After my Donnington trip this weekend I picked up a few bits and bobs for the S4.

New front grill and bonnet vent mesh for £6. I have mounted the front grill mesh on the outside, It is a close mesh so might hinder cooling so I had already fitted cowling to the rad you can just see it behind the grill. Its made from pvcu with a foam inner very light and should help with cooling, stopping air bypassing the rad.


New chrome windscreen washer jet, was a pain to fit, trying to get the nut on under the scuttle but was worth it looks good. Also a chrome centre rear view mirror not fitted this yet as there is very little room between the windscreen and dash, i may need to make up a bracket so its bolted to the dash and not the top of the scuttle "more thought needed".

I also removed the windscreen and frame, cleaned everything up then set the bottom of the windscreen back in with black pu adhesive, this should stop the rain coming in underneath the screen and dripping down the dash "yes I have been caught in the rain" .Need some chrome windcreen arms and wipers that I forgot to get at donni "damm".

anyway heres a picture

Next big job is to spray the hard top roof, I have machine polished it but its not as good as the body,I will keep you all posted

Looks good. I've got an even finer mesh on mine (I will get around to photos sometime soon) but cooling isn't really a problem - the xflow certainly gets no hotter than it did in the escort it came out of (and the belt-driven fan is quite a way back from the rad, an electric fan is probably a worthwhile investment). There's really quite a bit of space for air to "move" immediately around the rad area so I don't think it's really a problem, indeed I've seen some cars with only a very small grille (and no grille below the number plate).

From my experience with cooling electronic circuits the most important factor by far is to get the air moving - ie a fan. I'm presuming yours has one of these fitted! :P

Ed

yes it has an electric fan fitted, but on hotter days and when Its been pushed hard its running on the hot side. I have fitted a new thermostat and wired up a manual switch for the fan,as I felt the fan was coming on to late to do owt .

Along with the cowling all mods have helped, I may fit another radiator and a lower temp fan switch, but as the weather is cooler now I will leave it for now.An expansion tank would also help as it spills out water when hot through the small hose next to the cap, but locating it may be a problem "as i believe it should be higher than the top hose"

any ideas i'm all ears

Graham

Second rad is a good idea, also I've seen some modern jag radiators have two smaller fans instead of one large one which should help with air flow. I think in that case the radiator has to be quite wide to make it beneficial.

Might be worth putting a couple of side vents on if you can bear to cut holes in the fibreglass? The Phaeton design chucks a lot of air back over the hot engine bay, but if there's nowhere for it to go (other than the two small roof vents) that could cause problems.

Have you a heater box connected (where one was originally intended)? Mine ran very hot without this in the circuit - simply put the extra mass of coolant involved in what is effectively another radiator helps tremendously. If the rad is blocked with lots of leaves etc this'll reduce the cooling ability, easiest solution is to use a hoover to get all the crud out (careful not to damage it obviously).

Also this is probably a stupid question but you are using a correct size radiator (ie not putting a V8 into a x-flow radiator!)?

Apologies if you've already tried any of these ideas!

Ed

Hi Graham,

It should only push the water out if the rad is over filled - the water level should be only just over the cooling tubes in the rad - another way is to set up a syphon bottle where the hose goes to the bottom of a 1 liter bottle - and gets pushed out and sucked back as the water expands. If the Rad is filled to the top it can only expand onto the floor.

The temp switch is pretty was pretty accurate at 97 on 92 off and the fan only ever came on in traffic when required - The Gauges are never the most accurate and I recall it probably indicated over 100 on the gauge before the fan came on but it is not.

Oh I found some bits you may be interested in - The bulb kits for the spotlights should you wish to wire them up and an old part of an S4 Bonnet to repair the Hole where the weber pops out - I was looking for a Single 45 Sidedraught on a Lynx crossover manifold - (better than twin 40's) and then repair the bonnet to hide it all.

I keep wondering when I am going to see it on Black/polished rim 15" minilites ;)


Wing mirrors look good by the way

Cheers

Andrew

maybe I'm relying to much on the gauge, I will check with a thermometer to see how accurate gauge is,But it does seem very hot when you lift the bonnet.


Yes would be interested in the bonnet cut out as r1 carbs will be going on during the winter.
I had an old escort si alloy which was 15" tried it on the front , cant remember what ratio the tyre was but I didn,t like it.much preferred the 13" - 70 ratio.What ratio tyre would you recommend on 15's.

also what pressure does the mechanical fuel pump work at "anybody know"(2 litre pinto) .R1 carbs only run at about 2 psi.was thinking about just using the mechanical pump,maybe with a regulator if i need it, or bike fuel pump as a last resort.



R1 carbs are currently mounted on a zetec inlet manifold,if anyone is interested in JUST the inlet manifold give us a shout.
they were made by bogg brothers for the r1 carbs ,may suite other bike carbs,

Drop me a pm with your address Graham and I will post the stuff up to you.

The 15's would run 195/50's

Must admit I also like the look of 13's but the tyre choice and price of 15's is much better.

Remember that the car is Black so heat is constantly being absorbed by the body work so will always seem hotter when opening the bonnet as every surface will be radiating heat. However having just fitted a Polo rad to the Westie I would certainly consider dropping one of those in

Got a cam going in along with those carbs or just one mod at a time?

I dont think that the pressure is that great with a mechanical pump - and as they are engine speed driven they are not always flat out like an electric - only question is will it be able to keep up with the carbs? I would fit a regulator either way.

Cheers

Andrew

The grille looks smart Graham - really turning into one smart looking S4 that. Got me thinking about a really dark midnight blue/black when painting time comes...

No progress on mine yet - not been well enough, but determined to get the body off before end of Sept and start painting and cleaning everything, then it's trying to figure out the cheapest way to 5-link the back end. Going to cost me £100 just to rent another gas bottle for the welder, so going down to talk to a motorsport preparation specialist http://www.asperformance.com/ who's just round the corner from me next week... See if they will do the 5-linking.