New Radiator

[Offshore]

The fitting of new timing seal and steam cleaning engine and bay has worked wonders and I appear to have an oil tight engine.....

Steam cleaning all the s h 1 t off the radiator shows it full of holes and needing replacement. As I want to attend my first national in July need to do it before summer.

Bearing in mind my car is a daily drive to and for work and I get enough grief from the bosses about getting a proper car (?) every time she is off road is it worth renewing all the relevant hoses whilst I'm at it?

Do I need to order anything else with the radiator ie a cap or do they come complete?

Finally my fan has seen better days and is a multi blade plastic unit. Spares sites only seem to offer a two blade unit with optional "fan blade stiffener". Should I look out for a 5 blade fan or buy the above?

Car as some of you know is 1970 Traveller with 1098cc. Having owned the car for only two years I do not know the history of the vehicle and never met the owner who himself only had the car 3years before me.

Cheers.

[simmitc]

If a standard 1098 then two blade fan will be fine. Fit the stiffener - it helps to avoid stress cracks and blades flying off

The new rad does not come with a cap, it has ot be ordered separately. If you can afford it, then go for silicone hoses. The kevlar ones a similar to what you cleaned off the engine! When using silicone you also need round edge clips, preferably stainless, to avoid cutting in. Suppliers of hoses should be able to provide the correct clips, but don't be fobbed off with standard ones.

[bmcecosse]

As above - get rid of the plastic power sapping/noisy fan. Some new hoses are very poorly made these days - and fail in short time. The kevlar ones seem to get a poor write-up....... Always carry spare hoses and clips in the car !

[whyperion]

round hose clips ? Do you mean the wire type ones used by BMC in the 70s on 1300 transverse engines ? I alway tend to replace with the Proper Jubilee Hose clip with a touch of petroleum jelly on the screw faces, are these no good for anything other than Rubber hoses ?

[bmcecosse]

Pay the tiny extra amount for the stainless Jub clips.