...When I got the car, the temp gauge wasn't working and had evidently been disconnected, but it ran fine, no steam pouring our of every orifice, and the guys at Corolina Classics had given it a clean bill of health (and they are very trustworthy chaps). I did have a bash at getting it working, but there was a lot of extra wires kicking around under the dash, so I left it until I got onto sorting out the electrics. Before that, the rad goes pop and thats where the trouble starts. Buckle yourselves in lads, this is going to be a long post!
Okay, firstly I call europa and ask them what sort of fan I need for a big block. They say "big block, big fan, if it'll fit stick a 16" unit on there". A quick measure and its going to fit, but its a bit deep too clear the water pump, so I ask them if it would be an idea to replace it with an electric item. "nice idea" says they "we have a lovely little one for ?120, just stick it onto the bottom hose. Everything arrives, rad gets recored, I install the fan, put a hole in the rad (I know, I know don't start on me, I'm a klutz) but everything else goes in with a large portion of blood sweat, tears and profanity. At this stage I then notice the tiny little bit of script on the back of the box the pump came in that says 'suitable for engines up to 5L', would have been nice to mention this at point of sale, in the catalogue or even in the instructions...Bananarama!! I call europa, they call Davies Craig (propper-bo!) who says it will probably be fine but don't quote us on that (oops, just did!)
I finally find the problem with the electrics, connect everything up, including the temp gauge (which tops out at 120 degrees) and fire her up. the fan sucks like disco, and the pump is hurling water around so everything seems to be okay. However, the temperature rises, and rises, levels off for a bit at around 80, then rises and rises. In a five minute test drive I had to stop three times when the guage hit 120 and let the pump and fan run on accessory to cool things down.
So, to my problem. I was told that the original rad was 65% rust and crap, and therefore barely working. I now have an ultra flash and efficient item from our good friend Neil. The mechanical fan didn't have a shroud on it so also wasn't doing as much as it should, this is replaced by a super efficient Kenlowe. That leaves the pump. It seems to be working fine and has a flow rate of around 22 gallons per something. As far as I'm aware the original rad only had a flow rate of 20, so everything should be fine, but run the engine for five minutes and its off the scale.
Now, the fact that the guage was physically disconnected but working fine seems a bit fishy. Could it be that the gauge is reading wrong, or the sender is out of whack? Alternatively could the car have had a bigger problem from day one and the cheeky seller decided to cover it up via the miracle of wire cutters? If its the latter what could be causing a problem like this without actually killing the car? It was and still is running fine and there is no evidence of a massive overheat. Even at 120 degrees I can pull the lever on the stant cap and only a brief belch of air and water comes out of the overflow. The Jag that preceeded the Plymouth had its water pump explode and taking the cap off was like sticking your head in front of Old Faithful (the skin grafts have really taken, thanks for asking).
My next plan of attack is to get a skinny fan fron uncle Neil, mount it as a blower on the front of the rad, leave the Davies Craid pump (shamooo!) in place, add the original pump and try it again. However, I've got a horrible feeling that I'm still going to have the gauge reading 120 and be down another electric fan. The way things are at the moment, I'm going to start ordering two of everything on the assumption that I will break or have to bin one along the way. Expensive hobby when you're an idiot!
Any help, opinions, jokes about stabbing radiators, etc would be appreciated. Actually some sympathy wouldn't go amiss either.
But lets not focus on the negative......gorgeous radiator, I insist that everyone orders one immediately. It even has a nice little trough at the top for putting nuts bolts and screwdrivers on so they don't roll onto the floor
There is not an imoticon in existance that expresses how miserable I am.
