This may sound like a dumb question, but do any of you with liquid cooled subi speedsters have leaks? I am cleaning out my garage so I can finish it up and get it ready for my new car coming in a couple months and I may throw away some catch pans I have that we're loaded with oil from a time a sprung a leak after bottoming out in my last car. I'm just wondering, do liquid cooled cars leak?
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No, not if they're done right and if you've got a new IM coming it'll be done right.
I guess if you bottom anything out, somethings gonna give. Even with my backyard Soob conversion my older IM has about 5" clearance under the oil pan and 4+" under the front mounted rad.
I have had my Suby Spyder for over 5 years and have never experienced a water leak. Greg at Vintage Spyder uses flexible hoses from the radiator to the engine to minimize/eliminate the possibility of leaks due to flex/vibration. My radiator is in front of the car, so the water must travel around 6-7 feet before it gets to the engine. I don't know if Greg sells the aluminum fittings that connect the tubing to the engine. The Griffin radiator has a built-in fan that turns on automatically to blow the hot air out the bottom of the car. Works great!
The tubes enter the engine compartment from the upper right (passenger) side, behind the rear firewall.
No leaks Chris. Henry requested that I take my car into the local mechanic after my trip to Carilse this year. He wanted to be sure all the plumbing was tight and no leaks. The car was deliverd with about 300 miles on it and I drove it just around town before the the long trip (1500 mikes RT to Carlsile). It check out just fine and I have no water or oil leaks in the garage.
The only leak I had was a a little gas (a leaky sender) that needed to be replaced late this fall.
No leaks in 8+ years and 36,000 miles. I did have some oil leaks because the caps on the valve cover breathers had worn out and had to be replaced. On the whole, this is a nice sanitary car. 
Just make sure all hose clamps are tight. SAS gauges have temperature indicators, a higher than normal reading may indicate a leak. 
