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(over)heating & radiator filling.

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: (over)heating & radiator filling.
From: "James Carruthers" <jcarruthers@freenet.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 20:31:25 +0100
I drove home from my college home to my real home on friday - its about 20 
miles or so.

There was a large hold up (for the people that know - Blackwall Tunnel - Friday 
afternoon - I can already feel your empathy) - and the car started getting 
disturbingly hot - well over half way - towards the 3/4 mark on the temp gauge  
- anyway we started moving again and it started cooling down. However all the 
way home after that the car just wasnt acting right - it wasnt giving me as 
much power as I have come to expect. The power was very uneven.

I just about got home. Well thats what it felt like. Let the car cool down a 
bit and went for another drive - this time it was fine.

When I changed the carbs for one reason or another I didnt re-fit the 
heatshield - partly because it almost fell apart when I took it off.

Am I correct in assuming that the carbs got too hot?

Is it worth converting the jets to the "static" versions? Or should I just get 
another heatshield?



A completly unrelated incident is when I was filling my radiator - having just 
flushed it thru with some cleaner. That "water" was was more rust than anything 
else! I mixed up some antifreeze/coolant and started pouring it in - but it 
just didnt take it up. The haynes manual doesnt talk about any kind of air 
bleed (except on american cars) - however I turned over the engine and it began 
to take it up. However the amount I poured in doesnt match up with the stated 
4.5 litre capacity. I only got in about 2.5l.

I removed the cylider block drain and of course the lower pipe from the 
radiator to flush it thru and put both of them back when I started filling it 
up again. Thats all I touched. So what am I doing wrong?

I feel like a complete idiot asking this sort of question..... it must be so 
simple. I imagine its either a blockage or an air trap of some sort.





James


1977 Pimento Red Spit - not so thirsty for water & antifreeze.

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