> I may have overdone the radiator. It is a high efficiency core with no
> crank hole. It is like the car rarely gets all the way warmed up on my 20 mile
> drive to work. It is possible that the thermostat is stuck open. It is about
> 15,000 miles and one year old, so I doubt it.
What thermostat do you have ? What does the T-gauge say ?
> The heater hoses feeding the heating and leaving the heater are
> pleasantly warm .
That seems like a problem ... they should be too hot to keep your hand on, not
just pleasantly warm. Have you checked/replaced the metal portion of the return
line ? Mine was almost totally blocked, looked like the 'before' picture on
those sewer chemical ads.
> The air coming out of the heater is like 85 degrees at best.
It's been a long time ago, but one of my previous TR3As would blow air well over
100F. Just not very much of it. My right knee got roasted, the rest of me was
cold.
> I am considering trying the Bob Schaller Triumph Spitfire heater core
> trick, but don't know if it is worth the trouble. Have any other listers tried
> it?
I've not tried it, but there's a Spit heater on my shelf just waiting.
> Is there a modern heater core that can be used?
One of the TRSC "Tech Talk" volumes had an article on using a heater unit from
JCW. The author seemed very pleased with the results. It took up quite a bit
more space, too.
> I have a more powerful fan motor that I am considering replacing the
> original with.
I've tried that, didn't help much. Didn't even blow much more air ... the motor
body was larger, leaving a smaller air passage, and the fan doesn't work well at
higher rpm. Really needs a fan with more pitch, but there isn't enough room in
the housing. Somewhere, I've still got the 'extensions' I made to create more
room in the housing, but the result still didn't seem like much of an
improvement.
> I am thinking about making a TR3A grill shaped wooden cover with a union
> jack on it that I can slip it in front of the grill to get the engine good and
> hot.
Shouldn't be necessary unless it's really bitter cold. Try a 195F thermostat
instead.
> What else is there?!?!?!?!?! Does anyone have a way to get these cars
> warm in the winter?
One of the things I learned about was the seal inside the front fender. If it
leaks, it blows cold, cold air onto your lap. The seals at the front of the
doors make a big difference, too.
Randall
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