Radar
Member
;D ;D
Hello everyone sorted my hot running problems with a combination of measures suspected some of these were needed but also had a few surprises . Car was running 2 core rad with external fan and push fan (engine side) already...
So suspected fueling issues as this is a great contributor to hot running...and so it was.......the su carb had standard needle in it ( metro) and so that was replaced and rejetted to uprate it..timing was ok when checked dizzy all ok too. Replaced the two core rad with a new one as the existing looked choked and a little clogged with about 15 % of fins damaged or bent probably due to fitting and or fan scrape . A new water pump was fitted with cast impellor as the existing one was the crappy pressed steal variety that was simply not as efficient as it should have been .
Tapped cylinder head and put a take off hose from there far right hand side if head as viewed from rear of car and connected that thru to bottom hose T (think it is the water pump bypass t which is not used in my car).
And finally fitted yet another temp gauge (previous owner had gone down this route already ) but I wanted a capillary gauge in there that is REALLY telling you what is going on in the engine/cylinder block.
the cylinder head had an air leak admitting some in so that was fixed too.
So the hot problem was a combination of all of the above fuelling /radiator efficiency water pump etc ...she is now running like a different car and motorway cruising does not bother her at all I hammered her for 20 miles home today to see how effective the work had been and she ran like a dream temp actaully came down a little bit from normal operating temp (around 85C) when the vehicle slowed from 65 mph to 30-40 mph street speeds.
The handling has improved ENORMOUSLY as I have had all the wheels and tyres alighned etc PROPERLY the last owner had this done prior to me purchasing but whoever did it must have been muppets it was SOOOO far off she handled like a broken shopping trolley it was only because of her design and weight etc that this handling was not overly dangerous...
I wish I could say I did all this myself guys but unfortunately not it's thanx to two old school mini racing experts GREEN and WHITE minis up here that I am smiling I now feel I have the car as it should have been and as the designer intended it to be ... I think that the cooling issues that plague these freestyles can definately be sorted and not always in ways you might think ..ie water wetter and more and more cored rads and supplementary rads etc ..My lesson learned is water pump/ fuelling plays a big part as my own was running weak very weak which contributed a lot to the high operating temps and additional flow across cylinder head as described..
It's now (fingers crossed based on this 20 mile high rev run ) a well sorted well handling FREESTLE FUN buggy .
All being well I will see you guys at Newark show for a beer as I now have the confidence to tackle extended motorway speed running ..
Finally I a may as a winter project remove the electric fan from the outside of rad and just leave the standard fan attached to engine to push the air thru ..I think it should be enough ...I was thinking of moving the fan to the right hand side of car and putting it on the engine enclosure so that it pulls air from right hand side of car thru and across cylinder head and out via the rad side , this will aid air flow considerably I think and will cover all the bases to try and simulate the traditional front engined set up a little more .
cheers for listening and for all your helpful suggestions with this I appreciate it...
Pete
Sunday 14th ..footnote...20c today glorious sunny day took buggy out after a warm up period blasted her in all gears reving close to limit before changing up etc..and can't get her to overheat in fact hard to get her to run at 85 c at all unless extended motorway cruising. She is probably running at about 55-70c most of the time...I know running her to cold is not a good thing either but it shows how effective the remedial measures have been. Will probably remove the outer electric fan after Newark show and let the standard yellow mechanical fan do the work I think it will be adequate based on todays experience. Even today when running I switched off electric fan and despite the fact it stifles exit air flow thru the rad from engine fan temp only rose up TO 85 c not beyond although it was for a relatively short distance perhaps 2 miles at street speed 30mph. I am a happy bunny and hope that this is sorted once and for all
Hello everyone sorted my hot running problems with a combination of measures suspected some of these were needed but also had a few surprises . Car was running 2 core rad with external fan and push fan (engine side) already...
So suspected fueling issues as this is a great contributor to hot running...and so it was.......the su carb had standard needle in it ( metro) and so that was replaced and rejetted to uprate it..timing was ok when checked dizzy all ok too. Replaced the two core rad with a new one as the existing looked choked and a little clogged with about 15 % of fins damaged or bent probably due to fitting and or fan scrape . A new water pump was fitted with cast impellor as the existing one was the crappy pressed steal variety that was simply not as efficient as it should have been .
Tapped cylinder head and put a take off hose from there far right hand side if head as viewed from rear of car and connected that thru to bottom hose T (think it is the water pump bypass t which is not used in my car).
And finally fitted yet another temp gauge (previous owner had gone down this route already ) but I wanted a capillary gauge in there that is REALLY telling you what is going on in the engine/cylinder block.
the cylinder head had an air leak admitting some in so that was fixed too.
So the hot problem was a combination of all of the above fuelling /radiator efficiency water pump etc ...she is now running like a different car and motorway cruising does not bother her at all I hammered her for 20 miles home today to see how effective the work had been and she ran like a dream temp actaully came down a little bit from normal operating temp (around 85C) when the vehicle slowed from 65 mph to 30-40 mph street speeds.
The handling has improved ENORMOUSLY as I have had all the wheels and tyres alighned etc PROPERLY the last owner had this done prior to me purchasing but whoever did it must have been muppets it was SOOOO far off she handled like a broken shopping trolley it was only because of her design and weight etc that this handling was not overly dangerous...
I wish I could say I did all this myself guys but unfortunately not it's thanx to two old school mini racing experts GREEN and WHITE minis up here that I am smiling I now feel I have the car as it should have been and as the designer intended it to be ... I think that the cooling issues that plague these freestyles can definately be sorted and not always in ways you might think ..ie water wetter and more and more cored rads and supplementary rads etc ..My lesson learned is water pump/ fuelling plays a big part as my own was running weak very weak which contributed a lot to the high operating temps and additional flow across cylinder head as described..
It's now (fingers crossed based on this 20 mile high rev run ) a well sorted well handling FREESTLE FUN buggy .
All being well I will see you guys at Newark show for a beer as I now have the confidence to tackle extended motorway speed running ..
Finally I a may as a winter project remove the electric fan from the outside of rad and just leave the standard fan attached to engine to push the air thru ..I think it should be enough ...I was thinking of moving the fan to the right hand side of car and putting it on the engine enclosure so that it pulls air from right hand side of car thru and across cylinder head and out via the rad side , this will aid air flow considerably I think and will cover all the bases to try and simulate the traditional front engined set up a little more .
cheers for listening and for all your helpful suggestions with this I appreciate it...
Pete
Sunday 14th ..footnote...20c today glorious sunny day took buggy out after a warm up period blasted her in all gears reving close to limit before changing up etc..and can't get her to overheat in fact hard to get her to run at 85 c at all unless extended motorway cruising. She is probably running at about 55-70c most of the time...I know running her to cold is not a good thing either but it shows how effective the remedial measures have been. Will probably remove the outer electric fan after Newark show and let the standard yellow mechanical fan do the work I think it will be adequate based on todays experience. Even today when running I switched off electric fan and despite the fact it stifles exit air flow thru the rad from engine fan temp only rose up TO 85 c not beyond although it was for a relatively short distance perhaps 2 miles at street speed 30mph. I am a happy bunny and hope that this is sorted once and for all