Cooling System Refurb Continued

So where I left off with the Cooling System, my radiator was at the radiator shop being boiled out and soldered up where it had a leak.

Unfortunately, I got a call from the shop and they asked me to come in. When I got there, they had the radiator off to the side. Boiled out, but obviously not soldered up. They basically told me that it had a header leak, and because it was a 40 year old radiator, they would not solder it up. They offered to re-core it for $400, but a new rad is only $260, so I said no thanks and went on my way.

When I got home, I had to figure out how to seal the radiator. I had read that using a vacuum to pull the epoxy into the joint would make the repair much stronger. Talking with a buddy who works on vintage Volvos confirmed that this repair could work.

With all that in my mind, I pulled out the automated vacuum pump I built a few years ago for building composite airplane parts. I sealed up the radiator and then hooked up the pump system and pulled a vacuum. I could hear the leak 'sucking'.

I worked up a batch of JBWeld and spread it around the leaking area. I could actually hear the epoxy being pulled into the leak and then there was silence! After letting the epoxy cure overnight, I pulled a vacuum against the radiator and it held for several minutes. Definitely a successful repair.

Next up, I needed to install the fan on the radiator. I used some self tapping screws to mount the fan to the outer edges of the radiator shroud. This is a definite measure twice, drill once type of job....

With the fan mounted to the radiator, it was time to install the whole assembly back in the car. The fan motor did not clear the frame crossmember. I elongated the holes in the radiator braces to get the fan motor off the crossmember, but will eventually make new longer braces to pull it completely off the crossmember.

To be continued......

Too Busy To Post!

Well, I've been too busy to post much lately, but that is definitely a good thing!

I've had several projects brewing for quite some time, and finally, I've had time to knock some of them out.

The first project was a re-working of my cooling system.

I was really wanting to install an electric cooling fan on my '73, but had not had the time. I was also interested in flushing my cooling system, getting a leak in the radiator soldered closed and then putting the whole thing back in much better shape than it came out.

After getting all the right parts together - Electric fan (16") and thermostatic switch, new hoses, and fan eliminator kit, I was ready to go.

I started by pulling out the radiator. Came out easily and I managed to not make much of a mess either.

As soon as I got the radiator out, I took it straight to a radiator repair shop to be boiled out and soldered up where I knew it had a leak.

Next up, I pulled out the old fan. It came out really easily, first by removing the fan, then the puck it mounts to, and finally the fan extension. I expected the extension bolt to be very difficult, but it popped right out.

With the fan extension off, I was able to install the Fan Eliminator kit. Doing this eliminates 6 or 7 pounds of metal and plastic from the end of the crankshaft. The supposed result according to the collective wisdom of the internet forums is that this is good for approximately 6 horsepower on the dyno- Sounds good to me!

Unfortunately, the radiator shop was not able to complete my radiator as expected, so I went to work changing out the hoses and painting everything I could. The paint work in the front of the car makes all the difference in the world and ensures it won't begin rusting again for at least a while. While I was in there, I also took the time to replace the fan belt.

A few days later, I got a call from the radiator shop and they had bad news. They said they found the leak, but refused to solder it closed for me. They did offer to re-core the radiator however for $400! That is $125 more than a brand new radiator, so I picked up my freshly cleaned, but leaking radiator and headed home.

To be continued........

OVERDRIVE!!!!!

In an earlier post, I mentioned working on the J Type Overdrive in my TR6. It was jumping in an out of overdrive rapidly, and without any circumstance (like a pothole) which would cause an electrical disconnection.

I topped up the oil in the gearbox/OD unit which was low. I also checked all the electrical connection, none of which were loose. Unfortunately, when I did the work, it was not driveable for other reasons, so I could not test it.

Well, late Friday night, I finally got it driveable again and I was able to find out if my fix worked --- Success. The fix worked very well. No popping in and out of overdrive repeatedly.

Interestingly enough, when I was in the process of making the fix, I talked to my father about it and he remembered that low oil in the transmission would cause just the problem I had back in the early 80's with his '74 TR6.