JJs Project Thread - 240 GL Estate

[Problemchild1976]

So today replaced the rad with a new one….



Drained the old system into a bucket (which was pretty clean)

Removed the top hose

Then drained the middle pipe into the bucket - interesting thing was that it flowed nicely and then stopped and then a few mins later there was a big glug and it started flowing again and I got another litre out - clearly some flow issues inside.

Bottom hose drained but kept high so as not to fully empty the system

Quickly swapped the rad over - 4 nuts on the fan, 2 screws hold the shroud and 2 x 10mm bolts holding the mounting brackets on and it comes straight out!

New rad put in place



Instead of refilling the system from the header tank I used a hose and gravity fed from the coolant bracket until it was full, then plumbed in the top pipe and topped up the header tank.

While the car was getting up the temp I decided to tidy up the rad brackets and the air filter bracket using a wire brush and some black paint



And refitted



…all done !! 30mins and £55




JJ

[Problemchild1976]

Been for a run and it seems to be perfect

Fast drive followed by slow town driving the the needle was barely even horizontal

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

So today replaced the rad with a new one….



Drained the old system into a bucket (which was pretty clean)

Removed the top hose

Then drained the middle pipe into the bucket - interesting thing was that it flowed nicely and then stopped and then a few mins later there was a big glug and it started flowing again and I got another litre out - clearly some flow issues inside.

Bottom hose drained but kept high so as not to fully empty the system

Quickly swapped the rad over - 4 nuts on the fan, 2 screws hold the shroud and 2 x 10mm bolts holding the mounting brackets on and it comes straight out!

New rad put in place

Instead of refilling the system from the header tank I used a hose and gravity fed from the coolant bracket until it was full, then plumbed in the top pipe and topped up the header tank.

While the car was getting up the temp I decided to tidy up the rad brackets and the air filter bracket using a wire brush and some black paint

And refitted

…all done !! 30mins and £55


JJ

Good morn JJ,

Isn't that a radiator for an automatic? It will still work - but obviously some of the cooling area will be wasted.

Alan

[Problemchild1976]

Originally Posted by Othen

Good morn JJ,

Isn't that a radiator for an automatic? It will still work - but obviously some of the cooling area will be wasted.

Alan

Yeah it is - but the community told me it’s fine

Classic swede only sells the 1 type

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

No but it’s better (resting just above level) and there is MUCH better airflow

It was clearly past it’s best



Top hose is about 85degC and bottom hose is about 75degC with rad about 40degC

This doesn’t seem right to me tbh

So in lieu of another flush of the system and putting it all back together again, I secured a new rad for £50 and will replace that too after another flush



JJ

Hi JJ,

I notice my new (to me) 1983 GLE has the same fan arrangement; it seems to work okay. I wondered whether you thought you had any improvement after changing the item on your motor car?

Alan

[Problemchild1976]

Originally Posted by Othen

Hi JJ,

I notice my new (to me) 1983 GLE has the same fan arrangement; it seems to work okay. I wondered whether you thought you had any improvement after changing the item on your motor car?

Alan

Yea - defo change in airflow

But because the airflow wasn’t getting warm enough as it passed through the rad, even the new one wasn’t activating fully when it should.

If you can easily stop the fan with a rolled up newspaper once the car is hot then it’s prob not at its best - I could even spin mine backwards quite easily

It should also “roar” more when the car is hot

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

Yea - defo change in airflow

But because the airflow wasn’t getting warm enough as it passed through the rad, even the new one wasn’t activating fully when it should.

If you can easily stop the fan with a rolled up newspaper once the car is hot then it’s prob not at its best - I could even spin mine backwards quite easily

It should also “roar” more when the car is hot

JJ

Thank you for that JJ, it is really helpful.

Alan

[Problemchild1976]

Originally Posted by Othen

Thank you for that JJ, it is really helpful.

Alan

No probs mate

JJ

[Problemchild1976]

So tried another fix for the damaged door pockets this week…

When I collected the car they were superglued and had foil tape in the back - and they didn’t last long

I initially got some araldite and that didn’t work very well (it struggled to even dry)

I think tried a plastic specific 2 stage glue and used to support pieces and while that stuck well, it just didn’t bond and the glue was easy to just peel off

So my final attempt was to get my hand on some plastic weld glue



I’d read great reviews about it and found someone had used it on the door pockets with some success. It’s still like superglue but hoping it binds way better!

I cleaned all the old glue off and gave the surfaces a bit of a sand and applied the glue and clamped and also reused the braces I’d put on before



Left overnight and it seems to have bonded better (you can’t see the white strips when in the car)



I have a plan to create a better and more useful support - watch this space

JJ

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

So tried another fix for the damaged door pockets this week…

When I collected the car they were superglued and had foil tape in the back - and they didn’t last long

I initially got some araldite and that didn’t work very well (it struggled to even dry)

I think tried a plastic specific 2 stage glue and used to support pieces and while that stuck well, it just didn’t bond and the glue was easy to just peel off

So my final attempt was to get my hand on some plastic weld glue



I’d read great reviews about it and found someone had used it on the door pockets with some success. It’s still like superglue but hoping it binds way better!

I cleaned all the old glue off and gave the surfaces a bit of a sand and applied the glue and clamped and also reused the braces I’d put on before



Left overnight and it seems to have bonded better (you can’t see the white strips when in the car)



I have a plan to create a better and more useful support - watch this space

JJ

If the plastic is similar to water waste pipe in composition, I wonder if that melt/ weld glue plumbers use would be any good.🤔