Thank you Graeme, Bob and Bart for the useful tips. A few thoughts: 1) If any Jag shims are in the range, great. Grinding in itself is not a problem, if done correctly, but always put the un-touched side of the shim facing down. The flat ground surface faces the thimble/follower, and has a much easier life. Jag shims are not hardened all the way through, and I doubt if Maser shims are. 2) For the correct cam timing without the use of micrometers, one can use the thimbles: A rotating thimble has no contact with the cam-lobe, the stuck one is in contact. With this it is quite possible and precise to measure opening and closing points. Once chartered this easily enables correct timing. I've done Ferrari's that way with excellent success. Is there any reason this wouldn't work with the Maser? The job will still be a PITA. Bart, you want to see what you need to remove on a RHD car to get to the exhaust can-cover on the A-bank? I have still the timing cover to clean, I guess I'll spray un-diluted clean-green on it and let soak overnight, will post pics soon. Once this is done I'll take the cam covers off and see what I find. Best, Jack.
Some more photos posted today, cleaning the engine bay and the engine. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.153523134829307.1073741827.119309631583991&type=3&uploaded=7 Best, Jack.
" Bart, you want to see what you need to remove on a RHD car to get to the exhaust can-cover on the A-bank?" Hi Guys The RHD cars are the same as the LHD in that the steering shaft gets in the way of the exhaust cam cover. Cheers Graeme
Graeme, Would you post a pic of the RH bank on your car? I am under the impression that not all hoses on mine are routed correctly, there's a PACK of them running right there too. I may just as well correct that while I'm in there. Thanks! Jack.
Okay guys how did you change your cooling fans to run on the switch rather than one for cooling and one for air? Cheers Mark #1228
Hi Marc, I do not understand your question and the reason why one would want to change the activation? Ciao, Bart
I want to turn the key on and both cooling fans work right away. No waiting for the temps to build up under the hood. Mark
That's why you have bonnet vents Seriously though, you need the fan for the aircon, and running both all the time would probably drain your battery. If you feel the need for both fans to come on for the purpose you give, why not mount a manual 'override' switch, leaving the original cicuit in operation? I've been thinking about the unusual radiator surrounds on the K: On most cars, the radiator receives it's cooling airflow from the rad opening, and it is 'tunneled through the rad with no escape. On the Khamsin, we have the spare sitting under the rad, which provides a lot of space for cooling air to by-pass the radiator. This can't be good for cooant-cooling efficiency, but maybe it is needed to keep engine bay temps under control. Thoughts? Best, Jack.
+1 When both fans are on and you have the interior fan and lights functioning your alternator cannot cope with it and your battery drains. With the additional expansion tank, the engine flushed and a new core in the radiator I have had no cooling problems with my car. Ciao, Bart
I've been thinking about the unusual radiator surrounds on the K: On most cars, the radiator receives it's cooling airflow from the rad opening, and it is 'tunneled through the rad with no escape. On the Khamsin, we have the spare sitting under the rad, which provides a lot of space for cooling air to by-pass the radiator. This can't be good for cooant-cooling efficiency, but maybe it is needed to keep engine bay temps under control. Thoughts? Best, Jack.[/QUOTE] Hi Jack. The spare in my car is in a Bag. In the bag is the rubber pad that the spare sits on and the adaptor/ Spacer for the Spare to mount. What I have done is the Bag was made big enough for it to fit a full size wheel so it is a bit bulky but then I have a thick 3" square piece of foam the with the length the Diameter of the spare. When the spare is installed in the bag on top of the tyre. The foam is then aligned with the base of the radiator and it expand the bag ot effectively seal the bottom of the radiator. I have also made sure the schrouds around the radiator close every spare space. All this and an aluminium Radiator with 50mm dual core, cooling solved. Regards Graeme
Bart, Graeme, No spare-wheel bag in my car:-( Graeme, I like the way you think, but I wonder if the possibility of air by-passing the rad was intentional or not. If I look at the wheelhouses, a lot of consideration went into keeping the engine bay cool, so perhaps they deemed the rad big enough to do its' job the way it is set up? Bart has no problems, so it should work fine when all else is right. On the other hand, if this is an 'oversight', it should be fairly easy to correct it with s removable piece of shroud. I haven't driven mine far enough yet to see how it behaves in this respect.I feel a severe case of shipsright disease coming up, so let me rather do what I'm doing and not worry about problems that may not exist! Best, Jack.
Maybe I have this all wrong but I was reading some old post. Can someone explain Hi Armaz. There isnt any room left to put a bigger radiator in. The key component is that I have both the fans running of the switch rather than one for cooling and one for aircon. I have both on for both. The Other key thing to keep in mind is that there are schrouds around the radiator and ther need to be a neat fit. this is especially true along the bottom. I have a piece of foam inside the spare wheel cover ( I had it made to fit a standard road wheel) that expands the bag to seal the bottom of the radiator. You could put bigger fans on it but make sure they are a neat close fit to the back of the radiator so they suck through it. The originals actually draw air from nearly all the radiator because of the schroud. and check to make sure seal on this is in good condition. MORE Like Graeme, I made both fans run at the same time. Even when using power in 37degrees centigrade the engine stayed below 9O and when the fans kick in the temp drops to 70, all on the dash temp-gage. Cheers Mark
Hi Mark, I think you may be referring to a change in the wiring which I know is present on my car where the fans come on together rather than individually. I think this change may be a later one as the wiring is original but doesn't match the wiring diagram in the handbook. They still operate off the thermo switch in the radiator, in fact my car only has one switch unlike the two described in the wiring diagram. Turning on the Aircon will bring both fans on as well. My car was built in 1980 and is a RHD, but I don't know when such changes were made on the produciton line. Regards Bal
Hi Guys The Basics of cooling are simple its the pressure differential accorss the core and the latter direction is aluminium radiators. Thr Spare should have a Bag to contain all the parts and it does serve as part of the rsealing for the Radiator. unless the Radiator is completey schrouded your behind the 8 ball to start with. Aluminium radiators have better cooling than copper. AH I hear some one say.. but copper is a better conductor... yes.... but copper radiators are held together with solder which is an insulator. Aluminium radiators have bigger tubes and held together with... aluminium. You can also get bigger tubes in aluminium so the radiator isnt actually bigger it bigger tubes better heat transfer. an added bonus is they weight 10lbs against 30lb. My ally Radiator is the same size but far more efficient. by 30% at least The wheel arches in the khamsin are at the frount og the wheel where this is a rolling low pressure on the move and this draws air out reducing the pressure behind the radiator. I hope that explains it Graeme
Bal, You're right, mine is like that as well. I was confusing with my previous car (308). Our cars being sisters, they are likely to be the same. I also remember when I first got the K I looked for the switches but could only find one. Best, Jack.
Strange I have only one thermo switch also.Seems to me that only one of my fans works until I kick in the Air switch. Now if I could get both to kick in when the car gets hot would be great Mark
Mark lots of vintage Italian car owners modify their cooling fans in this manner. The weak alternator can become an issue but you can upgrade the alternator and associated support wiring to be able to deal with a bigger load. I know of several Vintage Maserati owners who added a switch to manually turn on the fans so that in warm weather they could make certain both were on after leaving a hiway driiving and entering slower local traffic. As for increasing the radiator capacity I can't speak for the Khamsin but the Bora could accomodate a thicker core and don't forget you can also increase the finds per inch count to yield a better heat sink effect. Just don't overdue it or you can have the effect of obstructing air flow. The electrical fan modification shouldn't be all that difficult.
If you modify it, still put a manual switch in. I replaced the mechanical fan on my Daimler V-12 with 2 electric units. This worked absolutely wonderful, except in stop and go traffic combined with rain. The bateery voltahe would start to drop with everything on. The battery in the K is already not a very big unit, and the system can be overloaded with the result of getting stranded with a dead battery. My 308 had both coming on on the thermo-switch, but the fans were a lot smaller than the Maser, it was not a problem. Do all Khamsins have the same alternator? Best, Jack.
Hi Mark, I understand your problem as my car began to get hot under the collar last year at K40 on a particularly hot afternoon when only one of the fans was kicking in. Turned out to be a poor contact on the left hand fan fuse that a little twiddling sorted out. The car really needs both fans running to be any good in traffic etc. unless we go the way suggested by Graeme with aluminium rads. (Oh my car doesn't have the cover for the spare, but it does had a sponge type insert for the wheel that forms a flat surface to fill teh gap below the radiator I seem to remember that the MIE folder I got on the Khamsin covered a factory mod tot he fan wiring for both Khamsins and Meraks I think. I shall try to dig out the folder over the weekend and see If I can fiind this for you. I'm pretty certain my car hasn't had any user mods in this area due to the radiator only having the one thermo switch. But as Bob mentions you never know what may have gone on in the hands of the previous owners. Cheers Bal
On the back of this discussion: Does anyone have an original spare wheel bag and, pushing it now, all the stuff that came with it? Was this all supplied with all Khamsins? Photos would be nuch appreciated! Best, Jack.
Just a note related to this topic. While my Bora has the two 70's era Bosch fans in a pull configuration with a shroud my Espada has a pair of pusher style fans, obviously no shroud, which work on the radiator alone but one is themostatically controlled whereas the other is strictly manual. Maybe that setup works in Iceland but not where I live ... My radiator core is clean too. I now have both thermostatically controlled with a manual override. They only shut off in winter and fall once it's warmed up.
Thanks Bal Pretty sure it is not a fuse problem as I have cleaned all the contacts. Going to play with it on the weekend after I change the oil in Healey. Cheers Mark
My car (#1044) is missing a few pieces, which I suspect were used for the previous owner's other car (#1038, which he also sold). I finally got around to finishing the spacer plate that was missing from one of the carbs. Photos show: . the one I made and the prototype on the table of my milling machine; . the set up finally installed. (No jokes about the wiring, please. I'm in the process of sorting through it). The venturi stacks I bought from a guy with a backyard full of QP3's. They were coated with carbon, but cleaned up pretty well with dish soap and a plastic scouring pad. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi, After sorting out the cooling issue, it was time to test the result. So, we participated a classic car Rally from Tehran through the Alborz mountain up to the Caspian Sea Region and back. We achieved around 800Km without any issue. Everyone was surprised on the relibility and comfort of this ITALIAN car on the bumpy roads as well as City traffic. I have attached a Picture from the scenery. KR Image Unavailable, Please Login
Magnificent work Carmine, Great to see you getting the Khamsin back together and what a nice bit of machining too Julian I finally got around to finishing the spacer plate that was missing from one of the carbs. Photos show: . the one I made and the prototype on the table of my milling machine; . the set up finally installed. (No jokes about the wiring, please. I'm in the process of sorting through it). The venturi stacks I bought from a guy with a backyard full of QP3's. They were coated with carbon, but cleaned up pretty well with dish soap and a plastic scouring pad.[/QUOTE]
