The Stoneleigh Affair

[Iancider]

Sorry to hear the set-back Peter and it looks like Davies Craig is a NO NO!

[peterw]

I have heard that others have had problems with Davies Craig stuff, that said I haven't had any problems with the pump itself. There is no room at all for a normal one so it has to be electric, it's just the digital controller that has been giving me jip. If all else fails I have a plan F

[peterw]

Engine update, It;s out and in bits , Having a Re-Bore and new pistons. It appears that after the overheat the rings picked up on the liners and that's where all the oil was getting through on to the pistons. So it's having a 20thou re-bore, crank reground, faster cam,new followers, uprated radiator and all the associated bits to go with it.



No change out a £ Grand plus !!!

['The Gaffer']

Nice

[Moleman]

Hope you get it done soon mate. I know the feeling. 

[peterw]

Anyone got any contacts for bespoke Radiators ?

[Iancider]

Peter,

I admire your tenacity with this.  Effectively it will be a new engine and it will be worth it I am sure.  Hopefully you get some use from it before winter sets-in.

Regards
ian

[Iancider]

Peter,

Just saw your new post after I had posted.  Custom radiators are going to be hideously expensive so it is normal to adapt standard radiators via bracketry which is cheap.  You need one of suitable dimensions and capacity.  The link below is very useful as a starting point.  I would recommend a modern aluminium cored radiator rather than the older mixed metal types.

http://www.carcooling.co.uk/pages/measuring_a_rad.html

Also, you should consider waterless coolant. I've switched to it and I am delighted with it.  It saved me £300 upscaling my radiator.  It will not boil until 180 degrees C and so no pressure in the system when it midly overheats i.e. no explosive realeases of steam.  It also has a more subtle effect.  Close to boiling water is actually boiling in the cylinder head and the bubbles formed are actually reducing the heat dissipation.  That is the reason why boil-over happen so quickly.  Engines are designed to run at about 85 degrees C and that only give 15 degrees of headroom.  With waterless coolant that increases to 95 degrees headroom.  My problem was in traffic with a slightly undersize radiator.  Now after 20 minutes of queing it will climb to 120C but will not boil.  But more importantly it very rarely gets too hot at all now.  It is expensive but if you have no leaks it is in there for life.  If you put it in a dry engine then you do not need to purge any water so that saves money on the purging solution.  Importantly no water means the hoses dont perish and there is no corrosion of the metals - pump, radiator and thermostats will all corrode normally and will now be as good as new in many years.  Oh yes and as anti-freeze it is good down to an Alaskan winter.

http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk/

Regards
Ian

[peterw]

That might not be a bad idea Ian.......

[damouk]

I have a contact at Forge motorsport who has been really good at making bits for me, and a very good price, not sure about rads but could always ask,

The other thing I have heard good things about is to add a 'water wetter', it reduces the bubbles forming on the hot surfaces which Iancider has mentioned and therefore transferring more heat

[peterw]

Tried that and it did help a bit, but I think the main problem was I was burning so much oil because of the scores on the liners that it was acting like a central heating boiler ! Get the main problem sorted first but I am leaning towards waterless.

[Iancider]

Peter,

I found another good source for rads:

www.amber-performance.co.uk

Regards
Ian

[peterw]

And it's back in again, Going  to keep the existing Rad and use evans waterless in it. Fitted a faster cam from Real Steel while it was out . May try FCM for the coolant. Thinking of changing the engine mounts to Velcro, certainly make life easier !!!

['The Gaffer']

Thinking of changing the engine mounts to Velcro, certainly make life easier !!!

You might be onto something there

[Iancider]

This has been heroic Peter - well done for sticking at it!

Ian

[Dixie]

Anyone got any contacts for bespoke Radiators ?

Arrow radiators, Melksham. Wilts.

M

['Mendip Wurzel']

Thinking of changing the engine mounts to Velcro, certainly make life easier !!!

So what Real Steel cam did you go for? I've got a Real Steel cam in mine.
Kevin

[peterw]

Getting there slowly with this, waiting for adjustable push rods to set the pre-load accurately. Still toying with a new Radiator.... Has anyone come across a web site that you can select an off the shelf Rad by size (width,height,depth) and not Make/model etc

[benchmark51]

Anyone got any contacts for bespoke Radiators ?

Saw this on ebay, might be worth a look in their shop or a message to them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kit-car-Radiator-Alloy-aluminium-locost-caterham-lotus-7-westfield-/261481890751?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3ce18903bf

[Iancider]

Peter,

Give Car-cooling a phone call with your current dimensions to hand:  Bracket centres, current core dimensions h x w x d and then state the maximum you could achieve on each of those.  They will use their large database to find the one that works for you and maybe without any bracket changes.  They are a very helpful bunch.

0845 652 5356

http://www.carcooling.co.uk/pages/measuring_a_rad.html

Regards
Ian