Jaguar XK120, XK140, XK150 and E-Type Cooling System Upgrades
Although classic Jaguars do not suffer from any fundamental design flaws which make them prone to overheating, they were never designed to cope with the kind of driving conditions we experience these days. When these cars were designed the traffic jams which we regularly experience here on the South Coast of the UK were a rare occurrence. If these extreme conditions are avoided a completely standard XK120 can be used with confidence and would never experience overheating assuming it is well maintained. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to avoid heavy traffic on hot days, particularly if you are included to attend some of the most popular classic car events like the Goodwood Revival. That’s why we offer a range of upgrades for your classic Jaguars cooling system to allow it to cope with modern driving conditions.
Before looking to upgrade your cooling system you must first ensure your existing cooling system is in good order. We have often heard of people using waterless coolant products or cooling fans to resolve basic overheating issues. If you do this you are simply masking a problem with the car which needs to be resolved. Old radiators, blocked or corroded waterways or worn water pumps can all cause overheating issues. Sometimes these problems can simply be resolved by proper maintenance such as flushing the cooling system and refilling with correct strength anti-freeze.
To upgrade your cooling system, we offer a range of products and improvements. The most popular of these is an electric cooling fan. For the XK140 and XK150 we can fit these hidden behind the radiator so they are a very subtle modification. We fit these to come on automatically with a thermostatic switch and with a manual switch as a backup of so you can choose to bring it on early if you are stuck in traffic on a hot day. These electric cooling fans are a hugely worthwhile upgrade on XKs which never had them originally. They ensure good airflow through the radiator even when the car is stationary. They are also a huge improvement over the fans originally fitted to E-Types. They are far more efficient, moving far more air whilst requiring far less electricity.
An issue with the XK120, XK140 and XK150 has always been the lack of an expansion tank for the cooling system. Many of you will have experienced that small puddle of coolant which the car spits out on the floor when it gets hot. You open the top of your radiator when the car has cooled and top up the level only to find that once again the coolant is pushed out once the car gets hot. Modern cars and even the E-Type use a header tank or expansion tank to resolve this issue. As the coolant expands it is pushed out of the top of the radiator into the expansion tank and then once the car cools down it sucks to coolant back in. This way the cooling system is always filled right up to the top. Our header tank upgrade brings XKs up to this modern standard giving them the ability to heat up and cool down without any loss of fluid.
If your classic car requires a new radiator or you are expecting to be using your car in hot conditions a high-capacity aluminium radiator is a worthwhile upgrade. We can supply these radiators for anything from XK120s to E-Types or MKIIs. We even have custom radiators produced for special projects such as XK120s with steering rack conversions. These radiators are much more efficient than the original and when combined with an electric cooling fan and header tank they offer unrivalled cooling. These can be left in an aluminium finish as pictured here or powder-coated black to look like the original radiator.
We offer any number of other products to improve and repair your cooling system from a water pump or heater matrix to thermostats and hoses. If you need your cooling system upgraded or checked over please do not hesitate to get in touch. To read about other upgrades we offer please click here.
