Build Diary for
2013-07-28 - Radiator

With the weather forecast on the change and rain expected, I was keen to get something done on the car this weekend. The first job was to try and get the radiator and fans mounted and then work out what other little brackets I needed around the car.

I had a radiator made up so it is approximately 50mm deep and 600mm wide by 300mm high. This fits nicely in the space at the front of the engine and picks up on the standard radiator inlet and outlets on the 1500 midget engine. I also got another 25mm outlet welded in so I can feed it to the brass header tank that I am using. The header is from an early Vitesse 1600 and I really liked the look of it on my Sammio Spyder, so I wanted to use it again.

The mounts for the radiator are made from 20mm box section and just allow the radiator to sit at a slight angle so it should pick up plenty of airflow. It is high enough to keep out of the way of stones and stuff flying up from the road.

I managed to get hold of a pair of electric fans from a range Rover DSE and I mounted these in front of the Chassis bumper bar, and this should sit nicely in the nose of the Speedster. One fan will be switched by a temperature switch in the radiator and the other will be on a manual switch inside the cockpit. I think one fan will be enough but I want to be on the safe side and have the other switchable manually.

Other little jobs included making up mounts for the coil and also the header tank and then I started to ponder over the bulkhead. Since I am using a non-standard pedal assembly, it has meant that I cannot use the (or it will be difficult to use) the bulkhead moulding that comes as part of the Miglia kit, so I needed to look at alternatives. The additional strengthening I have put in makes it a challenge to make a neat job of the bulkhead so I have decided to look at a simpler approach and move the bulkhead forward and make it vertical. This does mean that the bonnet will basically expose the engine side, and the bulkhead but I think this will be a good solution in the long run.

The last major job was to make up an exhaust and I had got hold of some 41mm mild steel pipe and an old motorcycle silencer so I set about making up a new header pipe and them a connecting pipe that runs down the length of the car. It turned out really well I think, so I am well chuffed and on a roll to try and get it started next weekend!