Iain's 1970 MG BGT

The Kenlowe Fan Modification

Since the new engine was fitted and tuned I have been having problems with the car overheating in traffic jams. One day on the way home from work a blade came off the mechanical fan attached to the engine. Face with the choice of spending over £30 for a new mechanical fan, which wasn't keeping the car cool, or spending almost £100 on a Kenlowe fan that should sort the problem, I went for the Kenlowe. The kit was purchased from Moss, and as I had a voucher giving me 15% discount it cost £93.71 and was fitted on 19/09/04 at 76688 miles.

The fitting was very straight forward, although I did have assistance from Matt Kimmins, who is very good at the electrical bits and already had the kit on his car. Below are a few before and after pics to help anyone else visualize how the kit is fitted.

The Kit

The kit come with pretty much everything you need and quite a bit you don't! It has bits for all sorts of optional ways of mounting, and more wire than you will ever use. The instructions are not terribly clear and it really helped to look at a car with it fitted as well as reading them.

Before Fitting

The before picture shows the space between the radiator and oil cooler. In a chrome bumper car there is not space to mount the fan behind the radiator as a puller; it has to mounted in front as a pusher. The mechanical fan has been removed, but can be left if the vehicle is being used in extreme heat.

As Fitted

The fan can be attached directly to the front of the radiator using the ties provided. There are metal bars that can allow you to attach the fan to the bodywork, but straight to the radiator seems more sensible to me. it is not a heavy unit, so shouldn't risk any damage.

The fan is mounted to the side with the top hose, which is where the water is hottest. Note the control knob to the right. A suitable hole was drilled in the radiator mounting panel and the control put there. The little white tipex mark shows where the H mark would be if the fan was set to come on at the hottest possible. Turning clockwise will make the fan come on when the water is hotter, anti clockwise to come on earlier. The silver earth connection can just be seen below the control. This is just a self tapping screw from the black lead from the fan.

The next picture shows the back of the control unit. The live feed (taken from a fuse that is live when the ignition is on) goes to the C terminal. The wire from the NO terminal goes to the live feed to the fan. The NC terminal has no connections.

Once fitted it is a simple case to adjust the control so the fan cuts in at the desired temperature (see instruction for where this should be). The control position shown above is what worked best for me, with the fan cutting in half way between the N and H on the gauge.

Additional picture as requested have been added here.