Barry H. Adams wrote:
My 74 Spitfire (1500) runs hot in stop and go traffic (its fine on the open
road). I've done the usual things to lower the temp (re-cored radiator,
replaced thermostat, put water wetter in coolant, etc) all this has helped
a little, but it still, gets hot in traffic. Will an electric cooling fan
help? If so, can someone suggest where to get a good one? Victoria British
shows one on page 82 of their catalog. Is this a good (efficient) fan?
Also, should the fan be controlled by an
adjustable thermostat, or a manual switch?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Barry - I just put a Hayden electric fan in my 64 Spitfire 4 (Gasps! How
UNoriginal! Heretic! Burn him at the stake! Okay, so kill me). Anyways, I
had completely redone entire car including full clean out/hot tank of
radiator, new hoses, new water pump, hot tanked block, etc. IOW, all should
be well. And in fact, car normally runs dead center of gauge. BUT in heavy
stop and go traffic it was getting hot, not overheating, but hot. Worse is
that it starts missing and backfiring and loses almost all power when it get
too hot for the fuel air mixture.
So, went to Pep Boys and found the smallest electric fan, Hayden 10 inch,
and bought the related thermostat kit (fan on at 185 deg./fan off at 165
deg.) for a grand total of about $85. Installed it all in about 2 hours.
Very simple. Does it work? - sort of. It keeps the gauge at about the 3/4
to 4/5 range in stop and go traffic, BUT, after a few miles of hot running
it starts missing, backfiring and losing power still. Caveat emptor.
BTW, anyone have any ideas on how to cool the intake charge in stop and go
traffic so that it doesn't start missing and losing power?
Ross D. Vincenti - Costa Mesa, CA
64 Spitfire 4
64 Porsche 356C Coupe
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