Is it a very HOT engine...and car?

[alberto]

Hello thank you for host me here in your Forum. I'm new here and stranger, I'm italian. Since almost one month I hope to finisn the restoration of a wanderfull GT6 mk 1, but I'm wandering about the temperature of its engine. I know the old english engine here in Italy, it suffer from climate temperature, I had MG B and A and Ihave also a Morris Minor Traveller and every engine suffer a lot our clima!!!
I see there are many valance and cowl radiator for sale and so I' m afraid about the Triumph GT6 engine...also because it has a little radiator that I remade with more columns. I have to fitt the kit of valance and cowl or... it's the same? I pray you to sorry me for my little English.
alberto Italy

[Pete Lewis]

there is a hot climate thermostat rated at 74C   club shop ref GTS102  which may help 

also listed at Rimmers  https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GTS102

Pete

[AidanT]

Hi Alberto and welcome

I run a mk1 gt6 and took it to central France a couple of years ago. I don't know if you remember but it was a hot June 40 + degrees and the only issue I had was in traffic where the car did get hot.  I have a 3 core radiator fitted and spent a lot of time ensuring the engine cooling was working well and not clogged up.

Have you rebuilt the block? These get full of crud especially at the back. The block drain is a good way to tell. If water flows freely from the block drain, then that's  a good sign

I will be adding a coweling around the fan to further improve cooling soon

Finally, it does get hot in the cabin what ever the weather!!!

 

Aidan

[dougbgt6]

Hi Alberto,

Your English is better than my Italian! 

The heat in the cabin can be greatly reduced by sealing the holes between the bulkhead and cabin and sealing the gearbox tunnel to the floor. Many have done this and find they suddenly need their heater!

The radiator is not that small, although narrow it is much taller and deeper, back to front, than other models.

The original cowl tends to sag in the middle and blocks the air flow, a new metal  one is a good idea. 

Flushing the block is an excellent idea and doesn't cost much, I put in washing soda, run the car for a few miles and then flush out with a garden hose.

Good luck!

Doug

 

[Nigel Clark]

Hi Alberto,

Welcome, and congratulations on saving a GT6, the Mk1 is a special car, and I say this as a Mk3 owner!

There's lots of good advice here. I've found over 20 years of GT6 ownership that if the cooling system is in good condition, airflow through the radiator is critical to keeping the engine temperature under control at low speeds (at high speed, there is usually plenty of air passing through the radiator core).

So to make sure your cooling system is in top condition, follow the advice here, flush the cooling system well and Pete's suggestion of a low temperature thermostat sounds good - I hadn't heard of that before.

Back to the airflow at low speeds. The cowl in front of the radiator is essential; some owners also advise putting a metal plate between the chassis rails just below the radiator grille, so air entering through the grille must pass through the radiation not under the car. Don't be tempted to fit an electric fan, they cover too much of the surface area of the radiator and make cooling worse. The original factory fan bolted to the front of the crank pulley is best.

Finally, if you need to improve cooling further, consider fabricating a cowl that fits on the back of the radiator, around the fan. I've written about this in another thread on this forum and will try to post a link.

Good luck,

Nigel

[Nigel Clark]

Here's a link to the thread where I mention the cowl around the fan on the back of the radiator:

If you want to read more about GT6 cooling, try this link too:

I hope this helps.

Nigel