Listers, I've tried to send this message (unsuccessfully) as a whole message
but there must be a limit on the length of messages that can go through the
mailing list. It never made it...or at least I don't think so.
I will send it in two parts. I hope that will work and an added benefit is that
way those who aren't interested can easily delete the second part too.
I haven't had a bad overheating problem with my 71 TR6, only a temperature gage
with the needle in the top 3/4 of the gage and sometimes near the HOT in stop
and go city driving. But after listening to the thread on the mailing list
about overheating, coolant mixes, water wetter, electric fans, and other
solutions I decided to try a "redesign solution" just to see if I could knock
the temperature down a bit.
I know, I know, this falls into the fixing something that isn't broken category
but it was just too tempting to try something that was completely reversible if
it was an abject and total failure.
My idea was inspired by an ad in the Victoria British catalog (p 68) for a Fan
Duct that fits between the radiator and engine and theoretically increases air
flow through the radiator by not letting as much air escape around the perimeter
of the fan. The beauty of it is that the Duct/ Shroud bolts right to the
radiator support brackets which already have holes conveniently drilled in them
(I wonder why those holes are there? anyhow...). The bad part is that they
wanted $50 for a piece of ABS plastic.
I also must give credit to Justin Wagner and John Macartney for their
discussions about engine bay valances and the use of longer lasting materials to
substitute for the water loving cardboard ones. After reading their posts and
some back and forth with Justin I decided that I could come up with a cheaper
and better looking "Fan Duct" that might increase the efficiency of my existing
little 7 blade fan (I'd given up on ever having a red 13 blade fan fall from the
sky which was the purest (and purist) solution to the increased air flow I was
after).
Anyhow on to the details.
I wandered the aisles of the local building supply store hoping to be inspired
by some appropriate flat piece of material but after considering long flat
galvanized steel (used to hold lumber together), which was really too crude
looking even for my low tastes and buying aluminum blanks which were too costly
for my low budget, I finally came across what turned out to be (lot of luck
involved here) the perfect choice.
It was an aluminum door sill cover. The sill cover is usually used over the
edge of rough concrete at a door or used as a stair nosing. It is mill finish
(so it looks nice...even nicer if you buff it with a soft wire buffer) and comes
in a 6 foot length (which turned out to be the perfect length with the minimum
number of cuts). It has nice square bottomed groves (put there so feet don't
slip) all the way across the wide (2 3/4 inch) part which gives it a nice
machined look once its in your engine compartment.
It is 1 1/2 inches by 2 3/4 inches ( L shaped) which is a standard size This
too turned out to be just the right size once I cut the L apart because the
minimum distance between my radiator and everything else turned out to be just
less than 3 inches so all I had to do was make a U shaped (the corners are
square) piece to slide down behind the radiator and outside the radiator support
brackets almost down to the radiator shield (below the radiator).
(Step by Step to be continued in Part 2)
Bud
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