how to prep a classic for Texas?
 

hello everybody! I have an '89 mini currently in Germany. Wednesday I will find out if the shipping company will accept it for shipment or not. After spending all of my free time the last few weeks chasing down the ever elusive oil leaks and determining that this car does in fact hate me on a deep personal level, I think it is good to go!

So I am curios since it has a hard time with cooling on a hot german day, which is considered mild and comfortable by Texas standards, What kind of mods do people do for their old cars to tolerate the summer heat?

I live in Michigan, but I know that you'll see 80's,90's and 100 ºF often, or 30+ ºC. How great to keep a classic Mini rolling. Left hand drive or British style?

its correct left hand drive. 998cc built for the french market. it's a fun car when it wants to cooperate which is almost never.

Best of luck with your move and your car. At the very least, it's an investment being such a classic. Hopefully you can also have a daily driver.
I'm sure someone will help you figure out a cooling strategy, such as a bigger radiator or fan, etc.

we have a few other cars already at the house in Abilene. Im kind of expecting this thing to stick out like sore thumb in the land of lifted trucks and big SUVs so I kind of want to use it as part of my marketing for my business I'm going to start. eventually Ill be able to do a honda swap or total engine rebuild so it can actually be used as a daily.

Congrats on your Mini! I do hope you get it back to the states!

This forum is dedicated to the classics, you should consider wandering over there - lots of great, knowledgeable people, a few of whom are also in Texas - in fact several of us just did a run in the hill country in our classics! http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/

As for the cooling issue, make sure you timing and mixture are dead on - I live in Kansas and it gets every bit as hot and humid here in the summer, I've had really good luck using one of the aluminum radiators available on Ebay. I paid $60 shipped and have had no cooling issues since I installed it. Others have used the stock rad but added an additional heater core behind the front grill in order to get the extra cooling they need to run in those temps, but I'd try the aluminum radiator first.

I got the one with the threaded plug in the bottom, so I can easily drain the coolant, or it can be used to install a temp switch for an extra electric cooling fan - but be aware that electric cooling fans are only effective in town, especially stop and go traffic...they don't help at anything over about 35 mph.

Welcome to the Mini madness!

here's the thing .... if working properly the stock cooling system should be more than adequate. Mini in the original configuration were sold in some damn hot locations and did just fine with the stock cooling system. If you started doing mods that can change things but from my research most 'authorities' agree the stock system should be adequate.

IF you have a problem, the '6 blade tropical fan' the the place to start
Fan, 6 Blade Tropical (2A0998)
Product Description
With six metal blades, this fan was one of the Mini Cooper S factory options and earned the title as "Tropical" because it became a standard item for cars shipped to hot climates. http://www.7ent.com/products/fan-6-b...al-2a0998.html

I live in central Fl and it is already touching 90's here regularly. I have a 1275 that's 'tweeked' with a HIF-6 SU, LCB and couple of other minor goodies. Stock rad', stock fan (11 blade plastic), nothing extra and my temps are on the low side ... if my gau' is accurate! Any time my temps appear to climb it has always been fixed by topping off the coolant (no recovery tank) ... one time I discovered the rad' cap had a blown seal.. I run 20% anitfreeze to 80% distilled with just about 2 oz of water wetter

IF / when it is time to replace the rad', I'll get a nice spiffy alum' one as I'm not trying to maintain the all original theme. But if my car suddenly started overheating I'd look for a source and not just add bits to cover the symptom. Btw, my car did overheat once ... the day I bought it about 50 miles down the road taking it home. Stuck thermostat .... one good whack on the housing with the handle of a screw driver and the temps have never come close to a problem again ....

When's the last time the system was given a GOOD back flush?

It's not a matter or overheating exactly......mine ran 3/4 of the way up the gauge any time it got over about 80*, which is all summer - so not overheating but hotter than optimal. Putting the aluminum radiator in it cured the problem....good peace of mind for only $60 - that's how I looked at it.

My cooling system was clean with a good 50/50 mix - as it gets cold here in the winter.

My other car was freshly rebuilt, I put a new 2 core rad in it on the recommendation of a couple of US Mini parts suppliers and as I drove on the highway it just would get hotter and hotter the further I drove. On that car I added the heater core in the grill with a shut off valve, in the summer I ran it open, in the winter it was closed. The fellow who bought it lives in east Texas and has driven it all over the country with no issues.

The factory added an additional radiator on cars sold in Australia, so I think there's plenty of precedent for needing additional cooling capacity.

a/f is one of those things where more is not better ..... true that most vehicles today call for a 50/50 a/f to water mix, not so for a "classic Mini"



The recommended mix is 25% a/f

here's a page from a sample owner's manual, 69 - 71 Cooper S ... the one more prone to run hot ....

Attachment 141411

too much a/f DECREASES the cooling ability of the mix; higher concentrations should only be used when extreme cold temps are expected ....

note the owner's manual does not recommend more a/f if a very hot climate is experienced, only the 6 blade fan .....

In my research 20% A/F was recommended when adding water wetter, which further reduced the water content .... aiming to maintain 75% water. (p.s. I'm not recommending water wetter ..... I've never really seen much difference with it ... but have a jug on the fluids shelf so I'mm continue to use until gone)

fit one of these http://www.minispares.com/product/Cl...ck%20to%20shop