I can see these leccy fans working OK on the late Rovers with front mount radiator, but on a 40C day in an early Mini with stock rad and no mechanical fan, it's a big ask, IMO.
Our Barney (1293) has a new U-beaut 2 core and the Clubby plastic fan, and he just copes in traffic on hot days.

he's getting an aux radiator (`matic heater) VERY soon.

_________________
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.

I put an electric fan on my blue cooper s, then moved it to my van, and it's fantastic - no mechanical fan and it kept the 1293 cool through a stinking hot summer in Wodonga.... the temp guage sat on about 1/3 to 1/2 in traffic for as long as you like. I do have a heater core mounted as an auxilliary rad, but I think the fan would cope just fine without it.

I went to the wreckers and got a sucker fan for $22, I cut out the grille behind the rad and jammed it in there - even used the original mounting points on the fan. I mounted the rad directly to the inner guard, and removed the shroud from the front of it. It's great because you can get down the front of the motor to get to radiator hoses, fan belt etc.

I had it on a manual switch instead of a temperature switch, just cos I was too cheap to buy one, and too lazy to make one. Most of the time when you're driving, the fan (mechanical or otherwise) doesn't do anything, it's really only in use when you're going slow or stopped, when moving the airflow does all the cooling. I usually kept the fan turned off except when I saw the guage creep up in traffic. On cold days, never used it at all

I've had mine on replacing the original fan for years.

The best part is that it is blowing air when the mechanical one wouldn't (ie when you need it the most in heavy traffic).

I gave my mini a chance to prove itself before I removed the mechanical fan. About a month or so of watching the temp guage before finally taking it off.

Like I said earlier though, I have the rest of my system sorted out nice and efficient like. And I would put it back on in a heartbeat if I thought something might be amiss.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

I don't think I could trust myself too watch the temperature guage that carefully

Thought it is a mini so I guess I should spend as much time watching the temperature guage as watching the speedo

_________________
---
Roads need more corners
A Deluxe(CG13DE), 2 Clubbies(998 and 1275) and 2 Morris 1100Ss

whats a speedo?? actually, the cooper/van are the only minis I've ever owned that had a working speedo.... it was annoying, it'd creep up and take me by surprise, but once I turned the fan on it'd cool incredibly fast, then I'd just leave it turned on...

Where does one put the temperature switch ?.I too don't trust myself to always watch the temperature gauge and having it on all the time seems unnecessary.

the switches you can buy at repco etc. have a probe that goes inside the top radiator hose - you basically shove it down the hose under the clamp. That's how spaceboy's mate had his set up... I copied his idea, but on a roundie

Of course electric fans work and they work well. Have a look at all the cars that have them today versus those that are still mechanical. A mechanical fan in a Mini on a hot day at the stop ights is not moving enough air to provide enough cooling. That's why we turn the cabin heater on as well on hot days in stop start traffic. Also, the efficiency of the newer blade designs have improved in both quietness and the volume of air they shift. As a matter of fact. the normal fan on a Mini can actually have the reverse effect at certain speeds. Once the car is moving at a certain speed, the volume of air coming through the grille is greater than the fan can shift. Under those conditions the fan actually acts as a barrier to allowing increased air flow. Now, that's not to say that a thermostatically fan is not going to kick in and act the same way but the chances are extremely minimal and generally means there is some other problem to make it overheat to need to kick in or something is wrong with the thermostat or wiring, etc. Mind you, that's what they call "Fail to safe". Get down the wrechers and pick up a fan, most work both ways, and mount it under the guard to suck air through, perhaps as described above. When you're moving at a decent clip there should be enough air coming through the grille to keep everything OK and the fan blades will not be spinning at a high speed and acting as a barrier to air flow.

Pick a fan from the wreckers' that will fit, is off a car that is putting out more power than your's to ensure it's going to shift enough air and try to get the thermostat and control. The cost is in the thermostat. You can have a plain on/off switch but as someone earlier said that can be forgotten. I know of someone who connected the on/off fan switch to his brake lights so that when they came on, so did the fan. His thinking was that, 1 I can't afford a thermostat switch, 2 I will forget to use an on/off switch, 3 I will need it most when I'm stopped at the traffic lights and then I'l have my foot on the brake. It's been working for him now for 15 years.

Cheers,

smithy

Many European cars (Fiat, Alfa etc anyway) have the thermo switch in the bottom tank of the radiator. Theory here is that only if insufficient airflow, will the bottom tank get hot. Worked fine on my Fiat...

_________________
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.

Yea the later Rover Mini rads have the thermo switch inbuilt into the bottom part of the rad right?

From reading other peoples experiences on this and other forums one thing seems to come up most often - those who just slapped their fans on without a shroud and without any mods didn't get the full benefits and couldnt rely on just the thermo fan. Even brickworx helpful as usual, only recomends the original straight bolt on fans off Rover and Jap minis he brings in, as helper fans with continued reliance on the mechanical fan.

In those cases, however, where the setups were more complex the thermo fans seem to work fine - the standard mini fan sits inside a shroud approx 5 mm from the radiator, so when it pushes air, it wont go anywhere but through the rad. When you slap a fan in the wheel arch however, without a shroud etc - it sits about 100mm from the radiator so its effect is muffled plus it can suck air from between the rad and the cowl and from behind it all of which reduce its efficiency dramaticaly.

Now I'm sure I've seen traditional side mount rads from injected Rovers, with a thermo fan infront of the radiator and no other fans. So I'm thinking if one could mount a fan hanging inside a shroud infront of the rad, or a very powerful unit inside the wheel arch but again inside a shroud and with a direct sealed passage to the rad (ie with any other gaps apart from the radiator gills, closed) then one would get an efficient setup. I think the cruch here is primarily this absence of air leaks and maybe the distance between the fan and the rad.

Mike if you are serious about doing it properly, I reckon mount the rad on the inner guard and seal around it, then fit a fan with a shroud. Hack all the bars out of the inner guard so it fits properly with minimum air leaks. They are only there to keep rocks off the radiator core.

_________________
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 mean actualy moving the rad? Im never THAT serious. Plus wanna keep the original look.

Leave where it is but bolt it to inner guard, not motor. Still in same spot...
Or put a rubber strip behind it like they all had originally.

_________________
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.

The rovers don't have a metal shroud around the rad, just the rubber flap thingo to seal it against the inner gaurd. And they all seem to keep their cool.

I like my front mount and thermo. Sometimes its rediculous how i can drive to work in the morning, a 35-40 minute drive in traffic, and not switch the fan on at all. I put my side mount radiator and mechanical fan back on my car for a week whilst the front mount was getting flushed, and i can't stand the constant noise of the fan. And don't let people tell you the mechanical fan makes no power difference, it is a noticable loss having to spin that bloody thing. Even on a hottie 1293.

One 8" Alfa thermo keeps mine cool.

Now i just need to make a cold air pipe to feed the Weber. Gets warm under there. Who thinks i need bonnet vents? Too ricey?

_________________
Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

That's not the reason at all. The reason it is in the bottom tank is if there is not enough water in the top tank for the thermoswitch to work it will always have water in the bottom tank. I have seen plenty of cars run low in the top tank and the fan stop working because of this. Put the switch in the bottom hose.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.