I drove the "Snail" to work on a 40 deg day and didnt bring any extra water with me, at work reminded myself to get extra water, at 2.30pm we finished said goodbye, its now 42 deg. Did I get the extra water ? No I just jumped in the car drove off, I,ve got the back right window wide open, the drivers window down a bit, the screen fan on, its not to bad in the car not to uncomfortable, F$#%K I FORGOT THE WATER !, look at the gauge its about 8mm off winning first prize. Um,Ah I,m on the Freeway there is no extra water, I keep driving ,look at the gauge again its creeping up,I keep driving, I can now hear the car saying please make him stop, I keep driving , not far to go now,look at the gauge again , its about 5mm off winning first prize. I somehow get every green light and avoid any traffic and make it home without the car doing an impression of Mt Ruapehu, and my car has only a weak amount of coolant and a large dose of rust inhibitor in the radiator and the original factory thermostat. So if anyone else drives their Mini on a bloody hot day make 100% sure it can stay cool or bring extra water with you or have a very brave car !

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Would it not have been better to pull over and let him cool off? Sometimes freeways have taps at the emergency telephone stands

But all that said, Snail is a very brave little clubman and it is a good reminder to always take water/coolant with you whereever you go.

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poor little clubman.... nice story...



a new thermostat costs like $10 - you nut... what else is neglected?

I'd love to get hold of a car that has heating troubles and just see if I could make it spot on by correcting whatever has been neglected, or whether there really is something wrong with it - my cooper struggles to get over 70 degrees on the freeway at 4000rpm, no matter how hot it is

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Cherry stays up near the H mark but we have established that my factory gauge is dodgy
She has a new warm weather thermostat put in and a recon'd rad and a new metal fan and she has never overheated, not even on Monday when I drove her from Brissy to Buderim and then sat her idling in the heat and rolling slowly during the parade for the next half hour.
NAV says her cooling system is the only thing on her that works properly

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Don`t forget the duplex timing gears & chain set ,,, it works good too

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I have got a Quinton/Hazell 82deg thermostat which will be going with the 26.9cc 12G295 head when I put it on, the car normally runs fine only 4 or 5mm off the bottom of the gauge. I , like a lot of people just need a little more in the kitty to finish the job, then it will be 12G295 head and new thermostat, Howley heated manifold, 1 1/2 SU HA fixed needle and 1 1/2 inch exhaust, and if anybody asks , yes I will be drilling two small holes in the thermostat, until then I will taking extra water with me IF I drive it on a bloody hot day.

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is a heated manifold of any use in our climate?

doesn't the air/fuel mix expand when it gets into the hot manifold?

maybe the fancy manifold just flows better than standard...

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Simon this a HOWLEY manifold as in Howley Racing-John Chappel/Phil Hepworth which later became Racespeed , it would be criminal if I didnt use it .

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I think Snail deserves a bravery award... risking its life for you..

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The funny thing is if you HAD have stopped, the mini would have vomited all it's rusty brown cooling goodness all over the highway bitumen, then you WOULD have been walking.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

By all means use it, just pi$$ off its hot water line...

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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.

Thats what I was thinking , I,m on the freeway I,ve gots lots of air movement at 100kph, off the freeway its 80kph only three sets of lights and three round-a-bouts , if cross fingers I dont have to stop anywhere and idle I should be ok. For "Snail" this was its first extreme temperature test and it failed it, what I am most relieved about that is that it didnt blow the bypass hose, then the extra water ( which I didnt have ) would have been for me as I tried to stay alive while waiting for the RAVC.

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sounds like it... Vizard talks about Howley



I know a lot of people (including Dr Mini) say it's there for a reason, and maybe it's part of the reason my engine runs cold

... but ...

I haven't had a bypass hose for about 8 years - I block them off - put a blanking plug (cut down 5/8 unf bolt) in the outlet on the head, and another in the outlet on the water pump (tap it to 3/8 unf and cut a bolt down with a flat on either side to screw it in)

you might think about it for your 295 head

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

There is an ongoing debate as to the temperature difference between running with a bypass hose and blocking it off, personally I will start with a bypass hose but will be replacing the standard one with a kevlar one, I will be completely flushing the system before I fit the new head.

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using an infered temp sender my Cooper S after a 20km run, and 5 min ideling sits at a very high 68 deg C but the temp sender reads a bit high. apparently there is a bloke that advertises in aust classic car magazine makes one that is correct for a mini! as most read either cooler or hotter

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