Fast Marina Magazine

Half the number of cores? I'd would have expected more cores for better cooling. That plastic rad I had for a Cortina had less cores that the original, that's why when my cooling on that car didn't improve, I soldered up the leak on the old radiator (I had access to a workshop with gas bottles and Bakers Fluid in those days) and put it back! You learn something new every day...

I think that the overheating symptoms you have indicate an inefficient radiator.
The equally hot top and bottom hoses would add weight to that theory.
The fact that the temp rises directly in response to the amount of work being done is also in the same vein - your cooling system simply cannot get rid of the amount of heat being generated.

I would suggest that with a new radiator you will be able to dispense with the electric fan - thus no problem using the original position and mountings.

My comments in my previous post were aimed at explaining your description of the engine performance versus auto behaviour.

Best luck.

mickthefitter wrote:Half the number of cores? I'd would have expected more cores for better cooling. That plastic rad I had for a Cortina had less cores that the original, that's why when my cooling on that car didn't improve, I soldered up the leak on the old radiator (I had access to a workshop with gas bottles and Bakers Fluid in those days) and put it back! You learn something new every day...

He said 'Half the number of cores again' meaning more cores, not less

Kilroy wrote:I think that the overheating symptoms you have indicate an inefficient radiator.
The equally hot top and bottom hoses would add weight to that theory.
The fact that the temp rises directly in response to the amount of work being done is also in the same vein - your cooling system simply cannot get rid of the amount of heat being generated.

I would suggest that with a new radiator you will be able to dispense with the electric fan - thus no problem using the original position and mountings.

My comments in my previous post were aimed at explaining your description of the engine performance versus auto behaviour.

Best luck.

Thanks Kilroy. Your experience with automatics is proving very reassuring!
Mick.

beniboyz wrote:
He said 'Half the number of cores again' meaning more cores, not less

Oh dear, and I've just fired off an email to Coolex Heat Transfer in Nottingham saying 'half the number of cores!"

beniboyz wrote:

mickthefitter wrote:Half the number of cores? I'd would have expected more cores for better cooling. That plastic rad I had for a Cortina had less cores that the original, that's why when my cooling on that car didn't improve, I soldered up the leak on the old radiator (I had access to a workshop with gas bottles and Bakers Fluid in those days) and put it back! You learn something new every day...

He said 'Half the number of cores again' meaning more cores, not less

Yeah thats one & a half times as many cores Mick, iv'e got the sherpa core too.
Gil...

I've had the following reply from the radiator specialist I contacted. Sound good? Or not? A mate of mine at work restores and works on classics and I bumped into him this morning. As drivers we can be ships in the night. He said he'd put pink antifreeze in an SD1 as it takes more heat away and he doesn't like Blucol as he said it is sticky. So was that why my Marina had pink stuff in? He also mentioned a recorer near him in Derby and said it should cost me about £80, half what I've been quoted. Here's the text of the email I got...
Thank you for your enquiry.




Rad weld is nasty stuff indeed, more of a short term fix to get you from A to B, it has a terrible habit of blocking heaters etc as well.




You currently have an old style core construction fitted into the radiator with a tube pitch of 15.9mm and about 10 fins per inch, just by altering the style of core I will be able to considerably increase the overall efficiency.




As a rule yes, more rows of tubes would equate to a higher water flow and better cooling, as you would also be increasing the amount of fin and overall surface area for the heat to transfer on to. However if you add too many rows to a radiator it can actually have the opposite effect as the air struggles to pass through the core and in fact becomes saturated with heat before exiting the core, this however wouldn't be the case with your radiator as we will only be working somewhere between 32mm>42mm on your core depth.




When we replace the core we will strengthen and repair any holes in the tanks after chemically dipping all of the components.




You will be looking at a cost of between £160.00 > £175.00 + Vat dependant on the style of core used and overall depth I can get away with withing the confines of the side bands.










Many thanks




Alastair Bailey

Possibly a bit high still, but it definitely sounds like they know what they are talking about. I was going to speak to my local place for you, but by the time that you take into account a courier in both directions, then there won't be much in the two costs.




Chris

Mine cost about £90 when I had mine done but guess that must be about 5 years ago.

Yeah, he sounds competent and they've got a nice website! A section with pictures of a vintage Rolls Royce and some case histories of rads they fixed. Usually if I do something on the cheap, I get stung. Anyway, the plastic radiator with not many cores that I got for my Cortina Mk5 in 2006-ish wasn't cheap, I forget exactly how much it cost now but with VAT I got a bit of a shock. It was something like £110 so if they've got to do restoration work on the rad I've got now, It's hardly going to be one hour's labour.

(I had the steering wheel restored on my Wolseley Hornet in late 2014, by the only company I could find on the 'net that did them. It was meant to be £120 but by the time it had been couriered and VAT added on I didn't get much change from £200. But they did a lovely job and it looked like new. Worth it.)

Had mine re-cored Sherpa by "Motor Rads " 2013 cost £ 141...+vat...
Gil...

Had mine re-cored Sherpa by "Motor Rads 2013 cost £ 141...+vat...
Gil...

That's getting close to what I was quoted then. I tried to email a repairer near Mansfield this morning for comparison. Phone numbers were given but I was too pushed for time to talk so I tried to email. He got one good Google review for a Cobra. But neither of his email addresses were valid. The location is on Google Earth and you can see signs for the business - its a very rural setting, a long way back from the road. Meanwhile checking mail on my phone from my cab, Coolex have responded to my 'thank you' for info where I commented on the price being higher than I hoped - there may be room for a small adjustment, they said. Seeing as they are prompt with their replies it makes me think they'll get my business

Going back to what Steve said about the temp gauge accuracy: Mine is running a viscous fan with a 1275. When sat in traffic will often sit about 3 quarters on the gauge. When I have checked it with my infrared meter it is at 88 degrees (stat opening). These meters are fairly cheap from places like screw fix so always worth getting if you can.

The LE we have also does the same with its electric setup (set by me with the IR).

The first car I had with a viscous fan was a Viva HC when I was 18 in 1980...the last was that Cortina MkV that I had as a classic car between 2005 and 2007. The fan was knackered on that, but I only found out after I'd had the engine rebuilt, which seemed fine at first, but eventually began to run hot - the reverse of what you'd expect with running a car in. Unable to get my hands on the correct viscous coupling, I then fitted a Kenlowe fan to that car, initially operated by a thermostat, but problems went on...another story for another day maybe. But between 1989 and 1992 I had an '82 BMW 320 with a viscous fan and I recognise your description of what happens when sat in traffic from that. When moving, the temp needle sat in the centre, when stuck stationary for prolonged periods it went over to 3/4 but no further. That never bothered me. I knew it was working correctly. With my Marina, when that temperature needle begins its climb towards the red (such as on the incline up the M1 between Junctions 23 and 23A, Donington Services, after the Nationals) I'd got the mechanical fan spinning on the end of the water pump and I had the Kenlowe fan on as well. It didn't help. At least on that Cortina, the Kenlowe fan helped bring the temperature back down to stop it boiling, but on the Marina it does nothing useful. On the Cortina, forward motion was what cooled that car's engine best. But it had started running at 5/8 to 3/4 towards hot AS A NORMAL THING. Then risking boiling when stationary. The Marina will actually begin to COOL slightly when stationary, while still running, in its current condition.

I've just backed the Marina into the garage this morning, ready to take the rad off again over the weekend, to take it in. I've got a Screwfix near me so I'll look up those infra red thermometers. Thanks