This past week I found a silver bullet that has taken my Tiger from a beast
that runs at 220 on the hiway if I try to go over 65 mph, to a cool cat that
sits on the Thermostat at 80 mph on an 85 degree day.
What is that magic bullet you ask? The answer is a new water pump. I
replaced the stocker with an Edelbrock.
Now my Tiger runs 170 at freeway speeds on level ground. It goes up to 180
on a 4 percent grade at 75 mph and comes back down to 170 within 5 minutes
of hitting level ground again.
I know these temps are accurate because I am using a thermocouple that is
mounted to a 3/8 NPT fitting in the hot tank of the radiator. I also learned
my stock gauge is accurate within 5 degrees.
I used a press to push the hub on until it matched my old pump. Then I
machined up a SS spacer on my lathe. The OD of the spacer is .998 and the
ID was a press fit on the water pump shaft. I pressed this onto the water
pump shaft to make a register for the fan and the pulley.
If you also want a fan that looks and performs like the Maverick fan but
will not cost you a first born male child, I recommend the Derale 17515.
This is a 15 inch diameter 6 blade fan. The blades are Aluminum and have 2
inches of pitch. All 6 blades are equally spaced, this means that it give a
pretty good howl when the revs come up. Sounds almost like a turbo spooling
up.
I bought it direct from Derale for about $40. I don't think they like to
sell direct but the guy took pity on me because he realized that it was
unlikely that any of his retailers would stock this fan. I ordered it and
received it in less than a week.
I had to trim a corner off the leading edge of each blade to get enough
clearance with the radiator. I have 3/8 inch clearance after the mod.
So here is the list of all the cooling system mods I have on my FINALLY cool
cat.
260 cu inch V8 with headers makes 180 hp at rear wheels.
3 row radiator purchased from Rob Guera.
Derale 17515 15 inch rigid fan
stock fan shroud
Edelbrock water pump.
Removed sheet metal brace that goes in front of radiator.
Horn holes blocked.
Sheet metal ducting between front valance and radiator core support per
article on Tigers United by Steve Laifman.
Water pipe insulation stuffed in the gap between the radiator and the cross
member.
LAT 79 hood
Tomorrow I plan an extended idling test to see how much margin I have there.
Erich
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