Morris Minor Owners Club

I don't have the pleasure of driving our Moggie everyday but the Wife, who does drive it everyday, has just told me that the heater is not to good.

Do I tell her to wear a coat, hat and gloves?

No, I'm not that daft.

So how much of the rad should I blank (and with what) to make the heater work?

The car doesn't have a temp guage (I will get round to fitting one) so I am concerned about blanking too much off.

BTW the car is a '66 with a 1098cc standard engine.

Thanks.
Steve - from a very, very cold Skegness. But no snow - so I can't enjoy RWD!

see this Radiator Muffs

Onne,
Many thanks for that link.
But It doesn't answer my real basic question:
"how much of the rad should I blank".
I am just concerned about blanking to much - you must remember that it is my wife that uses the car and if I get it wrong I will be in big trouble!

i think u will be safe with 3/4 blanking ,the minor is supposedly over cooled anyway ,and with these temps!!!!!!

Like SR I think you can safely blank off quite a lot. I use a total blank of hardboard with a 12 inch diameter hole centred on the fan spindle for all winter (Oct to April) and often going down to a 10 inch hole for Dec to Easter. No troubles, but then I don't idle regularly in traffic, but do often crawl along the M3! And I have a water temp gauge. Regards, MikeN.

All right, I use a rally shield, which helps a bit, I might add another

Steve,
I should have added that my 1098 Traveller (with the round drum heater) is fitted with a 88C thermostat. This makes a big difference. If you change the thermo, flush the system. I used Purimachos "Flushex" made for central heating systems to very good effect. (I see that Homebase now make their own for £9.99.) After 8.500 miles and 6 months there's no leaks and its not damaged the Radweld on which we depend. The heater is now very good, but of course it doesn't cure drafts!
As she's got a Mog, she's obviously a lady who's probably got everything. But I see that the Tchaibo stores have electrically heated boot liners for £25 a pair. They have a pair of rechargeables that clip around each ankle. Smart or wot? You could replace the batteries with wires to the dash and then whenever she gets out she'll forget and trip over and fall flat on her face! Ah, sweet revenge! MikeN.

MikeN,
Are you trying to get me in (more) trouble

Hi Steve,

Here's Hebe's Radiator Muff from last year



This year the muff is over the other side of the radiator (over the fresh air intake)

Nikki

Hi Nikki,
I like that idea - nice and simple!
Just off to raid the kitchen cupboard!

Steve

Yep, I used tinfoil just like Nikki's (but more crinkled and scruffy looking! ). The problem I had with my tuned enine was after an early morning blast down the M6 in icy weather the temp gauge used to drop to around 1/4! I used to have to pull the choke out slightly when I came off the motorway at the junction! I kid you not!

The tin-foil solved all the problems. Incidently, my heater was usually pretty hot anyway regardless of thermostat used. I suggest you flush your heater matrix out and see if that helps too.

88 thermostat is the way to go ! Also if you don't do much town work it is perfectly possible to remove the fan during winter running. An upgrade to a Mini fresh air heater (which has a bigger fan than the Minor one) will help enormously.

A tin foil muff is the quickest though - It's really easy to keep in your boot and whip on and off when the temperature changes

I shove a piece of hardboard about 10"x12" (with a wire so i can get it out again) between the grill and the rad. It worked really well

I shove a piece of hardboard about 10"x12" (with a wire so i can get it out again) between the grill and the rad. It worked really well

Ditto, & I sprayed it black so it couldn't be seen. However one afternoon my engine started overheating after a few minutes in a slow moving queue of traffic so I had to whip it out sharpish!

I am thinking of installing a curtain, like in my MM

Fitted a hardboard (old pic backing) to half the grill and it's made no difference:-(
So will add more next weekend.
Sorry about quick post but was typing long post and keyboard lost it
Many thanks for all help/advice.
Steve

Chris Morley wrote:However one afternoon my engine started overheating after a few minutes in a slow moving queue of traffic so I had to whip it out sharpish!

Yes, that's another reason why I would not remove the fan during winter just in case you happen to be stuck in a traffic queue. Quite common in bad weather...

Just switch off - and save fuel. It's going to be the Law soon ! With the heater running the engine is unlikely to overheat at idle - but you would want a temperature gauge fitted to keep an eye on it. For many years I ran my 948 Minor all year round with no fan fitted. But I guess there wasn't so much traffic about as there is now.

...Really???