First of all, thank you to all those who provided advise, hints, & commentary.
The installation was straightforward and uneventful. Empirically, much more air
is now being drawn through (I can actually feel a draft!) I also noticed the
the previous owner (or his appointed representative) installed the electric fan
in front of the radiator the wrong way around, so I have 2 fans that are trying
to draw air through the radiator. (Since I didn't want to remove the radiator
*and* I have one of those demon-fans recommended by S. Laifman & others on
order, I haven't bothered to correct this situation.)
The results are promising in that the new fan seems to buy me about 10 more
minute before the Tiger decided to stop running. More interesting perhaps is
that it twice ceased to run today, with a temp guage reading around 245F. No
coolant was spilled though - I think it vapor locked because its still too hot
in there. Not hot enough to overheat/spew coolant mind, but hot enough to
vaporize fuel?
In any case, I've long harbored suspicions about the "hi-flow" radiator, which I
will now take as confirmed. So my next step is to recore the radiator (there is
some damage to the fins as well on the current one), install an electric fan (as
mentioned above), put on a Gano filter, and replace the thermostat and rad cap.
I figure if I've got to pull the radiator, I might as well address all the
issues. This brings me to my next round of questions:
- Am I correct in thinking that getting the temp down in there will solve any
vapor
lock problem?
- How obnoxious is the radiator to remove/install? It doesn't look to bad, but
I've heard people complain about the steering racking interfering or something
like that.
- Can someone provided me with definitive part numbers and/or technical specs
for
the preferred radiator core solutions? As an American in England, I
anticipate
some difficulty in tracking down the exact core here, though something similar
may
be available. Alternatively, is there anywhere in the States that I can order
a
complete Tiger MK1 radiator from (and who won't mind shipping it overseas?)
Thanks in advance,
rick
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