Some thoughts on Tiger cooling from someone who has been through it,
although an inhabitant of a cooler climate (81 F today, wtf?) than some
(i.e. Maine):
1. Is the engine stock or nearly so?Engines that produce more power
will require more cooling.I don't think that a stock engine or one
slightly modified would require an additional fan(s), except,
perhaps, at idle.
2. Is the concern when the car is moving or stopped at idle?When the
car is moving, the air flow through the radiator is less dependent
on the air the fan is moving and should suffice.Make sure that
everything is in good working order -- no collapsed hoses, good
fluid flow through the radiator, water pump up to spec, etc.If these
check out and you are running hot at speed, then you probably need
to look into a bigger radiator.Pusher fans, as already noted, have
the disadvantage of blocking part of the radiator, so what you gain
in increased air flow through the radiator is going to be offset, at
least to some extent, by the reduced surface area exposed.
3. If the concern is at idle, then, as the TE/AE study showed, the
problem is most likely that air which has passed through the
radiator (and been warmed) will exit the engine compartment downward
and then be drawn, once again, through the radiator.You, obviously,
do not want to use recirculated warm air to do the cooling.In this
case, blocking the air from exiting the engine compartment downward
is very important and there are different ways that have been found
to do this.One way is to use a shroud which fully encircles the
fan.The other common solution is to block the underneath exits for
the air that has passed through the radiator.Either way should show
a gain in cooling.
4. The Tiger II's had an oil cooler as standard equipment.Many years
ago, I got a stock oil cooler off a wrecked Tiger II and added it to
my MkIA (it bolts right on).I never saw much improvement, but my
engine has not been highly modified.Since the oil cooler is located
in front of the radiator, it seems that you have the two competing
effects occurring as mentioned before.
5. The most effective thing that I did to my Tiger was switching to a
DeRale fan, which was recommended in the TE/AE study.Before that, I
had blocked off the horn holes and had my radiator recored, so I
don't think the fan should be given all the credit.Again, it is the
accumulation of a number of changes.Since then, my car runs cool.The
only time I had any concern was when I was in the town parade on the
Fourth of July.The temperature was in the 90's and I was in line
behind the tractors which were moving verrrrrry slowly.My
temperature gauge reached a little over 200 F and the engine was
beginning to develop some vapor lock.As soon as I was done with the
parade and was able to move at a more reasonable pace, the
temperature dropped back to normal.
6. I have been running with a 160 F thermostat and the engine runs at
that temperature when the car is moving.Since most of what I have
read suggests that our engines operate most efficiently with a 180
thermostat, I will probably switch to that.At the same time, I
acquired a piece of sheet metal from a fellow owner that can be used
to make the shroud fully enclosed and I will add that, just as a
precaution for parade work.
Lots more has been written about this concern, so doing more searching
is suggested.The main thing is to go at it in a logical way, following
the methods that others have used, in a stepwise fashion.As someone else
said, there is no one solution but, rather, several things together that
will yield results.
Tod
B382002384LRXFE
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