Gone and bought one !

[ClassiChimi]

Ptr400J said:

Bu&&%r !!

Now you are just upsetting me

Don't think I can get to that level but it will be tidy !

You don't need too, the pic flatters it.I seem to remember brightening up the pic anyway to try and get detail.

Nice rad by the way, I'm always impressed with recon rads for some weird reason
If you do go for new hoses and the stainless pipe nice clips do show it off nicely.

Everything you see there is mainly wet and dry, grinder, the odd polishing disc and Solvol to buff up.

Takes awhile but is worth it in the end.
I did that a couple of years ago and it's surprising how clean it still is, the odd wash off of the chassis every now and then and other than dulling off slightly everything still looks about the same 12,000 miles so far and a couple of sessions with the Solvol
BOOM

[N7GTX]

ClassiChimi said:

Ptr400J said:

Bu&&%r !!

Now you are just upsetting me

Don't think I can get to that level but it will be tidy !

You don't need too, the pic flatters it.I seem to remember brightening up the pic anyway to try and get detail.

Nice rad by the way, I'm always impressed with recon rads for some weird reason
If you do go for new hoses and the stainless pipe nice clips do show it off nicely.

Everything you see there is mainly wet and dry, grinder, the odd polishing disc and Solvol to buff up.

Takes awhile but is worth it in the end.
I did that a couple of years ago and it's surprising how clean it still is, the odd wash off of the chassis every now and then and other than dulling off slightly everything still looks about the same 12,000 miles so far and a couple of sessions with the Solvol
BOOM

Alun, how about one of these to replace the brass plug on top of the swirl pot?

|http://thumbsnap.com/ORa6gObp[/url]

Available from here: http://www.mayhilltractors.com/index.php?route=pro...

[Ptr400J]

Ok, ordered a nice shiny metal pipe and some rad mounts from racetech ...having cut pipes off thought i would go for broke ( certainly will be if keep spending like this ) and take off the rest of the pipes, hose to swirl pot had to be cut off along with the jubilee clip.
Having met with a few of the Blackpool tvr owners at a meet this morning i was told to get my hand in my pocket and get a set of hoses and do it properly !

So ordered pipe set from Viper Performance and mikalors from an ebygum source. So best part of £430 , including rad recore, and my cooling system should be hunkey dory , then someone mentioned the stat

Edited by Ptr400J on Sunday 23 October 15:02

Edited by Ptr400J on Sunday 23 October 15:03

Edited by Ptr400J on Sunday 23 October 15:04

[QBee]

It can be a bit fiddly getting all the air out of the system when you refill it. I don't know the method, but someone will.

[Ptr400J]

QBee said:

It can be a bit fiddly getting all the air out of the system when you refill it. I don't know the method, but someone will.

Been thinking about this and wondered if it helps to jack the car up at front initially then let it down and final fill swirl pot... do i need to bleed radiator off through plug on offside as well ?

[ChimpOnGas]

Ptr400J said:

QBee said:

It can be a bit fiddly getting all the air out of the system when you refill it. I don't know the method, but someone will.

Been thinking about this and wondered if it helps to jack the car up at front initially then let it down and final fill swirl pot... do i need to bleed radiator off through plug on offside as well ?

Jacking the front of the car does indeed help but not for the reasons you describe, what it does is help to elevate trapped air in the heater.

Before you start the bleeding process make sure the heater is on full hot, this is essential, if the heater is set to anything other than full hot you run the very real risk of trapping air in the heater matrix. The heater is already the trickiest part of the system to remove air from so don't forget to put your heater on full hot or you'll end up very frustrated.

Loosen or remove the blue pressure cap on your header tank, with the front of the car in the air remove the swirl pot plug and insert a funnel, the bigger the funnel the better here because what you're trying to create is a header of coolant.

With the car at idle slowly fill your funnel with coolant, loosen the radiator bleed bolt (O/S top corner of rad) until it runs a clear stream of coolant, re-tighten the radiator bleed bolt.

With the engine still at idle squeeze the coolant hoses to help burp out air watching for the bubbles escaping into your funnel. When you're completely satisfied the bubbles have stopped appearing rev the engine and you should see the level drop in your funnel as the water pump starts shifting a significant volume of coolant and it expands into the expansion tank. Now slowly let the revs return to idle and the coolant will surge back to fill your funnel, be careful here as if you're too quick letting the revs off the coolant will overflow, get a feel for adjusting the coolant level in your funnel from full to empty using the throttle.

Now you're familiar with the rise and fall of coolant in your funnel as you alter engine speed you can plan screwing the swirl pot plug back in, what you're trying to do is rev the engine enough to drop the coolant out of the funnel so its level with the top of the swirl pot.

This is where three hands or an assistant can be helpful, after popping the blue pressure cap back on your header tank and tightening it, slowly increase the revs until your water pump drags the coolant from the funnel, hold the engine speed at that point, quickly remove the funnel and screw your swirl pot cap back in (finger tight is fine) before finally slowly releasing the throttle to allow the the revs to return to idle. All this can be done on your own with a bit of skilful juggling but the assistant does make the process a lot easier.

The above ensures a solid column of coolant in the entire system, now check your heater temperature, with the heater fan on full you should have very hot air, the Chimaera heater unit is extremely effective but only if all the air is removed so your heater performance is by far the best indicator of a successful bleed.

Properly tighten your swirl pot cap, check both your rad bleed bolt and blue pressure cap are tight and squeeze your coolant hoses which should now be really firm indicating the system is properly pressurised, if you can squeeze your hoses by hand you'll need to repeat the bleeding process.

Finally, go for a drive at speed with the heater still on full blast, when you start sweating cobs you know you've nailed it

NB: The expansion tank is only there for expansion, I know this sounds like I'm stating the obvious but lots of people assume this is where you fill the system with coolant, it's not!

The expansion tank can only work as designed if it has sufficient free space in it to permit expansion, as such it is entirely normal to only see an inch of coolant at the bottom with the engine cold. With the engine hot you should really avoid removing the blue pressure cap altogether for your own safety (scolding), but if you did remove with the engine hot you'd find the coolant level has risen to three quarters of the the expansion tank volume, any more than this and it will simply puke out the excess.

If the expansion tank does start puking out the excessive coolant it can in some cases result in a self syphoning cycle which will draw too much coolant out of the system, so avoid the temptation to fill the system at the expansion tank just because it has a big blue screw cap... because its entirely the wrong place to do so.

The swirl pot is where you add coolant and must be completely free from air, the expansion tank on the other hand should actually be 95% empty with the engine cold so there's room for expansion when the engine warms and the system becomes fully pressurised.

[N7GTX]

OR:

Fit one of these for an all round easier job:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Drained mine this morning after checking antifreeze strength and found it to be almost zero.

1. before starting this checked the expansion tank was 1/3rd full of coolant and heater set to hot
2. expansion tank cap left on tight
3. removed the radiator bleed screw
4. removed swirl tank plug
5. removed the bleed valve screw
6. filled with 5 litres of antifreeze (undiluted) via the swirl tank
7. once running freely out of the radiator refitted the bleed screw
8. continued to fill with water until swirl tank full. waited 2 mins and topped up. refitted plug
9. filled bleed screw with water until air all gone. refitted screw
10 started engine and ran on fast idle - 1500 rpm - until all coolant pipes were hot
11 stopped engine and carefully opened swirl tank plug - this is very hot, be careful
12 dribbled water into the swirl tank until full and refitted the plug
13 unscrewed the bleed valve and dribbled water until full, refitted screw
14 ran engine until hot again and switched off
15 unscrewed the bleed screw to let small amount of air escape then retightened

Started the engine again and checked for HOT air at all the vents. Luvly jubbly

[ClassiChimi]

N7GTX said:

Alun, how about one of these to replace the brass plug on top of the swirl pot?

|http://thumbsnap.com/ORa6gObp[/url]

Available from here: http://www.mayhilltractors.com/index.php?route=pro...

Like one of these you mean Iain,
I've had it some time, I just like the contrast of colour the original offers, it looks old school





I'm about due to check water levels soon enough, I'll try it then buddy

[ChilliWhizz]

Al, is that plate Japanese?

[ClassiChimi]

ChilliWhizz said:

Al, is that plate Japanese?

your a funny bugger you, spat my coffee out,
No just some old ones my mum passed down when I left home it think,, about 30 years ago or more.

Why do you wanna buy em, there worth a few quid,,, literally
Just checked, maybe my sister gave me them, can't remember now, CHN stamped on the bottom, China maybe, top quality so they are

[QBee]

Ming?




At least, I think that's what my daughter said.....

[ClassiChimi]

FFS stop making me laugh, I'm trying to be a miserable bd these days

[Ptr400J]

N7GTX said:

OR:

Fit one of these for an all round easier job:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Started the engine again and checked for HOT air at all the vents. Luvly jubbly

Like that bleed bling thingy !

Not on ebay but i emailed the company and they still do them, they have added them onto ebay now

The company says they can make anything you want, in similar vein I presume.

I take it that it is well made at that price !!!!

Edited by Ptr400J on Tuesday 25th October 09:12

[N7GTX]

Nice bit of bling to add under the bonnet. Yes well made but you will need some Brasso to keep it shiny

Surprised Mr Bling (ClassiChimi) hasn't got one yet though...

[ClassiChimi]

N7GTX said:

Nice bit of bling to add under the bonnet. Yes well made but you will need some Brasso to keep it shiny

Surprised Mr Bling (ClassiChimi) hasn't got one yet though...

[Ptr400J]

Just got in tonight, thought I would order one of the brass bleed thingys....

some barsteward already bought it ! come on, own up

emailed company again and they have put more on!

BOUGHT ONE !!

New stainless bling pipe for cooling system arrived today plus new set of BLACK (!!!) silicone hoses turned up.....and my heat tubes for the plug/leads..

well happy now, got loads to do !

Would load a pic or two but photobucket down?

Edited by Ptr400J on Wednesday 26th October 10:13

photobucket back up

Edited by Ptr400J on Saturday 29th October 17:57

[Ptr400J]

N7GTX said:

OR:

Fit one of these for an all round easier job:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Ordered one,,,,just been to look at pipework, swirl pot connection is not same

Mine is straight with not a lot of pipe to the pump, yours is curved,, (ooh err, missus)

Probably going to have an ornament

[Ptr400J]

Spent most of the day in the workshop putting coolant pipes on and radiator back together and installed.

Ended up cutting pipes, far too long, could have saved a fortune in silicone pipe! Mikalor clips worked well where I could put them, sometimes just not enough room as they are quite big compared to jubilee ones. Had to reuse some original jubilee stuff

Filled up system.... ran out of antifreeze, had less in my stock that I thought

So upto top of swirl pot and decided I had enough for today... also discovered that the original bung in the swirl pot is split, good job I ordered a David Brown version ! not arrived yet so can't fire it up yet, itching to get back on the road ......

Saturday night so

Edited by Ptr400J on Saturday 29th October 18:04

[Ptr400J]

N7GTX said:

Alun, how about one of these to replace the brass plug on top of the swirl pot?

|http://thumbsnap.com/ORa6gObp[/url]

Available from here: http://www.mayhilltractors.com/index.php?route=pro...

Bung from Mayhill arrived today
Cheaper than the other supplier who supply "TVR" parts and fast delivery too!



Might even get to bleed the system sometime this week

Edited by Ptr400J on Monday 31st October 13:55

[N7GTX]

Ptr400J said:

N7GTX said:

Alun, how about one of these to replace the brass plug on top of the swirl pot?

|http://thumbsnap.com/ORa6gObp[/url]

Available from here: http://www.mayhilltractors.com/index.php?route=pro...

Bung from Mayhill arrived today
Cheaper than the other supplier who supply "TVR" parts and fast delivery too!

Might even get to bleed the system sometime this week

Also fits the sump to replace the original sump plug and if you hit a speed bump, wont unscrew the plug as some have reported here previously.