TR7 Electric Water Pump

[Ecosse]

Does anyone have any experience of fitting an electric water pump to a TR7. The original pump on my car seized at the Doune Historic Hillclimb in May, with the new pump from Rimmers falling apart on removal after an engine issue at the September Doune Hillclimb, so I am thinking an electric pump may be a better option.

Thanks for any information.

Cliff

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

This issue has been covered before on here.

 

Why wouldn’t you?   The complete electric pump kit  is cheaper than the original    
https://www.dcperformance.co.uk/uprated/davies-craig-electic-water-pumps.html

https://www.dcperformance.co.uk/cheap/1116628/davies-craig-electic-water-pumps/dc8907.html
 

 

The blanking plug for the original pump location seems to be the only issue.

Not hard to make   The Stag owners like the idea of replacing the originals with an electric pump

https://www.socforum.com/forum/forum/stag-owners-club/soc-forum/28280-electric-water-pump

https://www.triumphexp.com/forum/tr7-and-tr8-forum.3/electric-cooling-water-pump.1910512/

 

The alternative is the external belt driven water pump conversion that Stag also has been modified with.   I guess The pump used is from a very common modern car or a washing machine.    
 Supplier is  ‘stagdad’   https://www.socforum.com/forum/forum/stag-owners-club/soc-forum/828042-stagdad-water-pump

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by BlueTR3A-5EKT

[Hamish]

I know that shaun Roche runs an electric pump on his race dolomite sprint. But I know he has some temperature gauges and warnings in case a simple fuse blows leaving him without a pump.

the only time I have had pump and or pulley issues was when I ran the fan belt too tight

Edited December 28, 2023 by Hamish

[Stagpowered]

I use electric pumps on most things, I have had 3 on 3 different Stag engines and one on a Rover V8 at the moment.

My first one was on a Dolomite sprint engine that decided to eat the water pump and jackshaft teeth. As bungs were not available then I ended up cutting the drive gear off the pump and left the impeller to seal the hole.

Can't say I have had a great deal of success with the electronic controller and no thermostat for road use. I have found the simplest and best way is to feed the pump directly from an ignition live and leave the thermostat in place, at least you get a working heater that way.

I run my pumps through a ceramic ignition coil ballast resistor so they run at part speed at about 8 volts. This is adequate for nearly all conditions. I also have a switched feed to bypass the ballast resistor to give full power for really hot weather/ track day use.

I have only used the Davies Craig 80 pumps rather than the larger ones, I haven't had any problems cooling my TR250 which is fitted with a 257bhp injected Stag engine on track days, and also my Mk1 Stag which has 256bhp and tows as trailer tent around France in 40 degree heat with no problems.

I have fitted a warning buzzer on my Stag so in case of voltage at the pump disappearing I get an audible warning to turn on the direct feed to the pump, I have also got one for my TR but haven't got round to fitting it yet.

Be warned that the fuse holder as supplied with the pump as standard is not fit for purpose, it uses a mini blade fuse and the only car I had it fitted to had problems hence the warning buzzer. I once also had a problem with corrosion of the ceramic ballast resistor on my Stag, that was caused by mounting it too low down on the chassis rail where I suspect it was getting water splashes from the front tyres. I moved it up higher and drier after that.

I have never had a pump problem, but they are only as reliable as the electric supply so take great care with that.

Neil

[Ecosse]

Hello Peter, Hamish and Neil,

Many thanks for taking the time to respond to my question, a lot of good information there.

I shall drop Shaun a line, he may be able to provide some images of his set-up.

My 7 runs twin 45 DCOEs with a cobbled together thermostat arrangement, so I guess more cobbling would be required for an electric pump.

Neil, If ou could drop me a few images of your set-up that would be great. I see that we have gone in opposite directions regarding TRs and Stags, I have a modified 2500S engine in my Stag which has been used for towing a trailer to the south of France on numerous occasions, I even brought back a TR3A one year. It has also been used at the Bo'ness Revival Hillclimb.

Thanks again.

Cliff

 

[jerrytr5]

I run the Davies Craig EWP on my hillclimb TR7 Sprint. The Dolomite club can supply the water pump bung. They also supply the link tube between manifold and pump housing. I dispensed with that and used core plugs. I guess with webers you don't have that anyway. You'll need to work out how best to plumb the heater.

Jerry

[Ecosse]

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for that, your installation looks much more straightforward that I imagined it might be. My heater supply comes off the water pump cover, it is just a hose to the heater inlet. Would I be correct in thinking that the smaller hose on your set-up is the heater supply.

Cliff

 

[jerrytr5]

On the Sprint the heater is fed from the rear of the cylinder head so I have the heater return running into the inlet side of the EWP.

Jerry

[Stagpowered]

That was about what I was going to post!

Its years since I had the sprint engine in my Toledo, it has a 3.9 Rover V8 in it now, still on the electric pump

Neil

[Andy Moltu]

Stagdad did a conversation using a belt driven Ford waterpump but I don't think he does it any more.

The bungs to blank off the old waterpump can also be got from EJ Ward as the Stag and TR7 pumps are the same.

There were problems with some of the repro pumps with gears being inadequacy hardened and trashing the jackshaft. Now there are issues with the seals themselves. So the electrical pumps are being used more.