Kenlowe Fan Mount

[JJC]

The poor old TR2 rad is now in for rebuild. My many years of solder repairs have finally failed. The rad rebuild chap told me that the new core would not be suitable for the plastic strips that held the Kenlowe onto the old rad. Does anyone out there have a design for a simple bracket system a non engineer could make up? The problem of course is making sure the chassis cross brace in front of the engine doesn't foul the fan motor. Incidentally they also said that the new core would eliminate the need for a fan of any kind. In my experience, true, but only up to the point where you join a queue of holiday traffic on a hot summer's day. Classic Le Mans for example. JJC

[Ian Vincent]

Why won't the new core be suitable for the plastic strips that are supplied with a Kenlowe unit? I had my rad re-cored and it seems fine with the Kenlowe strips.

 

Rgds Ian

[Don Elliott]

My original radiator from new in 1958 went back in after my restoration in 1990 but it overheated. So I had it re-cored, but it still overheated in serious traffic so I bought and installed a 12" diameter Kenlowe fan which I bought from them in Maidenhead while in UK on a business trip. It is mounted as a "pusher" fan in front of the rad. I felt that the mounting with long plastic screws through the fins was a bit "Mickey Mouse", so I fabricated a bracket made of two pieces and secured to the upright side frame of the rad. If I was doing it again, I'd weld on 1/4-28 UNF nuts to secure the bracket. As it was, I drilled and tapped into the side frame but the steel is quite thin and I may have striped the threads in the holes by over-torquing the bolts.

 

The holes you see are to allow more air to get through the brackets.

[hpremote]

Not sure what material the shroud/edges of the Kenlowe are made from, JJC, but when I installed the electric fan (out of a Japanese car in a scrapyard, for £5) in my 3, I got my local workshop to weld three lugs onto the shroud - roughly equilaterally. These attached the fan by way of the top two rad. support strut bolts; the bottom one engages with a jubilee clip which I'd placed around the cross-tube just behind the rad. It has turned out to be a nifty little bodge; everything has been in place and functioning for ten years now; the only time I've had to disengage the jubilee clip lug is when fitting a new fanbelt.

Tim.

[jean]

Here is the way I fitted the Kenlowe to the radiator of my TR3A.

[stuart]

Obviously with the 2 you need to fit the kenlowe on the back side of the rad as there isnt really enough clearance between the rad and the grill. So the last TR2 I fitted one on I made up a bracket to hold the motor and then welded two lugs to the cross tube to mount it off. 12" type is the only size that will fit there but it works a treat.

Stuart.

Edited December 23, 2010 by stuart

[JJC]

Many thanks for all the replies. Useful food for thought. I started with a pushing fan but found it fouled the grille, so went the whole hog and removed the original fan and as Stuart says wound up with a sucking fan on the back of the rad. The reason the plastic strips aren't acceptable is (apparently) because the core manufacturers won't guarantee the core if you use them. I'm told this is because the heating/cooling cycle creates a sawing action. Because the tubes are very close this can perforate the tubes (I'm told). The original rad has much wider spaced tubes. Would be interesting to know if Moss operate this policy on their replacement rads (which are also the modern denser tube type). Especially as their Kenlowes still have the plastic strip kit. I like the idea of a couple of lugs on the cross tube and then something just to ensure the top of the fan stays tight against the rad with no vibration. Anyway, many thanks for the advice and the pictures. JJC

[john.r.davies]

JJC,

Not a TR2, but I've used a sucker Kenlowe secured through the radiator on two radiators now. The first failed due to seam failure, not at the actual tubes, and it's used fiercely to race and for endurance travel.

Holden sell a kit: http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproduct.asp?pCode=080.259#

Are these what you have used until now?

 

The plastic rods are made by a US firm, Derale: http://www.derale.com/basic/default.aspx who have a wide range of similar products.

That they do may speak for their success.

Certainly, I've no complaints.

 

John

Edited December 24, 2010 by john.r.davies