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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - POLL and request: Cooling options

OK Folks I know it has been hashed over time and time again, but lets see what folks are currently doing and how it has worked. Lets have people post which of the below options they have used in thier car. List any detail you can (IE: 8"fan, motor driven fan, Falcon radiator, etc..)

1. Motor:
a. BOP/Rover V8
b. Ford 302/5.0L
c. Other
2. Radiator set-up:
a. Stock MGB radiator
b. Recored MGB radiator (if lengthened how much)
c. Non-Stock Brass radiator
d. Alum radiator
3. Fan Set-up:
a. Stock Fans
b. aftermarket pushers
c. aftermarket pullers
d. aftermarker push & pull
4. Ducting:
a. None, or stock lower panel
b. Full ducting of airflow to radiator
5. Cooling fluid:
a. 50/50 antifreeze/water
b. custom mix antifreeze/water
c. straight water
d. antifreeze/water plus additive
e. water plus additive
Larry Embrey

Come on Larry, this is far too tricky to enter data like this. Put up the spreadsheet in some way or email it and it would be much easier to get involved and you could then supply us with some real results

Marc
Marc

How about posting a spreadsheet to your web page?
Gordon Elkins

Well, a spreadsheet on my site would be tough as it would have to be in a way everyeone could open it, and I do not have the CGI or scripting in my site to handle that. How about a Excel (old 4.0 version maybe) that you could download, fill out and email back to me? That sound doo-able?


I did plan to compile the results into a sheet or web-page of some sort, to share with everyone beyond this page
Larry Embrey

Yup
Marc

Good idea
Gordon Elkins

OK, got the file up is rough, just fill in what info you can and email it back to me...

http://www.embreyfamily.com/mgb/files.htm
Larry Embrey

Larry,

You need a few more categories. For example:

6. Header type:
a. Block hugger
b. RV8 style
c. custom

7. Header coating:
a. ceramic coated
b. wrapped
c. no coating or wrap

8. Additional underhood ventilation:
a. louvers in hood (bonnet)
b. louvers or holes in fenderwell (besides hole for header)
c. removed weatherstrip hood seal

d. no additional underhood ventilation
Carl

Oh, my answers:

1. Motor:
'63 Buick 215 factory 200hp (not making near that right now)

2. Radiator set-up:
Stock MGB V8 radiator

3. Fan Set-up:
Stock twin electric fans (worthless) plus engine driven fan (TR6?)

4. Ducting:
None

5. Cooling fluid:
a. 50/50 antifreeze (orange stuff)/water/water wetter

6. Header type:
Block hugger

7. Header coating:
ceramic coated plus ceramic coated crossover pipe

8. Additional underhood ventilation:
no additional underhood ventilation
Carl

You also need a blank for people to tell you how hot or cool their car runs. Let's say, hot sunny day, both in slow moving traffic and on the highway. These are the data points you need to make this little quiz useful!
Ted

1,motor (a)Buick 215
2,rad (d)custom made aluminum
3,fan (c)aftermarket elect. puller 16"
4,ducts (b)yes, back side around fan
5,coolant (a)50/50
6,exhaust (b)RV8
7,coating (c)none
8,vents (d)none

Bill
bill jacobson

1) 69 Rover 3.5 +.020, Isky Cam/Edelbrock 2198 Intake and Edelbrock 500 Carb
2) New 63 Ford Falcon Radiator
3) 3000CFM Electric Puller Fan
4) Full Ducting To Radiator, hangs 2 below front valance (just installed, all holes not yet sealed)
5) Antifreeze 50/50
6) Block Hugger Headers
7) Ceramic Coated Headers
8) Louvers in inner fenders and weather strip hood seal removed
9) 160 thermostat
10) No oil cooler
11) 14 x 2 air filter
12) LE style front valance (holes dont line up on my 75 B)
13) No top rad to hood sealing

This car ran extremely warm a couple of weeks ago on a run up to British Columbias Okanogan, temperature was over 100F. This was over a couple of high mountain ranges. I have since added the inner fender louvers and the full radiator ducting. It now appears to run cooler, but cooler temperatures have been with us on the Coast where I live. This coming weekend I am again going up to the Okanogan and will report back how the improvements worked,
When I was up in the Okanogan I lifted the rear of the hood for the return trip to spill the excess heat and that worked fairly well as an emergency measure
Bruce

1) Rover 4.6L / mild crower cam Edlebrock 500 CFM carb
2) Clive Wheatley RV8 Stainless Steel Headers
3) Custom built 2 core aluminum radiator from Howe Racing Enterprises. Exact duplicate of v8 radiator, but 2" longer. 3/8" thick mounting tabs tig welded to upper and lower tanks with 1/4" threaded holes to mount puller Spal 2100 CFM (chose curved blade for quite running) Hi-pro fan - no thru the core stuff. 30 AMP relay with 10 ga wire direct to starter solnoid. No ducting.
5) 25% antifreeze with water wetter.
6) Adjustable thermostat set at 200 / 185 degrees.

Absolutely no thermo run away. Runs at 180-185 degrees regardless of outside temparture (at least to 98 degrees). Extended stop and go traffic fan cycles on / off with ease....will cool to what ever I set adjustable thermostat at.
Steve LaGoy

1) 3.5 EFi Rv8 headers, wrapped
2)a
3) big pusher, adjustable thermostat set at 180f
4) bonnet louvres at rear a la E type (biggest single improvement to cooling)]
5) approx 15% antifreeze, plus water wetter.

No problems in France at Le Mans, fan cuts out within a couple of minutes of moving off.

I have used a wine temperature tester given to me as a present by my brother to do tests on the rad, the probe fits nicely between the vanes and it reads to 1/10 degree (Celcius). The fan holds the rad temp to lower 90's (c) fairly comfortably on a warm English day.

Mike
Michael barnfather


1) 63 Buick 215, stock 4barrel, Edelbrock 500, Kenne-Bell Cam
2) regular MGB radiator, with oversized ports soldered onto it and the filler-cap removed. (A VW Jetta
expansion tank is mounted on the firewall.)
3) twin 9" Honda fans PUSHING, these are in close clearance to the radiator and have sheetmetal rings
(incidentally, the fans are wired to a toggle switch - not a thermostat) I've never used the original
Buick engine-driven fan.
4) nice ducting into the radiator, but all the air comes through the regular grille opening
(the MGB grille has been removed and replaced with a stainless steel mesh design. The regular,
front hood and radiator brackets have been removed and replaced with brackets of my own design.)
5) 50/50 antifreeze (the dog-safer propylene glycol kind) but no fancy additives
6) home-made Tri-Y Header (that hug the block)
7) no header coating or wrap
8) no additional engine compartment ventilation
9) 180 thermostat
10) no oil cooler (and incidentally, the filter is mounted directly to the engine's V6 Buick pump body)
11) engine air is ducted in from the (former) heater intake at the cowl through a panel filter
12) aftermarket (urethane) air dam
13) no top radiator-to-hood sealing (though this is the first thing I'd add if a cooling problem developed)

This car has been used regularly (recreationally) in North Carolina since 1992, and since February has been living happily in Colorado. It has never over-heated. The dash gauge typically reads about 200, though I don't worry if it's reading 210.

Curtis

This thread was discussed between 30/06/2002 and 02/07/2002

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