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MG TD TF 1500 - Issues fitting the radiator.and MGB-Fan.


First let me state that my TD never had a proper radiator since I have owned it. What was in there came out of some German car. I have always thought it might have been a DKW just from the shape.

I did run it with that radiator for several years both in MA and FL.

In my restoration I wanted to put it back to standard. I also wanted to convert to an MGB-Fan. The TD fan have is somewhat miss-shapen (understatement.

What is left on the car may or may not be standard.

I did not have the radiator cross member. Mort sent me one of his car that had been butchered by a PO. I put back what was missing.

I read previous posts and I believe I have the bracket mounted properly.
The bracket is first photo of the montage.

The fan spacer is shown in the second picture. Is this correct? It appears to be since the fan fixing bolts are the correct length and they seem to be 3/16 BSF.

The standard TD fan seems to fit. There is around 3/4" of play between it and the radiator cross bracket, measured on one blade top and bottom. IF the radiator stays are adjusted to give equal fan clearance on the top and bottom.

I am not sure how to adjust the stays. Also no two (standard) fan blades have the same clearance I could bend them to come close but I have no idea what is correct.

The third frame shows the issue. Here the stay had been adjusted to move the top of the radiator forward by five half turns of the clevis from where the standard fan appeared to be OK.

Finally the last frame shows clearance of the MGB-Fan on the bottom. This is an improvement over where I started. It initially hit there also. I have no idea what I did to get it where it is now.

Does anyone see what's wrong or have a suggestion of what I can do next.


JA Benjamin

J.A.B. i am not sure if this number will help, but the distance between the front face of my water pump pulley and the radiator core is exactly 5" and everything fits nicely...bonnet, standard fan, headlamp stays, etc. if you have that number and the MGB fan does not fit i would double check the mounting of the MGB fan. i am curious, which way did you mount it on the pulley hub? regards, tom
tom peterson

Thanks Tom.

I posted a reply but it did not seem to stick?
I measure 4-1/2" from the face of the pulley to the radiator core.
(see picture)
This would indicate that either the radiator is closer to the motor than yours or the motor is closer to the radiator.

I have another, not usable, radiator that I can try tomorrow.

How would I move th motor back? It seems to be held by the rear mount on the gearbox and the front mount.

I mounted the MGB fan according the the archives. The flat part of the hub against the water pump spacer or the curved side of the blades facing the motor.

Thanks

Jim B.


JA Benjamin

Jim,
If you reverse the radiator support bracket you will move the radiator at least 1/2"forward. It will make it a little more difficult to get your fingers up to the nuts that hold the radiator to the bracket. I believe that is why the bracket is shaped with the curves in the front. You could modify the bracket to give the same finger room on either side with no loss in reliability. Someone attempted that on the bracket I sent you but did a lousy job.
You will have to adjust the radiator supports with the turnbuckle to get the top in the right location.
Mort
Mort (50 TD "Mobius")

JIM, FYI, I dont put nuts on the radiator at the bottom. Big pain in the A and where is the thing going anyway? Held on with the hood, headlight brackets and the rad. stays as well as the hoses. Someone told me what if you rolled the car over and the radiator would fall off. I replied that I most likely would not survive the rollover so who cars. I would turn the bracket around, gain the 1/2 inch and be done with it.
Tom Maine (TD8105)

Tom and Mort;
Ifturning the bracketaround was the only issue I agree.

I am concerned about the fit of the bonnett. Will I wind up with a big gap? I dont know that yet.
I measure 42-3/8
" of space just now. I dont have the pieces home just now. They are at the painters still. I hope to get there tomorrow. He is doing my Daughters Jeep. Its a custom candy apple purple.

I will turn the bracket around just to measure the room.

thanks for the help.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Jim,
No easy answer here. These cars all seem to have differences as I'm sure you are aware of. Regardless of the measurements you take, nothing will be better than trying it out. Lots of geometry going on in this area.
Experiment and tweak.
Mort
Mort (50 TD "Mobius")

jim, i'm not sure if this is of any use to you, but as i stated in the previous post i have my radiator bracket mounted with the holes biased towards the rear and every thing seems to work...bonnet fit/spacing, etc. measuring along the corner of the bonnet i get exactly 43 3/8". regards, tom
tom peterson

I turned the radiator cross support bracket around today and the fan now fits well. Not a lot of extra room but enough.
(See pix)
Tom P.
I did put my old shell on the radiator and I measure 43-3/8" with the holes in the bracket biased toward the front.
My daughters Jeep was not ready today so it will not be until tomorrow that I can measure the bonnet.

But as always one step leads to another question.
How Is the shell affixed but I will post that in another thread so as not to obfuscate this one.

Again thanks to all.


JA Benjamin


I measured my bonnet to be 43". The gap in the same area is 43-1/4 to 43-3/8" with the bracket reversed.
If my bracket were turned around the bonnet would not fit.
So it stays as is, reversed.

Since I don't have a name for the car yet, I am beginning to think "Mary, Quite Contrary" would be appropriate.

I find I am missing right side radiator stay. If anyone has an extra I could use it or I will order one up from Abingdon.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

I am using the MGB fan on my TD (painted it black, as the yellow didn't look right to me)....I don't remember any issues with the spacing, so it is possible that over time, your engine/tranny mounts have shifted slightly....
...(Maybe when the "lump" was out of the car.)Check for bad rubber at the tranny mount.
If you can see your drive shaft, you may find that the front , movable portion, is further out of the main shaft than what you would expect to see...That would indicate some forward movement of the assembly....
I don't think I would leave the nuts off the bottom of the radiator....but that's just me.
There is some movement available on the radiator support, and you could use 1/4" bolts at the frame ends, that would allow even more movement.
Here's an image of my "B" fan.
Edward


E.B. Wesson

This thread was discussed between 24/09/2012 and 27/09/2012

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