Ian Hughes Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Not sure if this has been asked before, I am relatively new so bear with me. I have a kenlow fan, in addition to the engine fan on my GT6. I had a leak in my radiator and have taken it out to replace it. I looked at the fan and I reckon it covers at least 60% of the surface of the radiator. My question is, if I have to run the electric fan to cool my engine, am I simply having to cool it because the fan body is restricting flow over the radiator and not allowing sufficient airflow to flow over the radiator to cool the coolant? I was also surprised at the amount of debris, grass, leaves etc that I found jammed behind the body. Not much you could do about it unless you removed the radiator to access it. Any thoughts on the subject? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Essentially yes, you are correct. Modern cars are rather better designed regarding electric fans, and use shrouding, often with flaps that open when the car is moving. So certainly try the car without the kenlow, it may well run cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I spent a long time one hot summer about 15 years ago trying to work out how to keep the engine cool. Briefly as I can... - Airflow through the radiator core is the most important factor. - An electric fan shrouds the radiator and this can make overheating worse. - The plastic engine driven fan is pretty good. - Building a shroud from alloy sheet around the back of the radiator too enclose the engine driven fan helps a lot. All the suction from the fan then draws air correctly through the radiator core. With the original engine driven fan and my home-built alloy shroud, my GT6 keeps it's cool in any UK summer. Even the heat wave last year didn't cause overheating, and that was with a recently fitted a 2.5 litre engine which was still tight and running in. I will try to post a photo of the shroud. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Clive - I was expecting more marmite answers than that!, either you like them or you don't I'm with Cookie on this one, as long as the standard system is in good condition, there's no need for an electric fan Aidan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, Nigel Clark said: I spent a long time one hot summer about 15 years ago trying to work out how to keep the engine cool. Briefly as I can... - Airflow through the radiator core is the most important factor. - An electric fan shrouds the radiator and this can make overheating worse. - The plastic engine driven fan is pretty good. - Building a shroud from alloy sheet around the back of the radiator too enclose the engine driven fan helps a lot. All the suction from the fan then draws air correctly through the radiator core. With the original engine driven fan and my home-built alloy shroud, my GT6 keeps it's cool in any UK summer. Even the heat wave last year didn't cause overheating, and that was with a recently fitted a 2.5 litre engine which was still tight and running in. I will try to post a photo of the shroud. Nigel Will be interested to see this Nigel. If you can give some instructions on how you made it and how it's attached, that would be really useful. Always thought of doing this Aidan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Here's a photo of the shroud on the back of my GT6 radiator. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 9 minutes ago, AidanT said: Clive - I was expecting more marmite answers than that!, either you like them or you don't I'm with Cookie on this one, as long as the standard system is in good condition, there's no need for an electric fan Aidan Full of surprises today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 4 minutes ago, AidanT said: Will be interested to see this Nigel. If you can give some instructions on how you made it and how it's attached, that would be really useful. Always thought of doing this Aidan I started by making a cardboard mock up of the shroud, held together with masking tape to allow for adjustment. When the cardboard version fitted properly, I took it apart so each part became a template for cutting 1.6mm alloy sheet. The necessary bends were formed by hand. The various pieces of the shroud were then pop riveted together. It attached to the mounting lugs on each side of the radiator. There's a cutout at the top to clear the water pump boss. I fitted self adhesive foam insulation strip to help seal the shroud to the back of the rad. Hope this is some help. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 26 minutes ago, Nigel Clark said: Building a shroud from alloy sheet around the back of the radiator too enclose the engine driven fan helps a lot. All the suction from the fan then draws air correctly through the radiator core. Interesting! I have the engine driven fan with the alloy shroud and side valences sold through the Club shop, but never felt the need to enclose the fan any further. My Mk1 runs perfectly well as is. Your version will enhance fan-driven air, but surely air would be forced through the outer edges of the radiator core in an unshrouded radiator by the simple motion of driving along? I'm wondering if you're sacrificing surface area for greater airflow and not really getting any extra gain from it? Just thinking out loud, as usual... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 You'll note the comment by the OP, Ian Hughes, about "the amount of debris, grass, leaves etc that I found jammed behind the body." A totally enclosing shroud will trap all that for ever! JOhn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Hughes Posted March 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Thanks for all the replies and advice, very much appreciated. Out with the Kenlow !!! Regards Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 10 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: Interesting! I have the engine driven fan with the alloy shroud and side valences sold through the Club shop, but never felt the need to enclose the fan any further. My Mk1 runs perfectly well as is. Your version will enhance fan-driven air, but surely air would be forced through the outer edges of the radiator core in an unshrouded radiator by the simple motion of driving along? I'm wondering if you're sacrificing surface area for greater airflow and not really getting any extra gain from it? Just thinking out loud, as usual... Building the shroud was an experiment, but an experiment that worked! The engine keeps cooler with the shroud than without. With an electric fan, it was much worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 4 minutes ago, JohnD said: You'll note the comment by the OP, Ian Hughes, about "the amount of debris, grass, leaves etc that I found jammed behind the body." A totally enclosing shroud will trap all that for ever! JOhn Any debris has to pass through the rad core before it can get into the shroud on the back of my GT6 rad. In my experience, very little debris is able to get through. I've tried electric fans blowing and sucking (which is a very tight fit). The original cooling system works fairly well when in good condition. The only way I've been able to improve it is with the shroud on the back of the rad. After 15 years, I've no doubt that it works. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Other minor cooling improvements as follows... - Fitting the factory shape spoiler used on late Mk3s and late Spitfires directs more air through the rad at high speeds. Impact on cooling is marginal but it helps. - An oil cooler will keep oil pressure up at high speed in hot weather. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 6 minutes ago, Nigel Clark said: I've tried electric fans blowing and sucking (which is a very tight fit). The original cooling system works fairly well when in good condition. The only way I've been able to improve it is with the shroud on the back of the rad. After 15 years, I've no doubt that it works. Nigel I'd love to try this, as although mine is pretty good, when it does get very hot and stood in a traffic jam for instance, it does get very hot Not sure I have the fabrication skills though! Aidan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Hughes Posted March 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I am in the south of France, so it does get warm here and an oil cooler may be worth considering. Anyone who has one, were would you locate the cooler and were do you take the feed and return pipes to and from? Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 and never forget is it actually hot !!! over the years we have had complete engine changes due to wrong temperature senders and duff voltage stabilisers fit a non stabilised sender and you get a hot reading gauge Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 If the oil is genuinely getting very hot, you would need a cooler. To find out how hot the oil gets, you need an oil temp gauge. But a quality semi synthetic oil will cope with well over 100 degree temps easily. A cheaper, mineral oil maybe not. To fit a cooler you need a spin-off oil filter adaptor with drillings for cooler hoses, plus an oil stat (oil too cold is also terrible for an engine) and a cooler. Cooler is usually fitted vertically next to the water radiator. There used to be an adaptor plate for fitting bewteen the oil filter and the block, but not seen one for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I'm pretty confident in the water temp gauge on my GT6, having checked various points in the cooling system with a digital laser thermometer. The oil cooler is fitted between the chassis rails, just behind the anti-roll bar which gives a bit of protection to the matrix. So below and slightly behind the rad. The top right corner of the cooler is visible in the photo of my rad shroud, at about the 7 o'clock position. And from experience with two different engines in my GT6, it does help maintain oil pressure when pressing on in hot weather. There's an oil thermostat fitted so the oil warms up reasonable quickly and isn't too cool in winter weather. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 45 minutes ago, clive said: There used to be an adaptor plate for fitting bewteen the oil filter and the block, but not seen one for many years. You can still get those; I too hadn't thought about one in years until your post made me remember them. I searched online for 'Triumph Oil Cooler sandwich plate' and while any second-hand ones were all TR series I found a number of 'universal' versions that presumably if you know what diameter you require should fit. That's the theory! My oil cooler was slung between the front chassis rails as Nigel says, but I removed it after a few months; no idea if it made any difference to normal road driving but the pipes got in the way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I notice no one's mentioned the shroud on the front of the radiator, the original is cardboard and over the years sags, blocking airflow. I've put on an aluminium one which with the original engine fan has dropped temperature gauge by half a division. Gauge now sits at half a division below midway. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 6 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said: I notice no one's mentioned the shroud on the front of the radiator, the original is cardboard and over the years sags, blocking airflow. I've put on an aluminium one which with the original engine fan has dropped temperature gauge by half a division. Gauge now sits at half a division below midway. Doug You're right, a shroud in front of the rad is essential to direct airflow to the rad core. The original cardboard ones sag and can make things worse. Best option is the metal version sold by the club shop (and others). Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Nigel, Yes, I got side panels from the club, but they stopped selling the cowls because the aluminium was cracking on the bends. I bought my cowl from Paddocks. The club now have stainless cowls. Mine hasn't cracked yet, but there is a repair which doesn't really show. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 25 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said: Nigel, Yes, I got side panels from the club, but they stopped selling the cowls because the aluminium was cracking on the bends. I bought my cowl from Paddocks. The club now have stainless cowls. Mine hasn't cracked yet, but there is a repair which doesn't really show. Doug I have the club shop prototype front cowl and side valences. My GT6 was used to check how they fitted back when I was club manager. So far, no cracks after 10+ years and plenty of miles, but maybe I'm lucky. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Nigel, When I bought the side panels Bern was not happy with the then current supplier because of the poor quality of the cowls. He had cancelled the cowl orders and was looking around for something else. And it wasn't just the cowls, both my side panels need modifying to fit. Cutting drilling and bracing, however you can't see it now. Hopefully they've got the new S/S right. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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