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Cooling improvements

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saabmp3

saabmp3

Jedi Hopeful
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It's starting to get a little toasty out and I want to ensure safe driving for the summer. Right now, after getting up to operating temperature at 60 on the highway I'm hitting 190 regurarly. With either a 5mph increase or a long sunny patch it'll be pushing the 200 mark. I try to keep her at 190 or under.

What can I do to improve my cooling? I plan on doing a total rediator drain some day this week. I don't have any leaks and there's no reason to think the fan isn't working.

Ben
 
Guess you could have the radiator cleaned and rodded at the local radiator shop. The stock goodies work well when all are in good shape.
 
Run a 165 degree thermostat, run water with some water pump lubricant (Dupont)and a few drops of dish washing liquid in it. You could start with using a radiator flush compound, followed by a couple of rinses before switching to new fluid. I drained just enough to add the container of flushing compound and then put about fifty miles on the car before flushing the system out. That did the trick on my radiator with higher temps than I liked. I only use any anti-freeze during the winter and then only enough to just keep it from freezing.
 
I've got similar issues with the Tunebug--was about to start a thread when I saw this one (apologies for the hijack). What other things like mechanical, adjustments, etc. are important to look at with a hot-running Sprite? I'm trying to start a list of things to look at too.
 
Overly lean or rich mixture on the carb settings (do a plug reading for correct color). Timing not on, too much advance, or too retarded. Slipping fan belt. Bad water pump. If the water pump is old the internal pump vanes could be corroded enough to affect pumping without any signs of leaking. And of course a clogged up radiator/cooling system.
 
You know, I been thinking again, the water pumps are only $40 bucks. Cheep insurance if yours is old old.
 
I just need to find an oil cooler small enough fit in there. The one I put on my jeep was probably bigger than the whole healey radiator.

Ben
 
i was thinking about replacing my yellow plastic fan with a Electric one, I figured it would free up some HP, and cool better. Anyone switched to an electric fan and seen improvements? I was thinking a pusher would be best due to clearance between the radiatior and WP pulley.

Dr.
 
Lots of good suggestions above.
I'll just add that newer 1275 Spridgets come with an improved cross flow radiator that may help things. Not sure if it's a direct bolt-in to older cars, but I have heard of it being used to replace the down flow jobs. (all 1500 cars use a cross flow too, but it's different).
 
Where would you mount an oil cooler in a Bugeye?
 
[ QUOTE ]
i was thinking about replacing my yellow plastic fan with a Electric one, I figured it would free up some HP, and cool better. Anyone switched to an electric fan and seen improvements? I was thinking a pusher would be best due to clearance between the radiatior and WP pulley.

Dr.

[/ QUOTE ]

DR - the perceived HP benefit of an electric fan is a common misconception. For a fan of equal mass, it actually takes more energy to turn an electric fan than a mechanical fan (due to the loss in the conversion of mechanical energy, to electrical energy, and back to mechanical). The benefits of an electric are: 1- when they're off, you have a little more hp 2 - you can regulate the CFM flow more acurately and can often acheive higher flow through your radiator (at the cost of more HP).

Basically, you have your alternator drag increased with an electric fan, and this wipes out any benefits of removing the clutch fan. If you have a heavy metal mechanical fan, you can free up a little power with an electric mostly due to the weight loss, but in our little cars with plastic fans, there's really no benefit unless you want to increase air flow (at the expense of power).

As for pushers vs pullers, pullers seems to work better generally speaking.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Where would you mount an oil cooler in a Bugeye?

[/ QUOTE ]

Alot of the ones I seen are mountes on the right side of the radiator sitting sitting sideways using the radiator bracket as a mounting point.
 
Here is mine. Crummy pic with the hood front hinged. And yes, it needs a bath...lol
 

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My oil cooler is mounted in front of my radiator. Works great. My SU's are a little rich and know I need to adjust -- still runs fine @ 60 mph and 80 degree's.

Good call on the oil cooler. Had to sacrifice the vent hole for the oil cooler lines. Water pump is a must -- don't go with the cheapy $40 one -- plastic impeller and if it breaks inside; you won't tell. Go with a all metal one (Winners circle or Peter C) and the probability of it breaking is minimal - metal vs. plastic).
 
Rob Selina's explaination of the pros and cons of electric fans is really helpful. Now I damaged my fan and have a problem paying $40 for yellow plastic.
Has anybody here actually installed an electric fan, and is it in front or behind the radiator, and how well does it work in terms of auto on/off?
What is the width of the fan unit?
 
Wow, I only stop in once a week now (at best) with the healey in storage, so it was a surprise to see my name on the active forum list.

I would recommend the fan be placed behind the radiator. It's almost always easier to pull air than it is to push it. You can also block off the back of the radiator so that air gets pulled across the entire unit (hope that makes sense).

Ben
 
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