To the List-
Again I would like to thank many people who e-mailed me with
suggestions, many of which helped. The support itself was worth a lot.
Having taken a systematic approach to the problem, step 1, curse, shout,
kick the car; step 2 write the list, call anyone I knew that wasn't on
the list that might help; step 3 start replacing things, it was easy to
solve the problem, just took a month.
Somewhere along the line, I played with the timing, changed dizzys for a
small gain. Re-routed some hoses, changed to a 160` thermostat for no
measurable gain. Drained, cleaned, backflushed the system 3 times with
different cooling mixes- Jack Emery was correct- 1/4 antifreeze with a
bottle of Water Wetter is best. Changed water pump, no gain. Finally, I
bit the bullet & changed radiators. Had to work, nothing left to change.
Drove home today from the hobby shop a bunch of us rent, aboth 35 miles,
temp 95+, A/C blowing cold, 60-70 mph, water temp 190`. Got stuck in
traffic lights at the end of the run, left the A/C on, temp held at
200`.
A real pig of a job swapping radiators. The old one I had was for my
roadster, with different mounts, had been replaced a year or so ago with
a better design, & it leaked. First stop was to Glen's Custom Radiator
to have the leak fixed, 1 outlet changed, bung added for the fan sensor.
Glen Gonzales was a real life saver, squeezing it in on Sat in a very
full work load. Anybody in the Washington DC area that needs radiator
work, drop me a line, I'll get you in touch with Glen. He does Jags,
TVR's & normal stuff. Shameless commercial for a really nice guy who
cares to do good work.
Anyway, it took some time because of the sandwich of puller fan,
radiator, A/C condenser, pusher fan for the A/C. Next week I will have
Glen take the tanks off to see what caused the blockage.
Happy motoring to all-
Jim Stuart
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