Ally radiator............

[mark030358]

Gents,
Has anyone bought and fitted the ally radiator that advertised for elans all the time on ebay? Its the same size as the early radiators. Item number: 4600797959

cheers
Mark

[elansprint71]

Mark,
I am interested in fitting an ally radiator, so naturally I have looked at these on eBay. I looks to be a great piece of equipment but what puts me off is the price. If you enter their eBay store and look at the prices of similar rads for other makes, they are a fraction of what they want for the Elan one. Even other "hand-made" rads in their catalogue are much cheaper.

I thought that I had solved the problem when I found a Triumph Spitfire ally rad, but the pipes come out at different angles.

Maybe I'll bite the bullet and get one fron Tony Thompson.

Cheers,
pete.

[stuartgb100]

I managed to pick up one of the early full-width rads on ebay. Paid about ?50 if I remember. Took it to a local rad specialist, who gave me 2 options:

A full recondition (all new cores etc) for about ?55, or

the same, but squeezing in an extra row of cores as well, about ?80.

Went for the latter. Total cost approx ?150. So a significant saving over the ally option and preserved a bit of originality. Also have a significantly increased cooling capacity over the original small rad.

Incidentally, the guy thought they came from either a herald or vitesse. He seemed certain they were Triumph.

Regards,

Stuart.

[nebogipfel]

I think the only difference txixt Spit' and Elan rads is the outlet for the top hose. On the Elan it points rearwards and is nearly straight, on the Spit' it turns in towards the engine at a bit of an angle.

It shouldn't be too difficult to modify a Spit' rad?

The easiest quick fix for more cooling is to get a three row core fitted to the standard rad' which any decent rad' reconditioner should be able to do.

[Old English White]

... Hi Mark ,
Seems we have same problem on our cars , I already notice these rads on Ebay ... I ask them a quote for one alu , but fully polished with a twin electric fan fitted , never get a response ...
Ask other rad makers , shipping rates were simply prohibitive .
Will go for TTR rad & swirlpot , suppose too many drivers can't be wrong ... hope so!
Christian.
"Old English White" 66' FHC S3

[hethelfan]

I too am looking for a new radiator for my Elan.
Tony Thompsons radiators are fantastic and about same price as the guy on ebay although you need a swirl pot or one of the thermostat housings with the filler cap.
I was talking to Cliveyboy at the stoneleigh show whose making the thermostat housings and he mentioned using off the shelf modern radiators with his housing. If this is the case then it should work out much cheaper as an aluminium radiator specifically for an elan is about ?300 whilst modern car radiators start below ?100 and most seem to be aluminium.

[Old English White]

... Sounds good , but for me , only two solutions : The first is to keep the engine bay original , or go for racing look ... and his efficiency !
I saw Cliveyboy parts site ; his thermostat housing look great (I think I have some period picures with this solution) but what about the rad ?
How mix visible modern parts from other make(s) on such a car like this ?
Prefer keep it original or add racing parts sp?cialy made for the Elan .
Why not just do like me , I'll wait to have the money for the right part !(Thanks "Old English White" is not my only car!)
An other advantage , in case of selling the car (!?!) , no explanation , no spares or donor car list . The original list from Lotus (essentialy Ford) is long enough.
Christian.
"Old English White" 66' FHC S3

[cliveyboy]

Hi Gents
I see the radiator question has come up again.
I agree with Hethelfan, Tony Thompsons aluminium radiators with F1 cores must be the best available and the price I think is very reasonable.
The housing that I am making means you can use radiators which do not have filler caps such as TTRs. This means as already mentioned that modern off the shelf radiators can be used if you can find one to fit.( I am working on this)
I agree/disagree with "Old English White"about modern rads not looking correct it just depends which radiator you fit and if you paint it black.

Cliveyboy

[steveww]

Last time I was looking the late model Ford Fiesta looked to have a radiator that would fit. Being a Ford part it is sort of original

[Old English White]

... Hi Cliveyboy ,
Read your comment with attention , notice than you don't have already found the "correct fit/looking off the shelf rad".
The moment you have a proposal , be sure than more than one will follow you... !
Christian.
"Old English White" 66' FHC S3

[collins_dan]

From this side of the pond, I put a Dave Bean radiator in my 70 S4 this summer with great success. It was expensive at $395, but I was able to build simple mounting brackets for the side similar to original "wings" and use the same hoses and 10" fan. It doesn't have a radiator cap, so I bought an inline one, but like cliveyboy's design and will go that route eventually. Also, Bean designed in a switch location similar to original, which has worked great as well. No worries putting it in as Bean designed it to fit. No more overheating worries, which is making the car a whole lot more fun. Dan

[elansprint71]

My 1973 Renault 5 (950cc) had a radiator which would be perfet for the Elan, in fact there is a car running in the Paul Matty Sprint & Hill-Climing Championship using one.

Not much chance of finding new old stck rad though

Pete

[72plus2]

I am sure I have read that a VW scirocco rad is a good replacement. Not sure if the donor should be a mkI or MKII. I would try it myself, but I sold my scirocco a couple of years ago.


Chris
72 Plus2

[pereirac]

I was quoted ?80 to recore my standard radiator with 3 cores. Sounds like a good way to improve cooling and keep everything else the same. The other alternative is to buy a wide Triumph racing unit for around ?100 and then find sombody to turn the top hose connectors around. My Elan rad is marked Standpart so it was a Triumph radiator once upon a time.
I seem to remember the earlier Elans had wider radiators..
Carl

[steveww]

Before I fitted a much bigger radiator my S4 had a 3 core narrow standard radiator. Having the extra core did not solve the overheating problem. The narrow radiators are just not up to the job.