I just acquired this ‘61 TR3A
- I just acquired this ‘61 TR3A from the estate of a deceased prominent community member. It was awarded both 1st Place and the Crowd Pleaser Award at the EURO Auto Festival in 2002. It was also shown the same year at our 3rd Annual AITM. I’m in the process of preparing to move it to my shop.
I have volunteered to help find homes for other vehicles and related equipment. SO STAY TUNED!
Does anyone out there have experience with cleaning a cooling system out after it’s been sitting for 15 years?
I fired up my TR3 for the first time yesterday and suspect the cooling system is plugged up. I had drained the brown muck and refilled with water and drained much more BM from the system again. You can see the thermostat housing almost completely plugged by a white chalky buildup. It seems that the substance should first be cleaned out to expose the rust to a remover solution. Any suggestions on what works? There’s a lot about Evapo-Rust. Any experience with that?
Hi Terry,
Congrats on the TR3. It looks like you have a lot of scale. You could try soaking the thermostat housing in Evaporust to see how well it works breaking down scale. Years ago I used Dupont No. 7 radiator flush. It did an excellent job but like so many other products it’s no longer available. When I flushed my cooling system and radiator two years ago I used Permatex 80030 Heavy Duty Radiator Cleaner (available on Amazon for $13.44). It pulled out a ton of rust and scale. It’s not safe for aluminum however.
Just to be safe I removed the heater core, flushed it with vinegar several times, and then a final rinse with plain water. It’s not aluminum. It just looked a bit more delicate than the radiator. Obviously you’ll need to plug the rubber heater hoses if you do this.
We’ll, with a good mix of Water Wetter, 20% Prestone, well water, and 170° thermostat the temp runs at 180° @ 1,500 rpm. But…when I drop below 1,000 rpm it climbs to 215 and starts boiling out. The fan blade design seems pretty inefficient, and the fact that it only turns at motor speed mounted to the crank pulley is suspect. Is this overheat issue typical with the TR’s???…..Any advice or experience with this issue will be appreciated.
At the risk of sounding pedantic I upgraded my TR3 cooling system, when it was overheating years ago, to include the following. Now it runs cool as a cucumber, even in the hottest weather. The water pump impeller had been slipping intermittently causing the vehicle to overheat for no apparent reason. I thought it best to replace anything that might also be an issue.
1.) Swapped the 4-blade water pump for a 5-blade pump, Moss 835-075.
2.) Changed to a 160 degree thermostat, Moss 434-156. This is the original bellows type that came new with the TR3 for quick warm ups. It has a bellows around the outside that blocks off the bypass port during normal running and forces more coolant through the radiator. The bypass port is connected by a short hose to the water pump and circulates water around the engine without going through the radiator during the warm up phase. The bellows style thermostat is a bit pricey at $139.99 so you might want to try blocking the bypass and using the standard 160 degree, Moss 434-180 first for a mere $6.99.
3.) Installed an 8-blade plastic fan, Roadster Factory 308353 with mounting kit RFK180. This fan moves a ton of air compared to the original fan.
Great stuff! I’ll check it out. I may go for the better fan first to see the results.
The fan cannot be replaced without pulling off the front apron. However, you can remove the water pump, but it’s not very easy. I think if I was only going to try to do one I’d pull the water pump first. It’s also the least expensive of the three. On the other hand if I were going to go through the trouble of removing the apron I’d do both fan and pump.
I've got the instrument panel out to install the new heat gauge and clean up the wiring. I'm tempted to order the fan, water pump, and thermostat to get it all right but I'd like to run it again first the check it out further.
Hi Al,
I’ve decided to update the cooling system per your recommendation. I now have the apron off and ready to install the new fan. I think I heard mention that it may have to be flipped over for reasonable radiator clearance. Is it acceptable to move the radiator forward to allow clearance for the fan in its normal orientation? The bellows stat and uprated water pump are coming.
Terry
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Hi Terry,
Actually the fan gets mounted backward. This may seem counterintuitive but it works well. I don't think there is any practical way you can move the radiator forward to accommodate the fan and still have the radiator fit properly. If you replace the fan and install the uprated water pump it should eliminate over heating. Make sure you run the engine up to temperature and let it idle before you put the apron back on.
-Al
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Wow! You’ve got a nice project going. Thanks for the reply. Now that I’ll have this “super fan” will the ducting behind the grill become a restriction or should I keep it? Also, the coolant came out very clean. I’m confident the two Blue Devil flushing cycles did the job.
Terry,
Yes, you should install the 3-piece radiator ductwork that gets positioned behind the grill. It helps channel more of the cooler outside air through the radiator. I've noticed a difference at both idle and cruising speeds. It will also give a more finished appearance to the front when looking at the grill.
-Al