On the long running discussion about Bulldogs overheating (Oh no they don't - Oh yes they do!), I thought that the myriad of modifications made to my MkII over the years had developed the car so all overheating problems were consigned to echoes of the past. Not to be. When sitting in the queue for the Blackwall tunnel a few weeks ago, I casually glanced to the temperature gauge, and I had to cross four lines of traffic to pull over and let the poor beast cool down. Only the relay for the electric fan, fortunately, but the exhaust manifold gasket was puffing. So, fixed that, and then tested it out with the bonnet open. Fine. Just a few revs drop when the fan comes on due to the alternator working harder. Drop the bonnet and the car now gets even slower when the fan comes on, to the point of stalling second or third time. So, it is under-bonnet temperature that is causing the problem. Then the penny drops. The electric fan on the radiator blows hot air right at the K&N air filter, causing extremely hot air to enter the engine for detonation, causing an even hotter engine to be cooled by the fan, causing the fan to be on more causing..... well I think you might get the drift of the circle there. So I have bought some more flexible air hose and will be connecting it to an elbow on the carb, then feed it to a position to the front of the car in front of the radiator by the air intake, with a new, larger air filter. Will it work? Watch this space............
