Crap. I just looked outside and it's snowing again.
I froze my butt off in the garage today, first day over there in a couple of months. I started the mini and let it run for a while, moved it back and forth a few times, noticed that my rear fog lamp (the red one) isn't working (hope that it's just the bulb) and not wanting to start the front suspension teardown, I spent a bit of time making a cold-air shield for behind the grill.
I used the lid from a large, heavy duty storage box (Eurobox/Eurokasse) and I think it came out OK, save for the extra hole... :-[
... Why the hell have I never thought of that. Mind you I have an SPi mini with the 90* half rad, so I suppose that wouldn't save me anyways. I don't mind driving the mini in cold weather, I just wish the heater pushed out more than lukewarm air.
Thanks - I figured that at 2½ or 3mm thick, it'd be reusable as opposed to the usual cardboard solution.
The small notch at the end is for fitting over the Monte Carlo lamp bar, same as I had to carve the grill and the drilled hole is for the grill button screw to pass through. And of course, the large notch is for the bonnet release. The lid had a moulded vertical feature which conveniently butts up against the grill's vertical support member.
During the wintery months, my mini doesn't get over 176° F (80°C), regardless which thermostat I install. Maybe this'll help.
We had a lot of rain during the past couple of weeks and if it hadn't snowed last night, I'd be more inclined to try it out. Now I can count on the local government to dump an enormous amount of salt on the roads. I guess now I'll have to start stripping the suspension and re-shim the ball joints, rebuild the upper arms, replace the front cones, the lower arm and tie rod bushes.
Quote from: LilDrunkenSmurf on February 13, 2016, 09:54:15 AM
... Why the hell have I never thought of that. Mind you I have an SPi mini with the 90* half rad, so I suppose that wouldn't save me anyways. I don't mind driving the mini in cold weather, I just wish the heater pushed out more than lukewarm air.
Blocking the air entering the grill solution WILL work with the side mount radiator. Restricting the amount of air into the engine bay will allow it to generate more engine heat.
I did much the same on a Clubman Estate I owned while living in Colorado. I used scrap lexan from work and zip-tied pieces to the inside of the grill.
I have a 180* thermostat in Buzz and I can't get it more than 170 on a coldish day, let alone when it's 15* like today! My left foot gets warm....eventually.
On "Buzz" you would have to block almost all of the main grill. The openings under the bumper let more than enough cold air in for the carb and radiator cooling. It will still be a bit slow building heat, but you will get a bit more than without blocking the grill.
(Voice of experience.)
Yep, it gets up to 170* ok, which is warm enough........I also ran a tube from the intake down to the exhaust manifold to get some carb heat.
I'm thinking of re-plumbing the heater hoses to get manifold heat as this has the tube in the top of the manifold.
That's a good idea - 4.gif