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MG MGB Technical - Electric Fan on an early B GT

Working on the cooling system for my 67 B GT prior to my trip across the US from Wisconsin to California in August. All the help that the group gave is being put to use to get the system as clean as I can, but I am wondering what the thoughts are on using an electronic fan as a pusher?

Little British Car Co has a 10" fan with an adjustable thermostat contol that is set up for the B. Will this give me any additional cooling for freeway driving, or are them mostly good for stop and go driving?
Bruce Cunha

Bruce - No fan will push more air than a car driving over 20 mph, so no, it won't help out on the freeway. We have twice taken our MGB and TD on trips through the western US and never had any problem with over heating on either vehicle. Cheers - Dave

Let me edit the above "no fan other that perhaps one of those 4' diameter fans that they often have in the Home Depot stores", but they you would have to get the mother of all extension cords to go with it ;-)
D W DuBois

I fitted a fan to my old Sprite, it was very helpful in the Summer queues into motorsport events, but did nothing at higher speeds. I fitted it for overheating in queues on hot days and was delighted with it.
Piers Colver

Each year I take my 67 roadster with a slightly juiced up engine on a Continental tour. I'm just back from 3 weeks down to the Med in temperatures up in the low 90's. A kenlowe pusher fan was fitted a few years back (with a manual override switch)and I find that by switching it on as soon as the speed drops below 30 or so or if if I'm hammering up a long mountain pass the temp never climbs above an indicated 95 degrees C.

Hope this info will be reassuring.


G E Tyler

Bruce,
as usual I'm going to frighten the traditionalist

I've had an electric cooling fan fitted for over four years on my daily use midget that gets used all year round

I also do not have an override switch fitted I let the thrmoswitch do the wok automatically

and the engine driven fan was removed at fitting the electric

this is the same set up you have on 'modern' cars for the last 35 years without don't even give it a second thought so why should you in a well set up classic, the later Bs were set up this way too (and without override switch)

as has been said over 40mph the fan isn't normally need, electric or engine driven, when it is needed is when the car is stationary and that's when the electric fan is better because it will cut in from the thermoswitch and be working at full power whereas the engine driven fan is going slow the opposite of what is required

when you've on the freeway the thermoswitch will have the electric fan switched off as it's not needed but the engine driven fan will going at full whack unnecessarily

the electric fan is also better for faster warm up as it doesn't run when the engine is cold unlike the engine driven fan which will be running against what is required

so to summarise an electric cooling fan with thermoswitch, as on probably all the other vehicles you own, is a great idea and it means you can remove the engine driven fan that often works against what is actually required and you don't need an override switch

Kenlowe are not the only fan manufacturer you can consider, the size is only important in relation to the fan's performance, if the thermoswitch is manually adjustable then you can adjust it to cut in sooner for when your car will have more arduous use and build up and hold more heat for longer
Nigel Atkins

Bruce, I've had an electric pusher fan in front of my '67 B's radiator for over 30 years. I only use it when in slow moving traffic since I have a six bladed metal fan still fitted to the water pump. It works very well for the task assigned it. RAY
rjm RAY

As always, the knowledge of this group is fantastic. My B has never had a cooling issue, but I will be going through the hotter parts of the US in August and going through the Rockies and the Sierra's so I thought checking was worth it.

Will get the cooling system spotless

At the risk of getting a lot of different views (which I like), 50/50 mix of antifreeze, or ? I have read that higher water and lower antifreeze is preferred by some. I do use water wetter.
Bruce Cunha

ratio - I'd go with whatever it has in the DH

I prefer to premix the coolant outside the cooling system (or buy pre-mixed) that way you know the exact quantity you're putting in on refill plus whatever is left over is the same ratio as in the cooling system ready for top ups or emergencies
Nigel Atkins

Ok, I'm going to chime in here too. Your car of course, and your choice. You're obviously not going to do any harm by fitting an electric fan. As pointed out though, it won't make a jot of difference over about 20mph or so.

I've however owned my (bog standard) 1965 MGB since January 1970, so for over forty four years. For many of those earlier years, living, in Sydney, Brisbane and Townsville (that's Northern Queensland, and we're now talking seriously hot in summer), my MGB was my only car, and my daily vehicle for everything. Despite ambient temperatures at times well into the 90 degree Farenheit range never once, no matter what the traffic conditions, did my car ever hint at overheating. Sure I've (very rarely, in highly provocative conditions) seen the needle get to the low or even mid 90C range. When turning the car off after such journeys the temperature on the gauge can climb to 100 C or even 105C. Never once however has my MGB boiled over. Never once, in about 225,000 miles of driving this car, did I feel the need to supplement the mechanical fan with an auxiliary electric pusher fan.

In fact I've often marvelled how such a basic car with such a simple cooling system, and a relatively small radiator can be so disinclined to run hot. Possibility the spacious engine bay contributes.

Incidentally, supplementary electric fans are often seen on MGBs here in Australia. With just a few exceptions, most of those same cars look to me to be rather "ropey", hacked about and poorly maintained vehicles.
T Aczel

Bruce, I run my '67 with a 60/40 mixture of water to antifreeze. Unless you're operating your car in extremely cold weather, the added amount of antifreeze isn't necessary. Water will disperse the engine heat much better than antifreeze will. I also run Water Wetter in my cooling system. After forty two years with this car, I must be doing something right. RAY
rjm RAY

This thread was discussed between 27/06/2014 and 30/06/2014

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