Converting to Hi-pressure cooling system,

[Chris K]

lo all,

 

I currently run a 1600 sprint 100 '84 model with low pressure cooling system.

Im looking to change this to a hi pressure system but unsure of what other parts I need or how to route it all..

Im going to change the water pump to a new one supplied by Caterham as Iv been told the orignal was prone to cavitation at high revs.

 

but where should the header tank gravity feed into?

and bleed back from the top of the engine? Fiesta XR2 water tower?

 

Any recomemdations where to get a nice header tank??

Cheers all..

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

[Anthony]

Hi, plenty of threads around, but I hope this helps;-

 

1. Rover expansion tank and cap ( mine was from a 200 series )

 

2. Mount this on the bulkhead, next to pedel box

 

3. Change thermostat housing with "peroscope" sorry, not clear on parts number.

 

4. Fun small bore hose from peroscope to expansion tank

 

5. Fit connector pipe into lower hose by rad ( this is not essential if you do away with heater )

 

6. Run larger bore pipe to connector

 

Chris Wheeler at 7 workshop put a kit together for me

 

On the pump replacement, not sure this is essential. I ran a std pump on my all steel x-flow and with pressurised sytem it was good as gold.

 

 

 

 

Anthony

 

VX the real way sideways

 

 

 

Edited by - anthony on 3 Feb 2003 12:16:16

[Peter T]

Cavitation was not a problem on my steel X-flow even with revs of 9000rpm+ Thermastat housing can be sourced from an early fiesta XR2, Anthony are you getting your worms muddled?

Hows the New engine coming along? Mine arrives Thurs, and i will let you know about the wotsits (hush, hush)

 

Power Freak member!

[R2D2]

The pressure in the cooling system shouldn't really change with the layout of the expansion tank.

 

There are a couple of different solutions that seem to work.

 

The first is to fit the Rover 200 Expansion tank onto the scuttle complete with a pressure cap.

 

Then change the Fiesta Thermostat housing for one without a pressure cap but with a pipe that connects into the expansion tank.

 

If you have a heater you will also need a "submarine" so that you can connect the heater in parallel around the expansion tank. The submarine fits in the pipe that runs from the water pump to the heater. It is in effect a Y piece that will also connect to the expansion tank.

 

There is another method that is simple if you have heater fitted.

 

Replace the pressure cap on the Fiesta thermostat housing with a "flat" cap. Pipe the overflow to an expansion tank fitted with a pressure cap. Rimmer Bros sell one from a 4-Speed TR7 that fits under the nose cone in the same position as the standard tank.

 

I have used this system successfully and it is quite tidy and still allowed me to retain the old style flat heater.

 

[Allan Haighton]

I got a kit of bits from Roger King/7 Workshop. Didn't change the water pump though.

If you're keepng the heater on a Xflow, you'll also need a submarine pipe from Caterham, and will probably need to cut this to length to make it fit into the bottom hose to the radiator.

 

If you make a couple of brackets, you can mount the header tank on top of the old style flat heater, securing the brackets to the same screw holes used for the heater top plate. The header tank fits nicely above the centrally-mounted heater motor.

 

Works well, and ends worries about coolant loss.

[Casbar]

I used the XR2 expansion tank. Although its best to mount the tank as high as possible, ie over the heater, I mounted mine on a couple of brackets over the fan under the nose cone. Just fits, its higher than the water jacket and works very well.

 

Been running this config for a year or more, with no problems