[alfa] alfa cooling saga

["Christopher Keen" <ckeen74@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

Thanks for the brake advice a few weeks back - all those upgraded pads 
turned out to be rather pricey given my current underemployed status, so I 
went with stock stuff.

But what's still bugging me is the cooling issue with my '77 spider. I had 
replaced the engine-driven fan with an electric one a couple of years back 
and then gone off to grad school. Since then, the car tended to reach temps 
of 190-212 in traffic where before it always ran at 185, except on very hot 
days after a long run on the freeway, where it got up to maybe 195.

When I got back from grad school last fall, I started working on the 
problem. I've now got a new 3-row core in my radiator, new water pump belt, 
new Alfa OEM thermostat, bypass restrictor, and I've tried moving the 
thermo-probe to the top of the radiator (temp difference betw. top and 
bottom was about 50 degrees - 180 vs 130, roughly). I also tested the temp. 
sensor that is connected to the gauge, and it's more or less accurate. 
Timing is set to 34 degrees BTDC. The heater is really effective, which 
suggests to me that the system is properly bled. Today was the final 
recommendation I took from the helpful emails everyone sent, which was to 
move the fan to the engine side of the radiator. However, the fan mounted on 
that side of the radiator won't clear the water pump, so that didn't work 
out so well.

So, does anyone see that I'm missing something here? I'm really reluctant to 
go back to the engine driven fan since I've had enough radiators chewed up, 
and what's more is I like the extra space underhood as well as the reduced 
noise - I can hear more engine and less fan, which is a good thing in any 
Alfa.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, even if they're all in caps :P

Thanks,
Chris Keen
'77 spider
Los Altos, CA

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