I think I should fit the Kenlowe fan - driving to the Goodwood Revival, all went well until we reached the turning to the car park, after the racecourse. It took an hour to travel the last mile. Of course the car overheated, as did a number of other classics in the queue. So, the heater had to be on full blast for most of that hour, ensuring that those in the car were just as hot and bothered as the Elan. Not a good start to what was an incredibly crowded event. Apart from that the journeys went well.
At least it proved that the heater matrix isn't blocked.
Kenlowe, annoyingly, failed to cut the fan frame as required to fit the Elan radiator. As I may replace the radiator with one that has by design a fan mounting, I don't want to cut it down until that's decided and am therefore thinking of a temporary installation using thin wooden spacers and a simple on/off switch in the glovebox.
The car has now done 47100 miles, around 2500 miles since it was back on the road. I had a look at the last MOT and that has a brief list of dates and mileage of a few earlier MOTs. This made interesting reading:
2006 - 44459 miles
2008 - 44543 (84 in 2 years)
2009 - 44632 (89 in the year)
2014 - 44664 (32 in 5 years, that includes testing before the MOT and driving to the test)
So only 205 miles and 3 MOTs in 8 years, nothing in the last 5 when the car had obviously been sitting (degrading) in a damp garage.
An hour's chat with, and test drive by Grahame. He was very happy with ride and suspension. Engine OK, runs out of revs above 4500/5000 but that’s the way it’s set up. Agreed that the 2800-3500 range was a bit rough. G suggested mechanical balancer for rough rev range and also perhaps a change to head breathing. Definitely oil from worn bores being burnt.
I found a company in Australia that makes balancer pulleys for the Kent engine, but they don't seem to have any distributors in Europe and haven't replied to my email.
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