L Holm Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 HiI thougt to buy a wide Radiator for my Spit 1500 1979.I have noticed that price differs about £75 between Ri..er and Mo.s1:st Q: Same manufactor - different prices or different manufactors? Any experince?2:nd Q: Which Cap to choose 7 or 13 psi?Thanks for any advise!//L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr W Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Hi,one was fitted to mine before I bought the car. Just above the cap it has marked the bonnet.It doesn't touch the bonnet now so can't imagine what went wrong but just be aware of the hight before the first closing of the bonnet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john2502 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 No experience of doing this (mostly as I have a GT6) but think some people on here have fitted the Canely one's and seem good? That's what I'd do personally and who I'd go to.http://www.canleyclassics.com/heating-and-cooling/spitfire-full-width-radiatorBut i'll let someone who's actually done it confirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcro Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Do these upgraded rads also fit GT6s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny-Jimbo Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 They may do, but the GT6 one is tall and deep, and I'm not sure the full width one would have the same cooling ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMPUS Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I ordered one at Moss and picked it up at Moss Bradford last july on my UK trip with the Spit.Seems they where the cheapest at the time and had a good deal on it.Didn't have any real problems with it, exept that my old rad cap didn't fit good.Bought a new decent one and that fitted very good.Not had any problems with the rad and use the car daily (has done 6000miles with it fitted - yes from July this year until now ).Here some pics of when i installed it at Richards (Twincamspit) house in the Manchester area . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I also got one from Canley's.Good product and no issues to date.Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody47uk Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I have one on my 13/60. Got it from Wins International about a year ago. No problems so far. It was in stock and arrived promptly. Cheers, Dave. Ps. It also means that Revotec's electric fan kit for the Spitfire fits my Herald perfectly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny-Jimbo Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 What's the purpose of fitting a wider radiator? Get more air through it and cool it more? I have to say, when i was using my 13/60 as my daily I never had an issue with it overheating, if anything the standard radiator meant it was over-cooled, especially anything other than summer. That was just standard kit too, but with Spitfire fan instead of the Herald alloy thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I always fitted the wider version to my Heralds, I don't believe I ever noticed an issue with overcooling but i was always concerned with the sort of stop / start driving you get in towns or at many shows. I never liked any kind of electric fan (not period!) so just wanted to help the engine as much as possible especially as i'm used to the GT6 with marginal under bonnet coming. The Herald may have more room but it's become a habit now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferny Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 The advantage of the bigger rad is its extra capacity and therefore safety buffer. It won't make much difference in reality when everything is up to temperature. When I fitted the MX5 radiator though... oh boy.Without trying I can't see a wider Triumph radiator fitting in a GT6. The engine finishes further forward and height between the chassis and body reduces as you move that way. Probably why it's narrower, longer and sits through the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Holm Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Wimpus, which pressure was the new cap?//L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMPUS Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Quoted from L Holm Wimpus, which pressure was the new cap?//L Standard 13psi one (mkiv/1500)Only thing i found out is that when its freezes outside she doesnt want to get on temp.So next time its so cold im going to block the rad a bit off as a test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Holm Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Isn't the pressure related to the volume of the rad rather than the car model?22" rad = 7lb and 16" rad = 13lb//L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Quoted from Jonny-Jimbo What's the purpose of fitting a wider radiator? Get more air through it and cool it more? I have to say, when i was using my 13/60 as my daily I never had an issue with it overheating, if anything the standard radiator meant it was over-cooled, especially anything other than summer. That was just standard kit too, but with Spitfire fan instead of the Herald alloy thing. How can an engine be over cooled by a radiator when it only comes into use when the thermostat opens? Is it due to the time lag of the thermostat closing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 I don't really understand that either, but it happens! I have had cars where I blanked 1/2 the rad off despite an 88 degree thermostat being fitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcro Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 You will see that alot in colder countries like Russia with cardboard blocking off half a truck's rad etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Holm Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Isn't the pressure related to the volume of the rad, rather then car model?(huh)/L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Quoted from ferny It won't make much difference in reality when everything is up to temperature. When I fitted the MX5 radiator though... oh boy. Oh boy... what? If it doesn't make much difference.... what difference did the Mx5 rad make? Just curious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny-Jimbo Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Quoted from cliftyhanger I don't really understand that either, but it happens! I have had cars where I blanked 1/2 the rad off despite an 88 degree thermostat being fitted. On my 13/60, in winter, it took ages to heat up, and the temperature gauge was always no higher than 1/3rd scale, in summer it usually was around the half-way point, apart from once when it went way up, but that's a whole other story (sat in traffic for about 2 hours with a less than perfect battery so couldn't risk turning engine off)So, having a wider radiator would have done my car no favours, and I did drive her pretty hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharliesStag Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I see this thread became derailed quickly!For those running too cool what brand of thermostat were you using and what kind of gasket were you using for sealing the thermostat to the block/head?On any car I have fitted a true OE brand of thermostat (I am not referring to QH or Firstline here, but to someone like Calorstat) or genuine thermostat I have never had an issue with a car overcooling. With alot of pattern rubbish lately a number of cars where I have put them in them have resulted with me running cooler than what was removed, which was the reason for why I changed it!None of my cars on pattern thermostats or gaskets (the last one is more hit and miss mind you) seem to heat up well bar from years ago.My Spitfire on a Firstline item ran colder with that than it did with the Waxstat thermostat that was removed, and checked for operation. My gauge went from reading 1/3 of the way to a 1/4 and that was with an 82 degree item! My gasket was not the best fit with the kit so I wonder if fluid was bypassing the thermostat, thus always running cool ; a number of cheaper thermostats seem to have a slit in them as opposed to a jiggle pin so as allow the bleeding process to occur thus the thermostat is always open, albeit slightly, which most of my cheaper items did.With most of my old cars running good thermostats (the Stag and my old MGBs, which ran Calorstats and QH stats which seemed to keep a stable temperature reading back then (My MGB stayed around 85 degress all of the time come summer or winter!) I have never had an issue with overcooling.That said, the Stag and MGB did have separate thermostat gaskets bought for them from the suppliers of the time which may have made a difference over the cheap universal paper supplied by the rest, and the new cars left me no choice ; they rely on a rubber O ring to ensure that the thermostat does not allow water to bypass it when shut in addition to it ensuring there are no leaks present in the engine bay. None of them overheated in the summer either, bar when the MGB's fan switch became iffy (albeit I caught it in time).The only other reason I can think of Triumphs undercooling could be down to how to cooling system is plumbed. I know that Westfield Zetecs have the bypass plumbed via Westfield so that the water is always being circulated into the radiator and then back into the engine despite the thermostat being shut. Many have replumbed their cars to emulate what Ford did (i.e have the matrix be part of the bypass system and plumb it back into the hot pipe side of the engine, generally the lower radiator hose just before the water pump inlet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferny Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Quoted from Paudman Oh boy... what? If it doesn't make much difference.... what difference did the Mx5 rad make? Just curious... It holds a ridiculous amount of water, something near 3L. When the thermostat starts to open the cooled water floods in and reduces the temperature of the coolant rather effectively. In winter I had to blank off near the whole thing. In the hottest days of summer the gauge read under 1/4 when moving even at slow speeds. Stop in traffic and it'd climb to half way quickly and sit there.Thermostat was 88°C and tested correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPearce Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 As I've said elsewhere (can't remember which thread) the thermostat opens (or at least begins to open) at a lower temperature than the running temperature. It's intended to provide enough cooling once the radiator is warm. If the radiator never gets warm (because it's too big and has too much cold winter air flowing over it) then the engine will be cooled more than it's supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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