going to try it matt's way.

will this work for me if im putting the rad back in? it's not in at all at the moment.

where do i jack up? after i take the engine mount bolts out?

where is the best place to put the jack so i don't damage anything.


thanks.

It will work, you will work it out as you go along to reverse the getting it out procedure.

Get a reasonable sized lump of wood to distribute the force of the jack on the bottom of the sump.

_________________
"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

Nick,,, jack the engine under th passengers side of the box so the engine "Tilts" easilly

the top of th engine will swing away from the rad shoud--inner guard as you jack it up & make for litterally """HEAPS""" of room to fit the whole rad as an assembly, cowl & all in one hit

easy-peasy ,,,, & that`s the way it`ssupposed to be done,,, takes only a few minutes to either fit or remove the rad

_________________
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.

Ah yes Matt, good point. Jack on the passenger side of the sump. It's amazing how you forget simple things like that That's why you make a living at this and I don't

_________________
"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

I had to renew the water pump on the week end, so i thought i would try it matt's way

Easy- peasy , nothing to it. Had the job done in no time.

Thanks matt for sharing your ideas

I had a go at it, but it didn't work... the radiator shroud was never going to clear the fan, and I couldn't lift the passenger side of the engine any higher unless I undid the exhaust and gearbox remote

tho I do run my fan about 1/4" from the radiator

maybe someone can take some photos???

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

simon,,, with the fan a 1/4 inch from the rad will not make for very efficient cooling & yes of course it would also make it a biatch to get out

fit the correct fan spacer (narrow one) & fit it all up & all will be well

the fan is meant to sit """in-line""" with the Lip on the cowl

_________________
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.

Photos have already been done. I found this extremely handy the first time I tried it.

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic ... g+radiator

[edit] This link helped me get the rear bottom engine mount bolt back in..

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic ... mount+bolt

I dunno Matt - this car has always been hard to keep any heat in the motor, I've driven around with my temp reading multimeter, zapped it all over with a remote thermometer and nothing gets hot

the radiator actually has a couple of tubes sealed up from when it got speared by a big alligator clip that went through the fan

so my policy has been to keep the fan as close as I can to the rad - does make it hard to get the rad in and out - almost 15 minutes

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I had the same drama with the fan spacer making it difficult to get the bottom cowl around the fan...but that's ok...I realise why its happening.

I guess that's why many spacers have gone missing over the years.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

how thick is the spacer on a MK2 S meant to be? mine is about 10mm maybe?



and why so many clubbies have overheating troubles - that's part of my theory anyway

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I'm not totally suree which spacer went where, but the 1275LS had a very thick (maybe 20mm??) spacer, as did the GT engine I pulled apart some time back. The mini ones I have seen are about 1/4 inch thick.

I used to believe that the fan had to be as close to the radiator as possible. I've revised this now on thinking about it, all that is required is to have the fan far enough in that the blades are fully immersed into the cowl. This prevents the swept air from bleeding out around the edge of the fan blades and reducing the pressure between the fan and the radiator matrix.

If the fan is too far into the cowl, you will have the same result as the inner cowl is wider than the fan blades. This allow the air to bleed out around the fan instead of being forced through the matrix. The blades should be just about flush with the inner edge of the shroud to be doing their job correctly.

Take a look at the shrouds that are placed around almost all efficient fan designs, they are there to prevent wasted energy being leaked away.
Apparently they increase performance by as much as 50 percent over unshrouded fans.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

I'm running a 4 core in the van bolted to the side engine bay panel with angle aluminium and three screws - tow in the front and one at the back.

A shrowd is fitted also made from angled aluminium from Bunnings at $8 a length, cut to size and rivetted together at the corners. A mount off the top to the thermo housing is fabricated in steel.

Removal time including top and bottom hoses is about 6 minutes. No jacking, no fussing with engine mounts, just undo the shrowd, the three mounting screws and it lifts straight out.

_________________
Slide
1965 Mini Van (1360)
1970 Mk2 Cooper S (1310)
1978 Rover SD1 V8 (4.6)
1996 Land Rover Discovery V8 (4.0)

The factory inner mud guards on Round Nose minis are located closer to the engine than on a clubby,,, (way more room in a clubby in other words),,,, """&""" hence the reason why roundys run a thin steel spacer & clubbys run a wide alloy spacer,,, & also the rad brackets differ to suit,,, roundys run short brackets & clubbys run longer ones

so,,, if you think about it,,, if you fit a roundy type rad & fan spacer combo into a clubby,,, then you`re going to have "HEAPS" of room between the rad & the inner mudguard

If you """TRY""" to run a clubby type system in a roundy then it just won`t fit without huge dramas with rad wanting to make love with the inner guard

As i`ve said many many times---> the factory even changed over to a one piece rad shroud in later minis because (they finally realised) it was cheaper to produce & easier to handle & less time stuffing around removing & refitting.

anyone with any fan of any description in any car, bus, tractor, air con fan ,,, whatever,,,, will find that the fan blade tips should line up with the lip on the cowl/shroud for best cooling efficiency,,,, any further out will be less efficient,,, any further in will also be less efficient.

If you have any concerns about your engine running """TOO COLD""" then you should probably check to see if your thermostat is either stuck open,,, or not even there

However,,, in saying all that,,, some mini engines can be built & set up internally so efficient & also have such an efficient cooling system, that they can run exactly on the thermostat temp at nearly all times,,, my 1510cc engine is just like that, it runs at 82deg nearly every where, in every circumstance , it has approx 90hp at the wheels & simply has the std 3 core mini rad set up as per factory fitment , with no extra cooling heater matrix or any other help... no thermo fan,,, no added cooling devices.

so ,,,, anyone with a mini engine that is running hot,,, obviously has a problem some where,,, maybe even a combination of problems.... or they have well more than 120hp & might need a larger rad to cope with the race type power & heat being roduced.

"""IF""" any of you have a race engine with more than 120hp-ish & are experiencing running hot problems, then after checking all the usual things like blocked rad, or thermostat stuck shut, or blown head gasket, or cracked head, too lean carby mixture , or retarded ign timing etc etc etc, or any combination of all those things,,, if everything is perfectly in order with all those things ,,,, well maybe "THEN" you may need a larger rad & possibly a morris 1100 rad could be a possibility for you,,, they are slightly longer & taller & fit into clubbys without any mods,,, & fit into roundys with the occasional touch up to the front lip of the inner guard , & the safety catch may need a little bend to the side or a re-possition slightly towards the drivers side to help clear the shroud.

apart from that,,, i don`t believe any mini engine in fairly std or hot road form that would "NEED" any other additional cooling devices to keep them cool,,, if all things are in good working condition & set up as per factory spec & fitted with a std Aussie 3 core rad.

_________________
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.

Spot on Matt, I just fitted an 88deg thermostat to mine because it's not getting hot enough! It's squeaky clean inside, amazing really -- the coolant has been in there for at least two years, and is still transparent green

Get it clean, keep it clean, it'll work better than it needs to.

_________________
Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges