Hi to all,

I had a brand new 3 core radatior installed with the new engine (1071), the radiator is mounted to the thermostat at the top, and back to the engine somewhere at the bottom. Its also mounted to the vehicle chassis up the sides.

The mounting is very solid, the radiator doesn't budge and there is no apparant rubber washers in there - its firm.

When the mechanic was running the engine in, the top bracket that mounts to the chassis closest to the firewall (near the radiator cap) pulled away from the radiator causing it the loose all the water.

The mechanic soildered it up using high temperature soilder and delivered the vehicle to me.

About 500km later, the repair job has cracked and I've lost all the water again. Fortunately this happened only a few metres from home and I noticed it immediately.

My question is, how should this be mounted? The engine is moving on one side, and the chassis is not on the other. I'm frankly not surprised that its cracked.

Is this the norm or have I just got a faulty radiator from new?

Thanks in advance.

Jacks.

holy crapamoly!! your radiator is literally being torn in half!!!

your mechanic should be shot, then revived and shot again!!

the radiator should only be mounted to the motor, or the body, definitely not both - the engine moves around a lot when it's running, that's why all the engine mounts are made out of rubber - solid mounting anything attached to the motor will tear itself apart. Get rid of the body side mountings, it should only be mounted to the engine

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I phoned him today and he told me to soilder it up again. I nearly exploded as he has had it crack once and put a bandaid on it instead of fixing it.

If you knew how much I paid this guy you'd die.

I've got it booked in at a radiator place next week. So you recommend to do away with the chassis mounts and leave it with on the engine ones? The engine brackets look real solid.

Do I do anything to stop the radator from rubbing on the chassis given that its now going to move a bit?

Should the brackets from the engine to the radiator have rubber washers on them or should they be mounted firm?

Thanks for your help.

Jacks.

ahhh, thicker radiator than normal - best solution is probably to bend the body away from the radiator, though you probably don't want to hear that. You *could* go with the body side mounts instead of the engine side mounts, but it's not the normal way to go...



standard they had a rubber grommet on the top radiator bracket, the bolt went through it, but whenever I destroy one, I usually just solid mount it - the radiator cowling is pretty flimsy, and screwed to the radiator, so has a bit of flex anyway

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I recently fitted a new UK 3 core to my 1970 roundnose, had to cut about 1/4" off the inner guard shroud across bottom and up the back. The bottom tank in particular on these rads is a bit wider than the stockos were.

I agree, mount rad to motor only, using the original shrouds and rubbers.
I do leave the bottom rear bolt out, as it's very close to the crank damper pulley, and a PITA to get at.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

you could always ditch the motor fan for a thermo fan, mounted on the chassis side of the radiator, with the radiator mounted against the chassis, and the fan set to pull the air through you rad. Ive heard (and read on here) that this works well. Im doing it this weekend to my clubbie so ill find out how well it works. Do a search for "thermo fan", heaps of stuff comes up.

Oh yea, time to find a new mechanic i think

I would be having a serious look at your engine steady bar/bracket and engine mounts straight away....excessive engine movement could have contributed to your problems.

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"Show me the Mini!"

The engine movement doesn't appear to be excessive, it doesn't move much - but the engine is moving and the radiator isn't so I guess something has to give.

If I mount the radiator to the engine only its going to move around a little - will that be okay?

Thanks,

Jacks.

Yes that's how there are designed. No problem, as long as it doesn't touch shroud on inner guard.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.