New Stag owners from Norway

[Ian928]

Hello,

We have just bought our first Stag, it's a 1973 US-model. I have included a few pictures for you to see.

The car was restored in 2001 and has barely been run since. It was taken for a trip last year by the PO, overheated and both heads had to come off for repairs. The car now drives fine again, but nothing has been done to fix the overheating and tha car was sold as is to us. I have looked around and I am planning to buy a alu radiator and header tenk from E.J Ward (yes I know, lots of ££ but I don't mind that much). I have a few questions regarding this (as I know some of you have fitted these parts):

1. Our car have Airconditioning, is that compatible with the alu radiator and header tank?
2. I could buy a Kenlowe kit for the radiator, although I like the idea of the original fan cooling the engine bay all the time. I am guessing a new radiator will work well with the original fan?

SG109634.jpgP1150406.jpgP1150422.jpgP1150424.jpgSG109690.jpg

[AlanD]

Hi Ian,

welcome to the club, you will find loads of help on here, i will leave it to the experts to offer the advice on your cooling, i would tend to investegate the problem first as to why it overheated, the cooling system does work, mine is standard and i have no issues at all, there are improvements you can make, but i tend to think they will mask it much rather than solve the issue.

hope this helps

alan

[Seaking]

welcome Ian have you checked out peters news page at ldparts.co.uk he has written his thoughts on the cooling system and he did send out a e mail maybe you can contact him and ask him to e mail his news letters to you .
P.s i have always found peter to be very very good and free with his info
happy driving
Glenn

[Paul Goldsmith]

Nice Stag !

It looks like you've already got an electric fan, as a 'pusher' on the front of the current radiator and also the original 'Tropical spec' radiator cowl to improve the efficiency of the mechanical fan (UK cars don't have these)

As somebody who's sufferred from severe hot running previously, touch wood all now sorted, I agree with Alan's opinion that best to get the standard setup working as efficiently as possible. If you then want to change to a Kenlowe you can in the knowledge that the car is exactly as it should be first and are not masking a potential disasterous situation.

The following list of jobs we did to resolve our scenario (your own may be different) in the order of best effect achieved ;

1) Recored existing radiator with 4-row 'fin and tube' constructed core as per OEM (seems Stags don't suit the more common 'packed' core, possibly due to its low airflow through the front end)
2) New vicous coupling (from a trusted source) for the mechanical fan - ours was worn and slipping too easily, minimising the amount of air it could shift
3) Getting our engine tuning absolutely spot on for unleaded fuel
4) Full cooling system flush, including renewal of core plugs, followed by optimum anti-freeze 30% proportion for cooling whilst maintaining sufficient frost protection
5) Checked waterpump and housing matched (ie. both 6 vane or both 12 vane) and clearances were as per ROM
6) Checked for inlet and head gasket issues

We seem to be OK now on the standard setup but next up is a high level header tank, to provide extra leeway and an alarmed warning in the event of water loss. The high level tank relies on gravity rather than the perfect vacuum required by the standard setup

Hope you get it sorted, whichever route you take

ps. liking the twin-twin tailpipe too

[singapore stag]

Love the exhaust pipes.
Sukh.

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum. Nice car and the first one I have seen with the standard alloys chromed (?)

Ian

[jbuckl]

If this was my car, I'd start with cooling system pressure test.

Expansion bottle & cap appear to be non-standard.

Aluminium radiator may not fix anything. (an original clean & unblocked brass & copper one has a better heat transfer)

It looks like a nice example.

[AlanD]

As Paul has said Ian, it's all good advice, you can modify. When i bought mine i stripped out the radiator, flushed it from both ends, took out the thermostat flushed the engine through, again forward and backward with the heater control on HOT, jet washed the finns too, fitted the correct 82 degree thermostat and she has been fine since. If you log onto Grampian stags the lads on that site have put a document together for the fitting of a expansion tanks from the mercedes. A step by step guide to fitting it too.

hope this helps too

Alan

[Ian928]

Thank you for the nice response! We have not even received the car yet, we bought it unseen from Belgium...

I am a little unsure about the recoring, manpower is much more expensive in Norway than in GB, it will probably cost me about the same or more as a new radiator from UK.

About the pusher fan, I did not think about that, this car has AC and this setup looks a lot like the on on my Porsche 928. On the Porsche it is a temperature sensor measuring ambient temperature that controls the fan, so when temperature is higher than 28°C the fan kicks in (and - I am sad to say this - it has only happened once here in Norway...) If this fan is controlled in a similar manner, both the fan and the AC heat exchanger in front of the radiator is blocking the airflow.

OK, how about this then: I buy the alu radiator from Ward, and use the switch that this comes with to control the AC fan? And of course do the other tests and modifications mentioned here to ensure everything is up to spec. I do not want to mess with the "tropical cowl" and I like the original fan so it is good to hear that it can stay.

Also, I will look into the Mercedes expansion tanks, thank you!

[Marco Polo]

About the pusher fan, I did not think about that, this car has AC and this setup looks a lot like the on on my Porsche 928. On the Porsche it is a temperature sensor measuring ambient temperature that controls the fan, so when temperature is higher than 28°C the fan kicks in (and - I am sad to say this - it has only happened once here in Norway...) If this fan is controlled in a similar manner, both the fan and the AC heat exchanger in front of the radiator is blocking the airflow.

OK, how about this then: I buy the alu radiator from Ward, and use the switch that this comes with to control the AC fan? And of course do the other tests and modifications mentioned here to ensure everything is up to spec. I do not want to mess with the "tropical cowl" and I like the original fan so it is good to hear that it can stay.

Also, I will look into the Mercedes expansion tanks, thank you!

Hi Ian,
I have just installed a modified "original Stag" aircon system to my car.
I used the ally radiator from EJ Wards and mounted the condenser to the front of the radiator and then installed a 16" pusher electric fan infront of the condenser. I had to relocate the temp sensing boss on the EJ Ward rad because it interfered with the aircon compressor. If you intend keeping the aircon, I would advise you to change the original reciprocating York type aircon compressor that you have currently fitted for a modern axial "Sanden" pump which is far more efficient, using less power and also gives less vibration.
Your photos don't show the location of the condenser on your car but I suspect it is mounted on brackets infront of the radiator cooled by two electric fans. I would advise you to change this also for a modern hiflow unit which will also improve the efficency of the aircon system.
My cooling system was adequate prior to fitting the aircon, but I decided to go for the EJ Ward rad to give me more margin.
The cooling system on my car is now so efficient I have difficulty getting the engine up to operating temperature. I would also advise you to thoroughly flush your cooling system and current radiator bofore you go to the expense of the EJ Ward radiator. A more complete explanation of my mod is in the Technical Section.
Hope this helps,
regards,
Raoul

P.S. North Queensland is, I suspect, a lot warmer than Norway!

[Ian928]

Hi Ian,
I have just installed a modified "original Stag" aircon system to my car.
I used the ally radiator from EJ Wards and mounted the condenser to the front of the radiator and then installed a 16" pusher electric fan infront of the condenser. I had to relocate the temp sensing boss on the EJ Ward rad because it interfered with the aircon compressor. If you intend keeping the aircon, I would advise you to change the original reciprocating York type aircon compressor that you have currently fitted for a modern axial "Sanden" pump which is far more efficient, using less power and also gives less vibration.
Your photos don't show the location of the condenser on your car but I suspect it is mounted on brackets infront of the radiator cooled by two electric fans. I would advise you to change this also for a modern hiflow unit which will also improve the efficency of the aircon system.
My cooling system was adequate prior to fitting the aircon, but I decided to go for the EJ Ward rad to give me more margin.
The cooling system on my car is now so efficient I have difficulty getting the engine up to operating temperature. I would also advise you to thoroughly flush your cooling system and current radiator bofore you go to the expense of the EJ Ward radiator. A more complete explanation of my mod is in the Technical Section.
Hope this helps,
regards,
Raoul

P.S. North Queensland is, I suspect, a lot warmer than Norway!

You are absolutely right, I don't really need the AC system here! If I can keep it I will, but I do not care if it is not very effective as we have natural cooling here... You say that the temp sensor on the Ward compressor interfered with the AC compressor, is this because you have changed it for another type or will I also have the same problem? Did you use the temp senor (or rather temp swich?) in the Ward radiator to run the pusher fan?

Also, do you have a "Tropical Cowl" and did you have to do some modifications to this or the Ward radiator to make it fit?

[Coppo]

Hi Ian.

Welcome to Stag ownership if the car is well looked after and used a lot it will give you so much pleasure back.
What part of Norway are you in ?
I lived in Oslo for nearly 20 years. I still come back to work there. I have driven my Stags there 5 times and loved every minuite of it.
DSCF0007A.jpg

This pic was taken on the top of Hemsadal Fjell on the way to Førde.

Cheers.

Paul.

[Ian928]

Hi Ian.

Welcome to Stag ownership if the car is well looked after and used a lot it will give you so much pleasure back.
What part of Norway are you in ?
I lived in Oslo for nearly 20 years. I still come back to work there. I have driven my Stags there 5 times and loved every minuite of it.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14676[/ATTACH]

This pic was taken on the top of Hemsadal Fjell on the way to Førde.

Cheers.

Paul.

We live in Kristiansund, on the northwest coast, a little south of Trondheim. Yes, Norway is a scenic place to drive, we "toured the Fjords" a few years back with our '65 Spitfire, it was really really nice! On the other hand, we have had two holidays in GB with a rented (modern) convertible and we liked it very much. We saw a lot of Stags also, and that triggered the need for one... As you might guess we now have a child, and this is the reason for the Stag

[elvimto]

Ian i have a 71 federal spec car the radiator is 41 years old i removed it last year to have the lower hose outlet soldered the rad shop evaluated it and said it was in great shape just my 2 cents The car runs fine and I have no cooling issues expansion bottle works as it should I fitted a blanking cap to the rad and the pressure cap is on the expansion bottle nice looking car.


cheers Stuart

[Ian928]

Ian i have a 71 federal spec car the radiator is 41 years old i removed it last year to have the lower hose outlet soldered the rad shop evaluated it and said it was in great shape just my 2 cents The car runs fine and I have no cooling issues expansion bottle works as it should I fitted a blanking cap to the rad and the pressure cap is on the expansion bottle nice looking car.


cheers Stuart

Thank you Stuart! I can see that our car came from Atwater California. I am guessing it has seen more warm days than I have!