Jeff,
A lot of us, me included use a Gano filter in the upper hose to keep the
"klinkers" out of the radiator. I check it every so often and clean out
some debris that otherwise might have closgged the radiator. It's easier to
clean it out of the filter than out of the radiator. If you engine is
thirty-five years old and hasn't been boiled, acid dipped, etc. then there
can be a lot of bad stuff coming out of the engine. I know one Tiger owner
in particular for whom this is a royal pain; he's constantly having to clean
out the filter. I was talking with Tom Ballou and one of his many good
ideas was to pump phosphoric acid through the block for awhile until it came
clean. I suggested maybe adding a little muriatic (aka hydrochloric), but
Tom thought this was too aggressive. He's probably right. If you could
get ahold of an acid pump, you could pump it through your motor just as it
sits in the car. In this case, with all the aluminum involved, I'd
definitely use only phophoric, which is actually a quite mild acid. In fact
you find it as an ingredient in soda pops like coke, etc. This is why a
pennywill get bright if you soak it in coke for awhile. Let's see, maybe if
we flush our cooling system with coke it will come out really well!
So why did you think you wanted to own a Tiger? It's all these problems we
share that forms the basis for the "bonding experiences" that bring us
closer together. How can you beat, for example, the experience of a dozen
or so Tigers caravaning on a hot summer day through L.A. in stop-and-go
traffic? What better way to build empathy, comaraderie, etc. etc. In this
kind of situation, it doesn't matter if you have a 160 degree thermostat and
how much of the time your engine has spent running at this temperature.
This theory is sort of like running your air conditioner and freezing your
butt all winter long because in the summer when it gets hot and you really
need it, the air conditioner roles over and dies. Some people seem to think
they're putting all their cold time in the bank so they can draw on it when
they need it I guess. This is just some of my sarcasm regarding using a
cold thermostat; i.e., less than 180 degrees. 195 is actually probably
ideal in terms of engine performance and longevity. If you think you will
ever face the problem of being stuck in traffic on a hot day, and it's hard
to guarantee you won't, then get a REALLY BIG FAN, either electric or
mechanical or both. Then, if your engine stays cool when you're moving, it
will also stay cool when you're not.
Just a perverse thought regarding this problem vis-avis Tigers United: How
about a trophy for cool running. We'll just park all our cars in the hot
sun and leave them idling. The last one left running wins.
Bob
> I was over a friends house this weekend and was asking him about a new
> radiator that he put in his Mustang. He said it helped but was still
> overheating. He opened the hood and the first thing I noticed was the
> absence of a shroud, but was really curious to me and I had never seen
> before was filter installed in the upper radiator hose.
>
> Told him about the slow flow vs. fast discussions we've been having.
> Has anyone ever seen one of these items? And why would a "filter" be
> necessary? Geez, until I owned the Tiger, the only cooling advise I
> ever heard was flush the system and 50% antifreeze/50% water!
>
> JCarter
>
>
>______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
>Subject: Re: Hot Tigers
>Author: Non-HP-rpalmer (rpalmer@ames.ucsd.edu) at HP-ColSprings,mimegw5
>Date: 9/3/97 8:59 AM
>
>
>Nice to hear a little more about this monster 351C Tiger. Obviously,
>there's more than one way to skin this cat. I presume you are giving your
>engine temperatures in Celsius. Few of us are really going to believe an
>operating temperature between 85 and 120 F. If your talking centigrade (or
>Celsius to be more correct) this would be a range of to 185F to 248F, and
>halfway between is 216F. I, and a lot of other Tiger owners have basically
>the same experience, each with very different equipment and motors. I guess
>it's natural that most of the people discussing this issue have some kind of
>problem. Diagnosing each individual problem is the challenge.
>
>The only small thing, but significant I think, I would take issue with is
>referring to the "copper washer to restrict water flow". Reducing water flow
>per se never improves cooling. The value of a restriction is that it builds
>pressure inside the engine, albeit at the cost of water flow. As long as the
>reduction in water flow is not excessive, then there's a net benefit. The
>trick is to add just the right amount of restriction, I guess only trial and
>error will work here.
>
>Bob
>
>>Tigers,
>> I am having a few chuckles with all the "Cooling of hot Tigers"
>>mail. I have a 4 barrel head 351 Cleveland in my tiger which I drive
>>to work every week day. The 351 gets 14 mph on a good week and normally
>>around 13 mpg. Needless to say I am burning more gas per minute than
>>most 260 or 289 Tigers; yet I don't have an overheating problem. I
>>do admit that when I spend 15 minutes in traffic the temperature gauge
>>goes up to about 1/2 way between the 85 and 120 degree mark. In normal
>>driving the gauge sets just slightly above the 85 degree mark. I have
>>a generic " Do Not Open while Hot Coolent Recovery" cap on the expansion
>>tank (which is completely full) and a plastic recovery bottle. Apparently
>>the cap has not opened this summer as there is green antifreeze in the
>>radiator, but the plain water half filling the recovery bottle is still
clear.
>> I do have a wider and longer engine compartment than stock, but
>>then again I have a bigger motor filling it up. I assume some of the air
>>can get around the motor and out under the Tiger.
>> The radiator is 4" wider than stock and it has a modern copper
core in
>>it ( which weighs a lot less than the stock English core).
>> Inlet and outlets were added to the lower left and upper right
>>to match the Clevland I/O. The original Radiator I/O are capped by
>>"Jones Plugs" ( these are rubber caps used by the plumbing industry
>>when they pressure test their plumbing). Probably need to replace them
>>as they are now 6 or 7 years old.
>> I have a 6 blade 14" steel fan that orginally supplied by Sears
>>for an aftermarket air-conditioner for a Rambler.
>> The thermostate is unmodified. The Cleveland has the stock OEM
>>copper washer under the thermostat to slow the water flow.
>> When running the Tiger for long periods of time parked in the
>>driveway ( say to charge a battery or when I am doing work that requires
>>the motor to run for a long time such as breaking in a new camshaft) the
>>Temperature gauge gets on up there towards 120. At that point I either
>> shut it off or set up an electric fan to blow air in the grill.
>>Sometimes I use a hose to provide a small water spray on the radiator
>>in these cases.
>> The Tiger has the stock Tiger II dual pipe oil cooler on it. >
> The Thermo-Tec that I wrapped the headers in has caused the
>>running temperature to increase 8 to 10 degrees. I did not rejet the
>>carb after wrapping the headers and it seems that I may have lost
>>1/2 to 1 mpg due to the wrap. Maby due to excess cylinder scavaging?
>> I have a reversed hood scoop but that is mainly for air filter
>>clearance. Some air comes out of the rear of the scoop below 35 mph but
>>air enters above 35 mph.
>> Most of my driving is in town at 30 to 60 mph; however I
>>don't waste any time starting from lights unless I am blocked by
>>traffic. I also don't have temperature problems at 90+ on the
>>highway. That is in Florida where the air temperature is 85 to
>>90 degrees with 85 to 100 percent humidity most of the year.
>>(when It is not raining)
>> My recommendation to Tiger Owners is to have your radiator
>>recored with a modern core. I have had a couple done for around
>>$130 at the local radiator repair shops. I truely believe that
>>the state of the art in radiators has improved in the last 30 years.
>>Lighter and more efficient. ( Air has a chance to get through the core
>>compared to the very dense fins of the original Tiger core.)
>>Jim Barrett Tiger II 351C and others
>>
>>
>>
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