Triumph Repair: radiator overheating, aluminum radiator, uncommon occurence

Question
Hi Jim, I have another question for you. As The heat in Florida rises so does my 1972 spitfire mk4. the needle on my temperature  gauge get real close the H anywhere from 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch away. It gets me real nervous is this common. I just ordered a summer thermostat but looking at the radiator it is so small. Was it made to hold up to this kind of heat? anything I can do to keep from over heating? as its only going to get hotter here...Thanks mark

Answer
Mark,

No, the Spitfires weren't really made for the American market, even though we got most of the production, especially towards the end of the '70s.

The original Spitfire4 (1962-1964) was fitted with a radiator that went all the way across the radiator frame.  The Spitfire4 with it's 1147cc engine had the opposite problem, it tended to run too cold.  So Triumph shrunk the radiator to what you see in your car.

During the '70s as Triumph struggled to meet emissions regulations the problems started.  Timing and tuning meant for minimal emissions tended to generate more heat in the engine.  In recognition of the problem, all 1976 Spitfires received a new radiator that was also the full width of the bracket.  The dealers would also sometimes fit those radiators to cars with overheating complaints.

Having said all that, there are two possibilities for your car.  Either it is running hot (worth checking timing and carb mixture) or the temp gauge sending unit is bad..  not an uncommon occurence.

An easy way to check is to get one of the probe type thermometers and set the tip gently into the fins of the radiator and see what temps you get.

If it is truly an overheating problem, you can either track down one of the later wide radiators (the Spitfire4 radiator required the use of a header tank) or look into a custom aluminum radiator.


Cheers,

Jim