Well done ! Nice to see thinking outside the box. I just cracked a rad boo hoo. They were 15 years old ha ha. Can you tell us more about your cooler ? Might be even easier with a single port out of the 500 head. Could eliminate some hose.
What size heater hose did you use ? Maybe a guy could fit a couple little bags where the rads used to sit. Neat !
The heat exchanger and coolant bottle are off of a 07-08 Arctic Cat M-Series I think it cost me like $50 for both of them. The heat exchanger requires flattening which is easy to do with a press and some fab work to make it fit in the MH tunnel. I used some aluminum strap and had it welded to the heat exchanger and then aluminum angle was welded to the strap (see pic above) the heat exchanger mounts in the stock MH holes and will be easy to swap from kit to kit. The hose is all 3/4" ID heater hose except for the little bit of hose that comes off of the head which is 5/8" ID. It may be hard to see in the pictures but I have a KTM thermostat and trail tech coolant temp sensor plumed in.
A single 3/4" port coming out of the head would certainly simplify the pluming and probably improve efficiency, do you know anybody that makes a head like that?
Got my second ride in yesterday and the system worked flawlessly. I made an effort to pay more attention to temps throughout the day and have revised coolant temps and a couple questions. With this system the thermostat is getting a workout I can watch the temps climb to 155-170 depending on how hard I am working the bike and then when the T-stat opens the temp suddenly drops to 130-140 and it just plays that game all day long.
Here is my question does that instant 30-40 degree drop in temp cause any expansion contraction issues with the cylinder? I don't want to be in the middle of a hard pull with a hot piston and then have it get squeezed when that cold water hits the cylinder.
Another added benefit that I don't think I mentioned is the added coolant capacity that this system has I think it takes about 3/4 of a gallon to fill it which is probably about three times as much as the stock setup. This added capacity equals better cooling and my coolant temps stay pretty warm even after sitting and eating lunch.