And when it comes to the early Morris Six and Wolseley 6/80 engines - the Series 1 - the cooling system has to be in tip-top condition as the volume of coolant around the head is small and an effective flow through the radiator is vital. The early engines' cooling systems were unpressurised, thermo-syphon with impellor assist. A couple of mods were in order for the Teardrop Special to accommodate an electric water pump.

A commodious opening in the water jacket at the back of the cylinder head was drilled and tapped for the thermostat. The book said 5/16" 18tpi for the tap. 5/16" 19tpi BSP was the nearest I could find and that worked a treat.

Then, realising that my enthusiasm and the plate's convenience had led me astray, I noticed that the thermostat housing had a relief exactly for this purpose and (obviously) would more accurately read the temperature of the coolant passing through the block. I drilled and tapped, and all was well until I started to withdraw the tap. It picked up on some swarf and ripped the threads to pieces. I'll have to get George to fill it with weld and give it another go.

The Honda Civic radiator arrived, and it slotted neatly into the front subframe cradle. More importantly, it looked rather racy. But the practical side of fitting the pipes into the space between it and the crankshaft pulley necessitated repositioning.

Turning the cradle's cross brace around moved the radiator a few inches forward but still it was all too close and the top radiator hose just wasn't going to work. Another problem to overcome was the different sizes of pipe. The block's inlet was 38mm diameter, the water pump 35mm, and the radiator 32mm.

With the water pump at the back of the engine, I could see the long pipe was not going to be close enough to the block to avoid the exhaust and there was also some conflict with the throttle cable mechanism.

To move the pump to the front seemed the answer, but the radiator would have to be repositioned yet again.

That was easy. A couple of holes in the cross brace and the radiator was lifted sufficiently to solve all my pipework woes in one fell swoop. The radiator cap retained an inch of clearance under the bonnet line.

I whizzed out a bracket...

... that held the pump in a straight line from the block's inlet...

... and with the help of a motorcycle sidecar ball joint, peened over a piece of the Riley steering column tube that I'd cut off to fit the electric steering fandango, and jammed it into the elbow to be welded at some point. That sorted out the reduction from 38 to 35mm.  Incidentally, the sidecar ball joint has over time been one of the most useful dollies I possess. Every home should have one.

I'll trim one of the elbow's legs to get it as close as I can to the block. As you can see, it's a bit of a squeeze, but that's cool.