In a message dated 6/13/99 12:35:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
emanteno@ibm.net writes:
> > From: sukey <msukey@ix.netcom.com>
>
> > I am looking to increase the cooling capacity of my tr-6 by changing
> > radiators. Does anybody know of a good bone yard conversion? There has
> > to be something out there that is close length and width but with more
> > core capacity. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Marty,
>
> I have owned my TR6 for almost 25 years, and cooling has never been a
> problem. Perhaps your radiator is clogged and/or corroded, in which case it
> is not cooling fully. A recore could be a simple and relatively inexpensive
> cure, rather than trying to re-engineer the car. There could be other
> factors as well, causing the car to run hotter than normal. The point is,
> when they were new, they cooled fine (unlike some earlier TR's). You need
> to investigate and find out what is causing your car to run hot.
Irv & Marty,
FWIW, I went through the "poor cooling" exercise awhile back on my TR6. In my
case, the car would overheat very quickly at idle, but had no cooling
problems as long as the rpm stayed above 2000. I got used to using the
handbrake at traffic lights while I keep the engine rev'ed. I went through
the whole routine - flushed the block, took the radiator into a repair shop
for testing - the whole 9 yards - and couldn't find anything wrong. I didn't
replace the water pump because it was a new one that came with the car when I
bought it and had only been on the car for a few thousand miles. Finally, in
desperation, I ordered a new water pump. When I pulled the old one, it looked
so good I almost didn't put the new one on. Thank goodness I did, because
that cured my problem.
The old pump was not made correctly, but the difference was very hard to see.
The ends of the impeller blades were not parallel to the pump shaft, but
sloped just a very few degrees. This allowed just enough water to slip by at
idle to cause the engine to overheat. At higher rpm, the percentage of the
water that slipped by compared to the water that was pumped through was not
enough to cause a problem. The edges of the blades were still sharp, so it
was not from wear, the pump was just bad from the start.
Now, at idle on very hot days, the temperature will rise a little bit and
then stabilize, but never into the danger zone.
May not be your problem, but something to investigate if all else fails.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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