radiator baffling

[aldea6]

Hello, here come the hot days (in Belgium) and some cooling problems with my S1. I noticed that
the engine is running a bit hot in warm days (25°C outside air ).Looking in the engine compartment, I also noticed that a large volume of air coming from the entrances of the bonnet could pass over the top and at each side of the radiator, instead of passing through the radiator itself. I wonder in any baffling with aluminium plates and rubber could improve the engine cooling? Maybe anybody did already try this? Any idea would be a great help.
I know the engine could run at 100°C, but I must comfess that I become very upset when the needle
comes over 90°C....
Many happy corners in TVR

[Barkychoc]

I have thought about this and reckon it would help.
The other thing I thought is to install a second cooling fan - I think you can get a 2 stage fan switch as well if you wanted to be really clever!
I haven't looked at the logistics of the second fan - but as the early cars had the fan behind the radiator and later ones had it in front I thought it must be possible to install both!

Chris

[pies]

If you look at where the bonnet seals against the bulkhead there is a rubber seal that runs right across.Carefully remove it this will allow the hot air an escape route and therefor allow more cold air in.Just replace in cooler times

[jim2607]

Hi Aldea

I am having exactly the same issues with my S1. Planning to flush cooling system as per Barkychoc's advice, add new thermostat (89 degree one this time) and then add an additional fan to the front... something like this with a seperate two speed sensor for it like this one

Installation info on the kit here

Think it would come to a total of 200 odd but probably worth it for peace of mind!

Cheers
Jim

[aldea6]

thanks fot these tricks, guys. I remember doing some baffling and installing
a Kenlowe fan behind the radiator, resulting in a decreasing of about 10 degrees.What I am going to do is:
- removing the bonnet seal (easiest thing to begin with )
- some baffling around the radiator
- installing to fans with override switch
- installing a bigger oil cooler with an air scoop
- trying to put some insulation between the exhaust pipes and the oil pan; they nearly touch the bottom of the engine and I suspect that when the car is stuck in traffic, it would be like putting a stove under the oil pan.
Of course, I'll keep you informated about the results....

[Sweet Thunder]

Remember that the fan only helps in pushing more air through the radiator when standing still or driving slowly. As soon as the car gathers some speed, the speed itself will push more air through the radiator, and the fan won't have a significant effect. So if the temperature goes through the roof when doing motorway driving, don't try to solve it with an extra fan. In that case the excess temperature will be caused by the cooling system itself, or possibly wrong ignition timing.

[aldea6]

Timing problem is quite possible; above 4000 RPM , there is some misfiring and my mechanician
said it is due to too much advance; this would be caused by the springs which govern the centrifugal advance system in the distributor and it would be a good idea to switch to a new one.
I've planned to change the noisy injection pump and the injectors,because the engine is always running lean.I think that maybe all these modifs could lead to a cooler engine.

[clarenceboddiger]

There was a thread on here showing a conversion done using a Renault Laguna fan and shroud, looked pretty effective, the fan semed significantly bigger.I just cant find the thread at present

[GreenV8S]

aldea6 said:

Hello, here come the hot days (in Belgium) and some cooling problems with my S1. I noticed that
the engine is running a bit hot in warm days (25°C outside air ).Looking in the engine compartment, I also noticed that a large volume of air coming from the entrances of the bonnet could pass over the top and at each side of the radiator, instead of passing through the radiator itself. I wonder in any baffling with aluminium plates and rubber could improve the engine cooling? Maybe anybody did already try this? Any idea would be a great help.
I know the engine could run at 100°C, but I must comfess that I become very upset when the needle
comes over 90°C....
Many happy corners in TVR

Is the engine running hot while the car is cruising, or only when it's stationary/slow moving?

This design has ample ram air flow through the radiator and if it's overheating at speed there's probably some other problem. Cooling at low speed can be a bit more problematic. This relies on the fan, but the fan and radiator position isn't brilliant. The two main areas for improvement are to ensure that hot air from the 'hot' side of the rad can't be sucked round to the 'cold' side again; and have the fan pulling air over the whole surface of the radiator not just the circular part covered by the fan itself.

Stopping the hot air recirculation can be done by fitting a duct on the front of the radiator extending forwards to the grill opening. This also increases the ram air at speed (which isn't important because there's already more than you need) and slightly reduces the pressure in the engine bay (which gives a very small aerodynamic advantage). Because of the way the bonnet opens, the top part of this duct will need to be fixed to the bonnet rather than the chassis. I chose to fit the main part of the duct to the chassis because I'm also using it to mount the oil cooler, air filter and so on (I've also paneled in the gaps between the radiator and the wooden fins that support the bonnet so that everything forward of the radiator line forms a high pressure 'cold' zone for the air filter, ducting etc to draw from).

If you have a standard engine you shouldn't need anything this drastic, but if you're inclined to have a go that's the approach I would recommend.


To get the fan pulling over the whole radiator, you need to fit a cowled fan. I fitted mine on the back (engine side) of the radiator because it was easier to package, mainly because my rad is a couple of inches bigger in all directions than the original one and I've taken advantage of this to fit a huge fan. Fitting the cowling will restrict the ram air through the radiator at high speed. Since the ram air is very generous to start with this is not going to cause a problem as long as the fan area is more than say a quarter of the radiator total area. If you think this may be a concern, the solution is to fit flap valves in the cowl to allow ram air through while stopping hot air recirculation.

[clarenceboddiger]

I couldn't fnd the thread but heres the picture of it

Looks like it grew there.

Edited by clarenceboddiger on Sunday 18th May 07:00

[aldea6]

Cooling problem occurs mainly at low speed, in heavy traffic. During normal cruise on motorway the temperature never exceeds 90°C. I've made a small air scoop around the oil cooler and removed
partially the rubber seal on the bonnet, as suggested by Pies; it seems to help.I don't like the idea of having the hot exhaust pipes surrounding the engine front case and the oil pan, so I'll try to put some insulation around, and a fan override switch....a busy week-end ahead.