Newbie

[Reckless Rat]

If you overfill, it WILL spit it out! The over-flow pipe isn't very large in diameter. During a rebuild I cleaned out all the galleries in the block and head (it's amazing how much crap settles in there) as well as clearing out the radiator (original) by repeated backflushing. My RP sports a four-blade export fan due to where it lives, (it gets hot here in summer) but I can testify to the fact that it got to the top of the "Col de la Bonnette" at 2808 metres without overheating, and that was a hell of a long uphill slog. If anything on a normal cool day it takes a tad too long to warm up. A pal of mine who had an A7 special ran it without any cooling fan and most of the time it had no overheating issues (except when stuck in traffic for a long time)

If the car suffers from the occasional boil on a long climb you could always run with one half of the bonnet open (carb side), held in place with a bungee. Amazing how much heat can be dissipated this way.

[Chris KC]

If you overfill, it WILL spit it out! The over-flow pipe isn't very large in diameter. During a rebuild I cleaned out all the galleries in the block and head (it's amazing how much crap settles in there) as well as clearing out the radiator (original) by repeated backflushing. My RP sports a four-blade export fan due to where it lives, (it gets hot here in summer) but I can testify to the fact that it got to the top of the "Col de la Bonnette" at 2808 metres without overheating, and that was a hell of a long uphill slog. If anything on a normal cool day it takes a tad too long to warm up. A pal of mine who had an A7 special ran it without any cooling fan and most of the time it had no overheating issues (except when stuck in traffic for a long time)

If the car suffers from the occasional boil on a long climb you could always run with one half of the bonnet open (carb side), held in place with a bungee. Amazing how much heat can be dissipated this way.

Yes - usually the first time I use the brakes! My own experiences are quite similar to yours Reckless. I couldn't believe the amount of crap I cleaned out of the side manifold on stripdown; I'm expecting her to run much cooler now. It's just I could never quite shake the feeling that the rad should be 'full'!

[austin]

We have Boyce Motometers on ours. Original ones turn up on ebay fairly often, you want the "Gem" model, it's the smaller one. For some reason some go for lots of money, I've never paid more than £30 for one. They often are listed as not working because when left on there side for long periods the liquid in the thermometer creeps up and makes it look like it's reading very hot all the time. Fixable by just using it or holding it firmly and flicking it downwards lots of times to get the liquid back down

My Ulster has no fan so it's really useful when sitting in traffic to see how hot it's getting

[Chris KC]

Where are my manners - welcome Rich!

[Bob Culver]

A stock RP will lose water under braking (For decades my car had a tiny hole in the cap so any overheating could be observed. Under braking a tiny jet of rusty water went over the roof!) The pipe must not be constricted, but if terminated in a bottle of some sort most of the loss can be retrieved. Ideally not something obviously plastic.

[Chris KC]

A stock RP will lose water under braking (For decades my car had a tiny hole in the cap so any overheating could be observed. Under braking a tiny jet of rusty water went over the roof!) The pipe must not be constricted, but if terminated in a bottle of some sort most of the loss can be retrieved. Ideally not something obviously plastic.

Thanks Bob. For me the concern is not loss of coolant, but the desire to use a coolant with anti-corrosion additives etc. The prospect of sampling a facefull each time I go out deters me somewhat.

[wooster]

Thanks all your advice chaps. At the moment I have no overheating problems so I don't need a Calormeter. However, as I think they look nice I might get one anyway!


Photos as promised