Reinstalling air control flaps and Brazilian thermostat

I am trying to reinstall the air control flaps along with a new-style Brazilian thermostat as my original one is holed. I think the arm that the control rod connects to is bent as the thermostat hangs below the position of the lower tin piece Does anyone have a picture showing the correct bend or measurement between the rod connection point and the rivets? I'm sure this is wrong.

 

I could be mistaken, but it looks like your flap (oh er) is bent?

Best picture I could find online, but the flap itself should be flat.

 

Something wrong with it, but I can't work out what. You're aware that the Brazzy thermostats need a different bracket to the German one?

 

Should end up looking like this (top part). The original thermostat bracket is the rectangular one shown, the Brazzy thermostat just needs an L-shaped bracket (or it won't work).

 

Seem to remember the vanes sit INSIDE the shroud ??

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They look upside down.

 

My image shows the fan shroud upside down on the bench, not on the engine. As far as I can see everything is in the correct order and I have adapted the original bracket to accept the new style thermostat. With the flap arm bent as close to the rivets as possible the thermostat is now in the correct position and I can get the lower tin back on. But, without the thermostat connected, the mechanism is still a bit sticky to operate. I'll have another go tonight. There is probably an optimum position where it works best. I've got to get this right as I don't want them sticking in the closed position.

 

The mech should be quite loose and "clattery" when you push the actuator rod up and down. Is the thermostat rod rubbing where it goes through the cylinder head? Is it going through the right "gap"?

The Brazzy thermostat should be fine, certainly more robust than the bellows type.

 

Definitely going through the correct hole and the slotted piece of tin in the head. The first attempt was through the wrong hole and I couldn't get the fan shroud on. I think the rod connection point may now just be a bit too close to the pivot point and the rod may well be rubbing a bit. Might be an idea to check the fit without the alternator attached so that I can see what's going on inside. Then remove and reinstall with the alternator reattached.

 

Odd. Bit of tweaking needed? Obvious, but make sure when the 'stat is fully extended, the flaps are fully open.

 

Not that odd in my experience. Things get bent then straightened, heads maybe not originals, casting flash and all that. Then perhaps the head shrouds don't fit quite right if aftermarket which puts out the fan shroud... There isn't much leeway for cumulative errors.

 

Can the rod be fitted the wrong way around?

 

Nope

 

The two slots in the bottom of the flap housing line up with roughly where the loop on the end of the spring sits when the wire hooks in with the flaps open. A spring on the linkage between the flap units pulls the flaps open when its assembled.
Those flaps are closed in your upside down picture.
The wire hooks in from the rear of the vehicle pointing forwards so it cant fall out even if there is no clip on the forward end where it goes through the loop.

A bit of bending of the wire may be needed to get it to move freely so that when you pull down on the wire from below it closes the flaps and when you let go the flaps pop open and the threaded end points exactly where the thermostat sits.

[At one stage I had a home made wire (thread on end chewed on original) and I bent it the wrong way so it fitted with its end pointing back towards me so it fell out as I fitted the fan housing or when I pulled on the bottom loose end sometimes. Annoying as I had to lift up the fan housing to refit the wire]

Original failsafe [when they leak they spring open to hot position with cooling flaps open] alcohol filled thermostats are still around- I bought one that had no marks on the threads, just patina, for £28 last year.

 

That’s what I meant about the rod being put in the wrong way around, as that’s what happened with mine. Luckily, I hadn’t put the engine back into the van, so easier to take the shroud back off.

 

Made a few adjustments last night (before my fingers froze off) and it seems to fit and work a bit better now. Considering that the thermostat only moves the rod by about 10mm, I'm probably trying to get it to move freely beyond its normal working range. I'll test it with some heat at the weekend to ensure it works properly. There is quite a gap at the back of the shroud where it sits on the cylinder head tins. Is this normal or should it be sealed?
One other thing, in Bentley it mentions, "When installing the control flaps, make sure that the rubber stop is inserted in the right-hand flap housing". Does that fit in the small hole in the flap? It's never been fitted to my flaps so I've no idea what it looks like but I could probably find something to fit. I'm assuming that would stop the flap binding up in the fully closed position? (last pic shows the flap and stop hole open from inside shroud)

 

The gap is because modern Autolinea cases tend to be a bit "fatter" with larger radius gussets on some of the flanges of the case in places.. ideally you would.trim back the fan housing bottom edge so it is not rocking on the "spine" of the engine.
Also they may have domed the top of the engine case a little more to allow more clearance for people fitting optional longer stroke crankshafts. I know there is meant to be a special Autolinea case for this but maybe they just make one size now.

I had to trim the rear tinware too with a brand new case as otherwise it was pushed away from the engine case by a few mm..

 

That looks ok-ish. There's not much travel on the thermostat of either kind. The flap mech magnifies the movement to get proper flap opening/closing.

 

The flap itself still looks bent to me? It should be a flat piece, but looks to be bent to nearly 90 degrees in your pic?
A slightly better pic of what I meant:

 

It does! The middle one looks completely bent. Needs bending so it's parallel with the one on the left. At the moment, looks like it could restrict the airflow.