Thanks all. So refilled the rad, water only. Fitted a couple of scoops and a vent at the side of the bonnet near the exhaust pipes. Been out today a couple of times, not far but about a 10 mile round trip. Temp still gets upto 100deg though took a while and had to boot it a bit, and just over 100 when i got home. Not seen the 125deg that i previously experienced. Did notice however a leaking rad cap, so now thinking perhaps after a long drive, i am loosing water, hence the coolant is getting hot. So ordered a new rad cap to see if that helps and hooefully solves the issue. Also got it booked into a rolling road for a proper tune up.

 

After this ill try and move the air intake as its positioned quite close to the rad so i suspect pulling hot air into the engine!?

 

After that ill try fitting a cowel to force air through the rad.

 

After that, gonna have to start shopping for a new rad and fan i guess!

 

Thanks all, im learning slowly!

What about the the thermostat ? Did that pass the saucepan test ? How did the temperature go when you ran without it ?

+1 what Pete said

 

Check for air in the cooling system & importantly a good seal on the coolant filler cap - assuming its a pressurised system - filler cap inner and outer seals need to be in working condition or you just pump out coolant when hot and things spiral.

 

You may be on to something!

What about the the thermostat ? Did that pass the saucepan test ? How did the temperature go when you ran without it ?

Have not tried this yet! One thing at a time.

Nice to hear problems being resolved. Going back a bit, have you cleaned off the witness marks from around the PVRV (Rad cap)as in previous pictures? Worthwhile.

When you fit new cap make sure its on properly, sounds insulting but the number i see not fitted properly is incomprehensible.

Moving the air inlet will help cold air on the induction stroke and will help slightly cooler running, but i dare say you would get better gains else where.

You might want to postpone your rolling road test.

It can get quite brutal setting up the engine and a poor cooling system will mean the test will have to finish early.

Edited May 8, 20179 yr by Gargoil

You might want to postpone your rolling road test.

It can get quite brutal setting up the engine and a poor cooling system will mean the test will have to finish early.

 

+1 the above, rolling road after the car is in a fully working state, or it may be a waste of dosh.

Same thoughts too, +2

So one problem solved, new rad cap! Im hoping this is the main issue! Vents and scoops fitted. Thinking of lifting the hood 10mm one end to let heat out.

 

One other though was heat wrap on the exhaust manifold, anyone tried that?

A few ideas & a bit of inspiration for you:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 20179 yr by Dino

i like the use of chest freezer and laundry basket as work bench

Love the overflow solution!

Ok, so im guesding the rad cover i bought is all wrong. Went out today and all was going well, sitting at about 90 to 95 deg, then started to creep up, went above 100 deg and quickly reached 110. I pulled over to let it cool, as i did there was steam, then water pissing out from the rad cap! Water everywhere!

 

So, forgive my mechanical ineptness!, but im guessing a standard 13 psi rad sierra cap does not necessarily fit all rads, or at least not mine!!!. To be fair, it did seem to go too easiky! ..... so another lesson learnt there. Dohh!

 

Ok, so this time i did a bit of matching so hopefully the new cap will now fit! At least it looks the same as the previous one, so assuming that was not wrong in the first instance!

 

 

Aghhhhh.....newbie alert!!!

theres always a bright side your mechanical skills are improving

Did adding the additional rubber gasjet do the trick?