At 12:05 PM 3/10/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Just thought I would ask if anyone had some good suggestions as to reducing
>the engine heat on my Tiger MK I. I am relatively new to Tigers but have
>owned a number of British sports cars, most all of which I have been able to
>cure overheating problems....not that mine overheats; but it does get pretty
>hot, and I am concerned about in-town driving.
>...
>Cherrio,
>
>Allan
>El Cajon, CA.
>Tigger B9472373
As others have mentioned, over bored small blocks are very difficult to cool
under any circumstances. Stock bore or 0.030 over should be the limit. One
of the cooling alterations I recommend (WARNING - Originality types - delete
here) is to move the pressure cap to the opposite side of the radiator.
This can be done with your existing radiator and retained if you decide to
recore with a thicker core. I made this change about 20 years ago and have
followed with all of my own Tigers and several others I have assisted. It
has always made a significant difference in the cooler direction. The
original Sunbeam Factory design was an engineering compromise error that was
not solved by the factory prior to production.
I don't expect all of you to take this at face value, so to quell the
doubters, I recommend simply logging on to the web page for
"stewartcomponents.com". They are manufacturers of automotive water pumps
for high performance applications. Spend some time and peruse their
technical literature and discussions. They generically define the proper
point on the radiator for the pressure cap, as well as other related topics.
The pressure cap discussion has to do with the effective pressure that the
pressure cap "sees" and how it relates that to cooling system performance.
One other point, running cooler is not necessarily "better". Ford did
considerable research on the coolant temperature situation and found that
operation in the low 200 degree range gave the least wear and best long term
operation. Operation in the 190 to 210 range should give plenty of reserve
for overheating (defined as loss of coolant to the environment). I sure
wouldn't burn up my feet for the sake of keeping the gage 5 cooler. You
just have to be able to run the car in traffic at 100 degree ambient
situations without loosing the coolant and having to worry about it.
Tom Hall
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