Thanks for the explanations of the igntition system.
Several listers made it pretty clear as to why the car
was so sensative to the points gap and the advance.
I'll play around with it a little more and let you
know what's up.
But I also was reminded this weekend, when the temps
reached the 80's in stop and go traffic, about how
susceptible, atleast my spitfire, is to the warmer
temps. And I wanted to take up some bandwidth to
mention a few things that you can do to make the
spitfire's run cooler. Most of the modern cars I see
stranded on the road recently are succumbing to
overheating problems. And there's no need to have your
spitfire join them on the side of the road.
Some of the obvious items are switching to the larger
22" wide radiator and having your radiator re-cored
(assuming you've got mineral deposit build-up that is
reducing the efficiency of your radiator). But there
are cheaper things to try first before you dole out
the money for a new (aluminium cored?) radiator.
- Flushing the radiator with a special descaling fluid
(available at the better auto parts places) can
increase the flow the radiator, but as I found out
with my last radiator, it can also remove rust that is
keeping the water in. (After descaling the original
radiator and refilling, it sprung a leak).
- Running straight water (no radiator antifreeze)
should allow your cooling system to run approximately
10 deg. cooler than a 50/50 mix. But you shorten the
life of your water-pump (the antifreeze acts as a
lubricant) and leaves your cooling system open to rust
corrosion.
- Red-line makes a radiator addative called 'WATER
WETTER'. Which is a translucent red liquid which will
help lubricate your water-pump, is non-corrosive and
should cool your system by as much as 20 degrees over
running the 50/50 antifreeze mix! Redline suggests
that you use atleat 15% glycol in the radiator along
with the several cap-fulls of 'water wetter' for
street vehicles. I believe it's $4 a bottle (enough
for a 12-20 quart capacity cooling system) and
recently has become available at local Trak Auto's,
Pep Boy's, AutoZones as well as my local LBC shop.
- Air-flow through the front grill drastically affects
the cooling efficiency of the radiator. Removing the
front license plate (assuming that it's mounted in
fron t of the grill) increases the air flow. If you
haven't done it before, the drop in temps will
probably surprise you. My car runs at 3/4's on the
scale in stop and go traffic as well as extended
highway driving at high rpms, but removing the license
plate alone drops the needle to the 1/2 mark in the
same traffic conditions. It doesn't help if you're
sitting in the same place for 20 minutes, but it does
make a noticable difference on the gauge if you have
even a small amount of forward movement on the car.
Make sure that you check with local laws to see if
this is a ticketable offense. I carry my plate in my
trunk just in case I get pulled over, I can explain
why it's off. But I'd rather get a $50 ticket then
damage the block or head.
- Also having to do with airflow are the side cowlings
on either side of the radiator. If they are missing or
delapidated, cooling efficiency of your radiator
suffers. Just as the license plate removal, you'd be
surprised to see the affect of the needle when these
are renewed.
- An oil cooler will help dissipate some of the heat
contained within the sump and will not only sublimate
the radiator but will increase the oil capacity of the
engine, which should help increase bearing life.
- If you have an electronic fan, swapping to an
adjustable thermostatic switch will allow you to have
the fan come on ealier in the radiator's temp
increase. But this can also make your car run too cool
(below nominal operating temperature).
I bet you wouldn't think a car can run too cool, but
after doing all of the above, last summer I had to
turn-down the adjustment on my themostatic switch.
Otherwise my spitfire would never heat past the 1/4
mark. Currently, I'm not running the oil cooler
(sprung a leak in a hose that wore against the engine
mounts). And rarely do we see ambiant temps go above
100 deg F. in Maryland.
Another note is, try to keep a spare alternator/water
pump belt in your trunk. You never know when the one
you have is going to stretch or frey, and then there
you are on the side of the road again.
-Terry
'76 Spit 1500 (still waiting on seats)
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
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