MadaboutKitcars

Hi Sorton

Thats what it looks like on my fitted unit but the two sides are open to each other as shining a light down the brown sensor hole you can see light from the spare blanked ports and all four ports are on the hot side of the thermostat. That said it looks like the shared sides are partially restricted as the hole behind the thermostat looks to be about 30mm ish.

The Bentley manual shows the flow as you would expect, I assume the partial restriction in the housing is sized to balance the flow of water once the thermostat opens.

I think as Jason has seen no problems fitting his etb sensor with adapter in the correct port I will try mine in the same and set up a reference temp sensor to check the reading on the gauge. As you say the original bmw sensor length allows about 5 mm into the housing, with the short sensor and adapter I have I figure its about 10 mm inside the threaded part of the housing which doesn't really feel right but I'll give it a try and monitor the engine temps with a contact temp sensor.

John

I also have etb instruments. I have never had any reason to doubt the temperature gauge. It is always rock steady and bang in the middle under normal conditions.

Cheers, Robin

I got my gauge and matching sender from Marlin - I use a thread adapter to fit it into the stock brown sensor location and it's been fine:



The M14 x 1.5 on the right is for the temp sensor. I've not had any problems - it sits at 80C until you sit idle for a while, at around 85C the fan kicks in and keeps it there.

I had more problems with the original radiator/fan combo getting too hot. I'm using a big ali radiator and 16" fan now. There some pics of the rad install here: http://www.msportster.co.uk/2008/06/01/new-radiator-fitting

http://www.msportster.co.uk/2008/06/08/cool-runnings

The photos show the original 12" fan which I've since replaced with a 16" fan. Sufficed to say I don't have heat problems any more.

Decision made then, cheers Patrick

John

Hi John

Sorry for the delayed response - been away on holiday.

Although you seem to have settled on an answer to your own question, one comment I would add is that when talking to Caerbont/Speedycables they said their sender/gauge only operates as a zone guide and should not be regarded as an incremental scale, and offers no idea of what the actual temperature is!

They then volunteered that they have a programmable electronic gauge which could be calibrated to my own original BMW VDO sender to give a true temperature read out. As this allowed me to keep my BMW sender (and will be really important when I swap to the M54 alloy block which is known to be sensitive to damage through over heating) I went down this route and chose a face to match my other Classic Smiths gauges.

Hi Mike

Hope you had a good holiday.

Reassuring words then on the speedy cables front!!

I've fitted it all now but do intend to carefully monitor the temp on first startup with an independent and more importantly ukas calibrated temp gauge that I managed to blag from work on loan.

John

Its not just Speedycables - a BMW elec tec told me the BM gauges are designed to sit rock steady at "Normal" over quite a wide temperature range - but if they do move off normal towards "high" it is likely you will have done damage to the engine already.

Not the most reassuring design approach but I suppose it keeps the service departments busy.

John

Based on experience the only time they do move off the centre is on an overheat. An extreme overheat registers in the ECU and is readable with diagnostic software. M52s will take an ECU registered overheat and be ok. The first thing to pop, unless it's a head gasket, is the header tank. Those can do collateral damage due the violent nature of the boom.

We had a fault alarm with remote start coupled with a fan switch failure on the E36 compact we dropped the M52B28 into. Engine is fine, new radiator (and headlights damaged by the explosion) and it has been fine for many years.

Complete!

I had forgotten about this thread, so I'll bring it to a close with my last update, as my Cabrio is now finished, painted, and about to make the front cover of Kitcar magazine.

Since passing IVA I have carried out a couple of small modifications I always intended to fit but knew might be an issue at IVA.

The Sierra door handles have never looked right to me on Cabrios - they are just the wrong period style: so I have welded patches into their door holes, and fitted conventional rotating handles.




I've always liked the Aston fuel cap too, but again was concerned it may not pass IVA, so I've now cut out the standard recess.......



........glassed in a flat sheet of GRP....



...... and made a new filler neck and fitted the Aston fuel filler.



The Marlin powder coat finish is worse than useless - it goes rusty within months of receiving the kit. My chassis was poor despite being dry stored its entire life, so I had to remove slabs of peeling paint, and re-do the whole chassis in POR15, which makes a much more durable finish.





I was lucky to find a new 71/2" 3.36 Cosworth LSD on ebay at a reasonable price, and sold my rare 3.14 diff to help cover the cost.






It was then time to dismantle the complete bodywork to have it painted.




I am really pleased with the quality of the paint job undertaken by Normandale in Daventry.

It took a while to re-build again, but this is now the finished article:











Finally to bring the build up to date (and beyond!) - the November 2016 issue of Kitcar features my Cabrio on its front cover, and an 8 page spread inside!

........... all good things come to those who wait - 11 years in my case!



Of course there are still changes I want to make, some pretty major, such as an engine upgrade to the BMW M54B30, plus 6 speed gearbox, which will provide loads more low down torque making for a really nice cruiser. I have the Corsa C Epas power steering conversion I prepared earlier on in my build but chose not to fit prior to IVA.
These two mods should keep me occupied this winter, and it should emerge as a very driveable car next year.

"Next year" ............. where have I heard those words before..........?

Awesome I'll pick up a copy of that I've not bought one in a long time.

Magic marlin

What a fantastic car, and many congratulations on the feature. Love the colour- what is it? 11 years worth the wait- my day has yet to come! Regards Jeremy

Thanks Patrick - and Jeremy : your day will come
There was a time when I fully expected you to get to IVA before me, but then the patter of little feet........... it just slows everything down for years!

The colour is Chrysler Deep Cherry Red, and I am delighted with it - it changes from a maroon dark red in a grey light, to a bright red on a sunny day.

Keep going, you must be quite close now?

Regards

Mike

End product

Hi Mike I've been almost finished for several years, but really just need a few days to have it ready_ I keep modifying, and maybe I should just get it tested lol- I have done a lovely big brake conversion, which I'm very happy with, having designed it with a modified hub and a spacer between the hub and disc,with 4 pot calipers, I will try and load pictures to my Flickr page, as I wait on a very delayed easier flight from Belfast to London on a money night, but passing time reading your feature article..well done that man!!

Congratulations, Mike, your car looks fantastic! The colour looks spot on too, great choice.

I wasn't sure how long it would take when we met at Adam Ergen's workshop 2 years ago (!) to get our cars finished, but I reckon we can both be pretty pleased with the results.

Well done indeed.
Tim

Hi Jeremy

I am very interested in your big brake kit - presumably this is based on 4-stud E30 spindles?
Have you used the hubs made by Max by any chance? And what disks have you used?

Mike

Thank you Tim for the kind words

I still do not have my M54 running, let alone installed in my Cabrio - but I can, and do, draw confidence that it will work based on what Adem achieved with your engine.
I've promised Sue I'll not strip my Cabrio down until winter so that we can continue to go out in it - I think after an 11 year wait she deserves it. But the plan is to swap in the M54, along with power steering over winter so that it should be a really nice drive next year.

Have you been out in your Sportster this summer? It should be a really nice drive with the M52TU in it all working as it was intended?

................ and dare I ask what is happening with your MX5 project?

All the best

Mike

Pleased to report my Sportster has been out and running over the summer, including a lovely run recently through Cheddar Gorge and surrounding area:



Engine running superbly, cooling issues all sorted, brake pedal is sticking a bit (needs a better spring) and odometer not working but overall very pleased.

My other project is coming on nicely, although I have had to slow down recently due to a sciatica flare-up.

Best of luck with your engine swap, let us know how it goes.

Cheers
Tim

Big brakes

Hi Mike,i started a threat under big brakes a while ago.i have e30 4/100 off hubs.i have used Mazda rx7 fc turbo 4 pot calipers and Volkswagen correct g60 discs.ihave adapter brackets for this kit, but found the disc offset brought the inner part of the disc too close to the lower steering joint.I had to offset everything by another 10mm outward bound, and the only way to do this was to make a spacer, mirror image of the hub and bolt it too the hub.i then made new mounting caliper brackets to match.i have posted these on my Flickr page, link to follow, I have also fully scaled drawings of what I left to the engineering works, and he offered me a job for the accuracy- your more than welcome to a copy.
Regards jeremy

Flickr link

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/78885582@N04/