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I've always had the impression that the cooling capacity of my cooling system is a bit marginal. It's never let me down but I haven't been out in any ambient temperatures above the mid 20s C. But at a sustained 70mph at those sort of temperatures there is a noticeable increase in the coolant temp to just short of 100 degrees C.
I had this rad custom made by Radtec, based on an Escort MK1/2 rad. (blatantly copied from Ian Morris but with different pipework)
New Rad 2 by MarlinBuild, on Flickr
It has a 42mm core thickness, a 30% increase on the current one. It also allows me to use the full 41mm bore of the original cooling system pipework instead of the 35mm I was restricted to. I've had a 1/8 NPT boss put in the top tank for the coolant temp sender and a M22 boss in the bottom for a fan switch. I'll probably go for something like an 88 / 78 degree switch on the basis that there's likely to be a 10 degree(ish) temperature gradient from top to bottom of the rad so the fan will kick in at a coolant temp of about 98 degrees. I'm running my cooling system at 1.3 bar with a 30% antifreeze mix so I'm guessing that the boiling point of the coolant is around 110/115 degrees so the 88 degree switch should give me adequate margin.
There's probably a lot of guess work there but I can always change the switch if it proves to be necessary!!
So I've got a little project for after Christmas and I will feel a lot more comfortable if I take the car to warmer climates in the summer....................
And Happy Christmas to the Sportrster.
I had this rad custom made by Radtec, based on an Escort MK1/2 rad. (blatantly copied from Ian Morris but with different pipework)
New Rad 2 by MarlinBuild, on FlickrIt has a 42mm core thickness, a 30% increase on the current one. It also allows me to use the full 41mm bore of the original cooling system pipework instead of the 35mm I was restricted to. I've had a 1/8 NPT boss put in the top tank for the coolant temp sender and a M22 boss in the bottom for a fan switch. I'll probably go for something like an 88 / 78 degree switch on the basis that there's likely to be a 10 degree(ish) temperature gradient from top to bottom of the rad so the fan will kick in at a coolant temp of about 98 degrees. I'm running my cooling system at 1.3 bar with a 30% antifreeze mix so I'm guessing that the boiling point of the coolant is around 110/115 degrees so the 88 degree switch should give me adequate margin.
There's probably a lot of guess work there but I can always change the switch if it proves to be necessary!!
So I've got a little project for after Christmas and I will feel a lot more comfortable if I take the car to warmer climates in the summer....................
And Happy Christmas to the Sportrster.
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