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Front Mounted Radiator & Elec Fan


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#16 miniBrain

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 01:34 PM

Instead of adding a second fan you would do better to blank off the areas around the rad so as to duct all the air through the rad.

 

Yeah I was thinking that too - maybe make up a fibreglass shroud or something. Its an option worth investigating  ;D



#17 miniBrain

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 01:59 PM

Not sure how my MG Metro one will work, the top half of the radiator is fully visible through the grill (the top half takes the water out of the engine first before it turns then goes out the bottom half which is mostly hidden behind the lower half of the front panel) . The fan is over at the drivers side. Even with this much of the radiator hidden what's left is still probably a bigger area than the original side mounted radiator and it's in a much better airflow so hopefully the fan won't be required so much, with mine being mounted in a "suck" position then probably won't be as efficient as a "blow" set up. Anyway up here in the Shetland Isles then it's a fair bit colder than you chaps down in Englandshire, plus we don't have "heavy traffic" to sit in for endless hours, just lots of twisty open road!

 

Haha... Its a fair point about the local conditions. I'm an Edinburgh lad and I remember -20 winters. But here on the west coast its a good bit milder.We had a couple of days at 30 deg this summer so that's what I need to aim at. Here's a chart from the TR7 show the effect of the fan and this is ideally what I'd like to see in the Mini.

 

tr7_cooling.jpg



#18 nicklouse

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 02:03 PM

Mmm I think I would want to see a bit more water temp. Why, as I would like my oil temp higher. But again there is no oil temp info. But I would say add 10 degrees to the water temp to have a better oil temp.

#19 Chris.Williams

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Posted 25 March 2018 - 07:35 PM

Hi, sorry to be dragging up the past, but your post inspired me to front mount also.

Attached File  image.jpeg   61.97K   11 downloads

So in this picture, the expansion tank only seems to have the one hose running to it from the drivers side of the radiator, is that correct?
I'm fitting a metro mk2 to mine, and I'm supercharged so I don't have a million hoses coming off my bottom radiator hose, nor do I want this.
A little insight into your plumbing would be appreciated.
Thanks
Chris

#20 miniBrain

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Posted 07 April 2018 - 09:28 AM

Hi Chris,

 

I modified the plumbing later to add a steam pipe from the top hose to the header tank, as shown below:

 

DSC_0107.jpg

 

So the plumbing overall is: Top hose to radiator inlet and bottom hose to radiator outlet, as you would expect. Steam pipe to header tank via 'T' piece in the top hose, as above. Header tank outlet to radiator filler - that's the long hose running in front of the engine as above. The Mini's bottom hose was unmodified and still retains the heater return. I connected it to the radiator outlet via an ally tube. The hose was sufficiently flexible for me to twist it towards the front. Ideally, you would use a proper elbow to extend it away from the engine for a bit more clearance. Standard thermostat retained.

 

IMGP9813.jpg

 

The car ran with this configuration for two years without a single problem. Hope this helps.

Bob



#21 skoughi

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Posted 07 April 2018 - 09:00 PM

Hi, mines is same but different to minibrain! Mg Metro radiator, outlet on the radiator has a pipe that goes back to the pump with a T-junction on it that leads up to the bottom of the expansion tank. Thermostat housing has a bleed pipe outlet on it that leads to the top of the expansion tank. Where the original heater valve is is now a plain pipe coming out with a couple of 90 bends that goes to a silicone pipe that goes around the back of the engine through the pipe in the alloy inlet manifold and then to the heater (it's a later model heater with the on/off valve inside the car). I also have a simple arrangement of pipework before the heater feed pipe heads inside the car that allows any water that's surplus to what the heater can draw through it to go back to the pump which means there is a constant draw of coolant which in effect creates a by-pass from no4 cylinder end of the engine. There's also a steam pipe from the highest point of this pipework that leads to the expansion tank. It's a self bleed system that still feeds the heater matrix with all the hot water it can draw and flows coolant from one side of the engine to the other when the thermostat is closed. I use an 88deg thermostat and it doesn't need the cooling fan on unless it's been sitting running in the garage for a while. Had her on the road for nearly two years and the only issue I've had is finding a sender for the radiator fan that actually works as it should. The last one I bought was from minispares and seems to be doing the job. 



#22 Chris.Williams

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Posted 09 April 2018 - 08:49 AM

Hi Chris,
 
I modified the plumbing later to add a steam pipe from the top hose to the header tank, as shown below:
 
DSC_0107.jpg
 
So the plumbing overall is: Top hose to radiator inlet and bottom hose to radiator outlet, as you would expect. Steam pipe to header tank via 'T' piece in the top hose, as above. Header tank outlet to radiator filler - that's the long hose running in front of the engine as above. The Mini's bottom hose was unmodified and still retains the heater return. I connected it to the radiator outlet via an ally tube. The hose was sufficiently flexible for me to twist it towards the front. Ideally, you would use a proper elbow to extend it away from the engine for a bit more clearance. Standard thermostat retained.
 
IMGP9813.jpg
 
The car ran with this configuration for two years without a single problem. Hope this helps.
Bob


Thanks Bob, just what I wanted!




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