There are smart chargers that monitor the battery condition when
charged, and boost them when the battery needs charging. They cost in
the $35.00 range, and some are designed to be permanently attached to
the battery. I take the battery out of the car over the winter and leave
them attached at all times. I have a similar charger on my back-up sump
pump battery. They work great. In fact, things are working so well on my
C after installing the fully charged battery, that I am becoming
suspicious of my alternator. I'll see what happens over the next month.
THERMOSTATS: Cs got so hot under the bonnet that Abbington put a small
fan under the hood that blows on the carbs.
My bug-eye overheated in summer, and the solution was a 190 degree
thermostat in winter, and a blanking sleeve (about $15.00) in the
summer. The simplest solution is to get an old thermostat and gut it.
Mike Powell mentions that his PO did just that. The results speak for
themselves.
Two other solutions are 1) an uprated radiator core (often done in Cs),
or 2) add an electric fan. Both Whitney, and the British part suppliers
offer light plastic fans that attach to the radiator with plastic ties
through the core. In some cases you can get away with removing the
standard fan. If the blanking sleeve doesn't do it for the C, I'll try
the add on fan.
BTW, Last summer, as I was stalled in traffic to get to the track, my
BGT didn't overheat. I was much surprised. The temp went up, and the
timing got off, but no boiling over or hard starting! What a surprise!
Jack
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