Tatra Man wrote:Rootes list a pressure cap for the cooling system but I've been told that Albatross didn't pressurise their systems. Is this true and is it because the heat exchangers wouldn't stand it?
Well I have some answers - but not all.
Alpine 2010 has its original Alpine engine but it would appear to have been marinised by Albatross, not by Rootes Marine. The reason I say this is that the only component on it which matches any of the special Rootes Alpine Marine engine is the tappet cover and even that could have been easily converted by Albatross from a standard item. The water cooled sump is a much simpler design which appears to be a modified car sump and there is no oil drain facility at all. The engine has neither an automotive engine number nor a Rootes Marine engine number.
That boat comes with an Albatross header tank which is mounted on the top two carburettor to manifold mounting bolts and that manifold is not Rootes. Both those components are rather crudely fabricated and the manifold takes twin SU carbs - something which Rootes never used. The thermostat housing has been replaced by a simple outlet so there is no provision anywhere in the circuit for a thermostat and the header tank has the Albatross filler cap. The bypass circuit spigot on the water pump has been fitted with a bleed valve so there is no bypass circuit but, without a thermostat, there's no need for one.
All those components appear to be totally original and fit in with the history of the boat which is quite well documented.
2003 on the other hand has a genuine Rootes Alpine Marine combined header tank and heat exchanger with a pressure cap which has been remotely mounted from the engine and leads me to believe that the thermostat and bypass arrangement would be intact on the engine. It also has the Alpine Marine inlet manifold and original twin Zenith carbs.
So, it seems that Albatross made a few early Alpines with Rootes Alpine Marine engines and then cheapened up production by buying in non-marinised engines and converting them themselves. This change happened sometime between numbers 2003 and 2010 and the additional engine height with the Albatross header tank mounted on it would account for the change in profile and increase in height of the engine cover hump. It could be that 2010 was the first Alpine built this way and that might account for the crude nature of the inlet manifold and header tank.
An engine only gives of its best when it's reached operating temperature and I can't see that later cooling system allowing the engine to stabilise at a sensible working temperature. Combined with the crude inlet manifold which makes no concessions whatsoever to gas flow, I can't see that installation producing the 85bhp which the Alpine Marine engine produces and this may be the origin of the rumours that Albatross Alpines had Rapier engines. Indeed, the only difference between the Rapier and Alpine engines lies in the carburettor settings and the later Albatross Alpines appear not to have the twin Zenith carburettors anyway.
So, it seems that just a very few early Alpines have additional cooling in the form of the Rootes combined header tank and heat exchanger and what looks like a better engineered water cooled sump so I'm going to run an 82° thermostat and a 7lb pressure cap to start with.
