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MG TD TF 1500 - Proud of my Shroud

In anticipation of a parade (we are going to the Traversee de Paris) and overheating issues in a similar situation with hot weather and stop & go traffic, I developed the cunning plan to build a shroud for the radiator amongst other improvements to the cooling system. Sounds easy, but isnīt....

I started with the idea to use a shroud from a modern car which had approximately the right size. It contained an electric fan, which, together with the motor, unfortunately was too deep to fit between the engine and the radiator, so I cut it out and removed everything else that was in the way. Split in two pieces, the shroud fit nicely over the radiator.



Mike Fritsch

Unfortunately, the opening for the fan was not exactly where I needed it, but about 1 inch off. Too much to tolerate. So back to square 1.
I decided to build the shroud from scratch, using thin aluminium sheets (.5mm) which is easy to work with and stable enough for the purpose.

Since the radiator is surrounded by lots of bits and pieces (fan axis, radiator top hose, radiator bottom hose, radiator drain pipe, the chrome cover, etc. itīs not easy to fit something in there. As with the above plastic cover, it had to be two pieces.

The top part is 3-dimensional, cut and folded to shape, which, with some wiggling, can be squeezed in behind the top hose.

View from the back:




Mike Fritsch

View from the side


Mike Fritsch

View from the inside

Mike Fritsch

and fitted to the radiator

Mike Fritsch

Now the most difficult part - the rest. It is a long strip of metal, with various shapes and bends. The metal is easy to cut with a sheet cutter, but, since taking exact measures is difficult, it was a lot of trial and error, means folding the strip inside the radiator, around various edges and things that are in the way probably 50 times until the thing could finally be fitted. The strip shown is the first attempt, once I had it roughly right, I made a "proper" one which looked a bit better. Used a saw this time, which gives better edges.
Prototype, including the folding marks:


Mike Fritsch

The proper version

Mike Fritsch

View from the top. The frame rund along the bottom of the radiator, is folded above the drain cock in 2 90 degree angles and bent in 2 45 degree angles around the feed pipe to the water pump which sits in front of the radiator. Originally, I had planned to run it below the drain pipe, but no way to get the long piece through there and back.

Mike Fritsch

The shroud is fixed to the radiator on the top end with 1 of the two bolts that hold the radiator. On the side , it is squeezed between the side of the radiator shell (lower third) and the two bolts that sit there. On the bottom, the "flap" is wedged between the two bottom bolts and to fix it, I used wire. No way to reach the bolts with everything else in place...
While it has the proper circular shape on the top piece, the bottom is just a frame around the radiator, since there is no chance of fitting anything 3-dimensional in there

The next improvement is the fan, which I could actually re-use from the electric fan assembly. A metal plate (IKEA table leg top) is used as a hub for the fan and is bolted to the original spacer with a ring spacer in between (not shown) for proper alignment.
I hope the 6 blades bring a bit more ventilation.

I had an MGA 6-blade fan as an alternative, but the thing is so heavy that I had some concerns it might wear out the water pump bearing too quickly. So it went back to the shelf.


Mike Fritsch

Now the whole thing is in place. Letīs see how it works, currently itīs too cool to really test it.
All in all, it was a lot more tedious than expected. It would probably have been a lot easier with the radiator off, but that might be another challenge in itself, especially with the top hose that feels like solid rock from the outside.
At least now I know that I can remove the shroud without dismantling the radiator ;-)

Best Regards
MIke

Mike Fritsch

PS:
Since most of the work was done bent over the top of the radiator with the cap right in the stomach, the most important tool was this:


Mike Fritsch

Nice job.
L E D LaVerne

Keep us posted on the performance.
Mort Resnicoff

Mike,

Good work on your shroud, let us know if it makes a difference.
I attended the winter Traversée de Paris, just as a spectator, too far too travel from Antibes with my TD.
That time of the year, there were no problems with overheating as the ambient temperature was around 0° C.

John
J Scragg

Hi John,
I guess thatīs the time where you want the heater installed and working - still an unfinished project in my TD. I focused on priorities first.

Rgds, Mike
Mike Fritsch

Looks lovely! Very nice design.

You know, being it's made of aluminium and it's a great design it could almost have been designed by Pininfarina.

But then of course it would be... The Shroud of Turin.

;)
Kevin McLemore

As long as it does not start bleeding, I have no problem ;-)

Rgds Mike
Mike Fritsch

That is a very slick design, Mike. Should work well.

I have a stock 12" (10" shown in the pic and since replaced with a 12") electric fan that I bought from a speed shop for $55. It came with a set of long, plastic studs that pushed through the radiator fins to secure the unit.

I also modified the header tank to accept a VW rabbit thermo 88°C sensor (see pic) and wired it to a Manual-off-Auto switch under my dash. This combination has worked well for 12 years without trouble even in the 37° degree heat we are currently experiencing, and I have never had to over-ride the auto setting. It always comes on automatically, and shuts off automatically. And coolant temp is always below 100°.

I elected to use it in the "puller" mode, rather than the "pusher" mode, reasoning that I preferred not to have rain washing the fan motor when at road speeds, resulting in the only down side ... that its very cramped there. I have to remove the radiator to replace the fan belt.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.


Gord Clark

Gord, I can confirm that itīs very cramped there...

Puller design still makes sense, I saw no decent way of mounting a pusher between the grill and the radiator without dismantling the whole stuff.

I was thinking of an electric fan as well, but when I saw the one I had (from another car) was drawing 12 amps, I got a bit concerned. The aftermarket ones seem to draw a bit less. Probably still ok, because they are needed during the day when no other power equipment is in use.

First test drive today in warm weather (25-30C / 80-90F) was encouraging, especially in the "slow" stages / city traffic coming home where I normally got close to boiling.
I returned home with the temp at around 80C, where on previous day I had 95 and boiling after stopping the car.

Car gets too warm for my taste at higher speeds, I suspect the ignition is a bit early after adjustment of the breaker. Gear stick rattle seems to have increased a bit, which is usually an indicator for that. Thatīs next on the list to check.

Rgds, Mike
Mike Fritsch

Mike,

I had overheating problems about 12 years ago. The first thing I did was to have the radiator re-cored with a 3 tube matrix. That solved the problem. the rest of the cooling system is standard. Since then, I remove, reverse flush the radiator and change the coolant every 2 years.

John
J Scragg

Mike,

The only time the fan comes on, is when the engine is not running. Only then, does it come on. The ammeter shows a draw of less than 5 amps, but that's only for the approx. 5 minutes that the fan runs.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gord Clark

After our Paris Tour, 1300 km in 90-100F Temperatures, I can confirm that the cooling has significantly improved.
Adjustment of ignition and carbs by a real pro before the tour certainly helped to make it run like clockwork with a nice sound.
Whenever the temperature started to rise in idle after driving, a slight increase of revs to 1500 started to cool down the engine, you could watch the hand go down when the fan cooling kicked in. Definitely worth the effort after all...

Rgds, Mike
Mike Fritsch

This thread was discussed between 12/07/2018 and 26/07/2018

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