cooling system for 1275

[dirtypaw]

I am contemplating putting in a larger radiator and was wondering the better combination i know all mokes are different and much is subject to usage and climate as well as set up .Currently i have a tired standard radiator standard water pump and plastic fan .I read a previous thread and will stick with plastic fan. Does anyone have or had a large volume water pump an oversize pully large radiator with bypass hose for extra circulation ...i currently have the heater blanked off.Whats the options.

[moemoke]

I take it you are having over heating issues , is your current radiator in good condition by that I mean have you had it checked by a radiator specialist?
what sort of rad do you have now?
I put a morris 1100 rad in my moke as a cure for overheating during the outback trips I have done,
Are better than some mini ones you can get , dont know, but it was cheap.
you will need to change the bottom rad mount and cut about 1-2 inches off the back of the headlight bucket as the rad is about 2" wider than a mini's.

[Tim]

A standard radiator in good condition should be able to cope with all but the very hottest weather. The trouble is they don't tend to stay in perfect condition forever. I usually go for a slightly uprated one. There are various 3 core and 4 core options that are said to be better than a standard one, but opinions vary on whether they are good value for money or not. I tend to ask my mechanics what they recommend and I haven't been disappointed yet.

Tim

[Darth Moke]

Front radiator !! the best portugese improvement !!  (unless it's the square back... what d'you think Tim ? )

[Tim]

I think you'll find that the square back wasn't so much a Portuguese improvement, more a regression to the original English style. I don't know anything about the front radiators, never having seen one, but it probably wasn't a bad idea. Given the short supply of Portugeuese Moke radiators in Australia, I don't think its a really easy option though.

Tim

[Darth Moke]

I have to admit that that square back (and short arm trailer) was a very bad idea.

Especially when (like me) you want to fit larger wheels ! 

Ah well at least I've got that large front radiator,...., that also blocks access to the ignition.

[Peter L]

I have a998 and for the most part my radiator is ok, but on very hot days (35 degrees) travelling at 80 to 90 ks and hour the temperature tends to go very high.   I had planned camping trip to the coast (about 200 klms) and loaded up with gear, 2 burly lads and sitting on 100 for a couple of hours in high temperatures worried me.  So I connected a Morris 1100 heater core between the my heater tap and heater. I mounted the core behind the left hand side of the grille making sure that there was still good air flow to the coil.  That way if the engine temp started going up I could open the heater valve and allow the coolant to flow through the new core which is in the air stream.  It certainly reduced the engine operating temperature at sustained touring speeds and some long steep climbs.

Peter

[dirtypaw]

Thanks for the feedback guys i think what the radiator needs is a good flush out whats the best stuff?
Replace shroud rubber strip or whatever that stuff is to fill the gap and maybe run the radiator heater hose back to  the were the blanking plate is ...
Is a commercially available adapter pipe available to fit blanked off heater hole.........seeyas

[moemoke]

I dont like any of the radiator cleaners as they are all acidic and may eat through some vital parts
best to remove the Rad  and take it to a rad specialist to clean it proper, they will take off the top and bottom tanks
and soak the core (if it is any good) and resolder tanks back on, this will cost a bit but it will be the best thing, might cost $100 to $200 but if it saves you from cooking your motor then thats cheap.

[sa mokin]

A new radiator from Minsport.com.au is ARP2000- Radiator 3 core - $125.95 on sale - which sounds cheaper than cleaning it - throw in the possibility of cooking your motor and then it sounds very cheap!

[Tim]

Just check that the outlets are roughly in the same position as your existing ones, there seems to be a huge variety of outlet positions on Mini radiators.

Tim

[drmini in aust]

A new radiator from Minsport.com.au is ARP2000- Radiator 3 core - $125.95 on sale - which sounds cheaper than cleaning it - throw in the possibility of cooking your motor and then it sounds very cheap!

I bought one (not from there though) they are very flimsily made, and only have 8 gills/inch whereas Oz ones from Mini Deluxe onwards are all 16/inch. The 1360 ran noticeably hotter with it than the Oz one.
When the poorly spotwelded sideplates fell off at at 3 months I hung it on the wall of the shed, it's a POS.
Getting an Oz 3 core one cleaned out is a better and cheaper option, I paid $90 recently here in Blacktown, Sydney.
If you want a NEW rad the UK 2 core isn't bad, but it's no better than an Oz 3 core for cooling efficiency. I have one in the wife's 1293.

[Fred flinstone]

Hi has any one ever put a second  radiator behide the frount Grill ?
I am considering  usining a mini Radiator wiith 2 botom tanks  one removed from an other radiator with a damaged core  resolder so.there is no radiator cap and relocate one of the out lets to the opposite side  and run the hoses  to the themistat housing and the other to the top.of the oridganal Radiator
I have sat the mini.Radiator Behinde  the frount Grill and there is enough room there even to mount a plastic themo fan

[Halfpint]

Oh wow, a blast from way back.
Lots of attempts have been made.
Personally havnt tried it but can see how it may work. I would think that some mods to allow more air to flow might be needed, but why not.
HP

[Drakman]

Hi Fred,

I have been "experimenting" a little with the cooling on my 1293, 1977 moke.  My engine is fairly newly built and the block and head were hot tanked, so all clean inside.

I went with the supposed hi flow water pump, bypass deleted option, i removed the engine fan and fitted a thermo fan behind the radiator set to come on at 90 degrees.  My radiator is a new 4 core type mounted to the body, if i had my time over again i would probably go with one of the more modern alloy 2 core versions from what i have heard from other people they are really good.

I switched from a small water pump pulley to the larger version and that made a noticeable difference.

I have tried all sorts of under car blanking plates to help push air into the engine bay and out through the radiator, i even have a plate to stop the air moving past the firewall side of the rad to redirect it into the rad.  Under the left wing i fitted louvres to stop side wind from pushing air back into the radiator, it all worked kind of.  I am on the Sunshine Coast QLD so it gets hot here, the above mods worked ok for driving around the city areas but i was a little concerned about taking it on longer highway trips.  So, i got hold of a Ford Cougar double pass heater matrix and fitted it to the lower front RHS behind the grill.  I have it plumbed into the heater tap take off on the back of the head and returning to a Mini Metro thermostat sandwich plate  mounted under the thermostat housing.

I recently drove the car down to Melbourne and back 3675 klm's.  On the way down we drove through storms where i had to follow trucks to get the temp up over 50 degrees, in the end i found an old 2 litre ice cream container lid to put in front of the heater matrix that got  the temps up to 80 degrees.

On the way back i drove through the bush fires so it was hot and 110 klm roads, the engine runs cooler the faster i go, depending on the ambient temps the engine was running between 72 ish degrees and 80 degrees.  Sitting in traffic in the towns i went through the thermo fan would start, once moving again the temps would drop right back.

Still a work in progress.

Cheers
Dave