The biggest problem is hot air coming up from underneath. The fans blow air
into the engine compartment but the only way out from there for the vast
majority is under the chassis rails at the sides and into the wings, and
under the front and immediately sucked back into the radiator again. Even
worse is if you are stopped with a slight following wind. I remember being
on a Bath to Bournemouth run a few years ago waiting in line at the finish
to be interviewed with a slight following wind and everyone was panicking
because their temp gauges shot up. My V8 used to get into the red in
ambients of 90F+, which was why I opted for the uprated rad when my header
tank seam split for the second time, but as I say it didn't make that much
difference. After doing the fan electrics I did a test by shutting it in
the garage (exhaust piped outside) on a very warm day and got the ambient
inside the garage up to about 110F (43C) and the temp gauge only got
slightly above half-way from N to H. the fans were running constantly and
weren't going to bring it any lower than that, but it wasn't getting any
higher either.
A foam seal between the radiator and its mounting panel, and a rubber seal
between that panel and the underside of the bonnet insulation is standard on
4-cylinder cars with the rearward mounted radiator, of course. I fitted the
foam seal to mine for the first time last year and it did seem to make a
difference on hot days. Not sure why this was dropped for the forward
mounted radiator on V8s and later 4-cylinder cars, maybe the gap is too
small to make much difference. MGCs with the radiator in a similar position
do seem to have a seal, though.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
> Has any one played with plates above the radiator so when stopped in
> trafic the hot air dose not flow back over the slam panel and into the rad
> again?
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