akin to making a jigsaw puzzle, except that this is in 3 D and all of the pieces do not match up exactly first time round.
Having spoken to John Kox (who has his own Cosworth powered Rush) and Stephan (again), I decided to fork out the extra dosh for the much needed (according to John & Stephan) aluminium (read expensive) radiator. According to DAX this is supposed to give the engine 30% better cooling than the standard radiator, something that this turbo'd monster will be much in need of I think! I talking about the cooling, I am wondering if anybody (especially racers) have really had a (scientific) go at improving the airflow through the radiator of the RUSH. My intuition would say that if Porsche closes its engine bays off on the underside with panelling then it must work! I have been walking around with this very idea, but have then been trying to come-up with a routing for the air. This is difficult in a RUSH as there is virtually no room around the Turbo'd engine. I think that this issue will become clearer as the build progresses.