MGB Electric Cooling Fan

Today's heavy traffic and the inevitable hold-ups can cause older classic cars to have an over-heating problem. This is especially so where the cherished classic is only taken out during the summer on fine days. Additional cooling by way of an electric cooling fan can often overcome this problem on early MGBs. Cars from June 1976 onwards are already fitted with electric cooling fans. Before going to the expense and trouble of fitting a fan the cars own cooling system should be thoroughly checked over and it should be in full working order. The most popular after market electric cooling fan is made by Kenlowe Ltd who's kit provides all the necessary fittings and instructions. This narrative is a description of how to fit a Kenlowe fan to an MGB without the need to drill additional holes in the radiator duct panel. Before starting any work such as this basic safety precautions should be taken and in this case it would be wise to disconnect the batteries.

As an alternative to drilling two 5/16^th (8mm) holes in the radiator duct for the 'L' fan mounting brackets two of the brackets shown in Drawing A should be made. Follow this link to view Drawing A.

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These are bolted under the oil cooler mountings using the existing four ¼ UNF set screws and are then used to mount the 'L' brackets. The two 'L' brackets on there own will not support the fan securely and so a third upper bracket should be made as shown in Drawing B. Follow this link to view Drawing B. The bracket is attached to the third mounting hole in the fan body and to one of the bonnet pin location cup set screws. This should be replaced by a ¼ UNF set screw ¾ inch (20mm) long using additional washers and a nut.

With this bracket is in place the fan can be firmly supported approximately ¼ inch (6.5mm) away from the radiator as directed in the fitting instructions. Following this the remainder of the fitting kit can be installed following the detailed instructions provided by the manufacturer.

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'Kingpin'