The current freezing weather has reminded me that although I have to cover half the radiator at this moment to get the temperature up, once the weather warms 90 Kph equals 90° which is too hot for a Lambda. So I had should rectify the problem before the currently remote possibility of warm weather arises.
I have pulled the radiator out (just 3 nuts plus loosening hoses) and have sent it off to be checked out. Like a fair few things on my car the radiator had been modified, this was done to aid removal, however in doing so it’s ended up with a right angled bottom radiator hose and it’s not reinforced with a spring so maybe it’s being sucked flat at high revs? The Lambda water pump is renowned for being overly efficient so the optimist in me is thinking that maybe something this simple could be the problem.
Of course taking out the radiator is just an entrée to:
- Rod or re-core radiator
- New fan bearings.
- Replace radiator brace with something more substantial (thanks Simmo).
- Straighten badge although my car may be unrecognisable afterwards.
- Replace bonnet tape.
- Contemplate once more boring a steam hole in the Lancia’s head.
- plus 10 others not related to the radiator like resetting the rear springs etc.
The Alex Bryce Rally is late September but I’m away for a few weeks so I had better get my skates on, or I might just put another log on the fire and dodge the issue for a few more days.
LOVE the racing Bedelia at the top of the article. Does anyone know anything about it?
There is one still attending hill climbs in the UK. I’ve got photos of it from a couple of years ago, sent to me by a friend. I can find them if you like. Can’t remember what other info I have on it though.
What instrumentation does it have, Mark? Does it use a Lambda sensor?
That was truly terrible, but maybe I needed one when I was looking to buy the car in the first place
Could your problem be similar to the T44? The water goes through the rad too quickly to lose the heat. Solved by choking down the (2) top hoses to 1/2 inch dia. Worth a try?
Hi Mike,
I have read about that but it feels counter intuitive. Will give it a try if the bottom hose idea does not pan out.
Cheers
Mark
Mike is right Mark. I learned this when I was designing the thermosiphoning hydronic system we put in on Mt. Baw Baw 35 years ago. Passing water through a radiator panel too quickly doesn’t give it time to lose much heat. This not only effects radiator output but also thermosiphoning because the water’s density doesn’t increase enough to assist its fall back down to the boiler. I have a copy of an old text book on central heating system design that the company that built the wood-fired boiler for us lent me. It describes how to calculate the correct flow rate and temperature drop. The other thing with velocity of water across a heat transfer surface is that to get good transfer you need turbulent flow at the interface. Velocity also effects this. If you get laminar flow at the interface, heat transfer suffers.