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Old 13th June 2015, 22:10
8 Valve Ed 8 Valve Ed is offline
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Hi Peter, just got in from rescuing the Marlin. I soldered the rad again, not sure how good it is really, I think it needs rebuilding. In a way it's a good rad but it's pretty old and despite being a genuine Serk specialised radiator with perforated fins I am not convinced of it's integrity. The top and bottom tanks are flat with no stiffening beads to prevent the sides and top of the tank bulging when the internal pressure rises, the flat parts of the tank are quite rounded as a result of the bulging which has occurred when the heat and pressure has been on. I am concerned about fatigue cracks in the brass header tanks at the edges and around soldered joints

I am getting the feeling that a completely new rad may be the best way forward.

I don't believe the engine is overheating, it's coming up to thermostat temp and holding it steadily. I am however concerned one of the the tanks or the core could let go unexpectedly. If that happened a long way from home I am stuffed

The old Metro servo is good, once again many thanks on that one, the outcome of our discussion about front and rear balance of the BMW master cylinder held good. The front/rear balance seems good, in the dry at least. The axle weights front/rear are close to 50/50. The fronts lock up easily at low speed and do so well before the rears and in a controlled manner. On the rollers the fronts went well up towards 4-500 and were both the same, the rears were both about 200. The car weighs just over 700 Kg according to my improvised hydraulic jack weighing scales.

On my way back home I tried stopping the engine, still refuses to start but not for so long now. Pretty tired right now will try to explain better tomorrow...
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