The English Corvette - Our Triumph TR8

[hjames]

Just for fun day started inb the low 70s, got to mid 80s by 2PM.
The Capital Triumph Register (club) did a Last Day of Spring drive 2026 Started in Haymarket and through Middleburg, Upperville and points west in NoVA. Finished at a Brewery/winery in Delaplane, but we skipped the brews and headed home.
Maybe 16 cars all told - buncha TR6s and Doug's TR250, some Spitfires & a '57 Morris, a Lotus, a modern Vette, couple misc others,
and TRouble, our TR 8


TRouble runs cool (lmostly) and well - that 215 cu in V8 just purrs in 5th gear at road speeds ...

 

[hjames]

I had registered for The Original British Car Day (29th annual) event in Mt. Airy, MD a few months back, but got a web ad for the 3rd Car Show in the park at the Fairfax Memorial Cemetery also for today. Woke up today and it was raining pretty good. So we decided to skip the 1 hour drive to Mt Airy and do the Fairfax show a mile away.
Maybe 16-20 cars showed up - mostly American iron - a modern Bentley, 64 Porsche, a MR2, and TRouble ... they awarded her 1st in show!
You can see its raining buckets behind us!

 

[chazix]

Love the trophy!

The phrase "raining buckets" reminded me of the time I drove my brother's race-prepped TR-6 through a serious rainstorm. The foam-padded bucket seats lived up to their name, all right.

 

[hjames]

The folks at the Fairfax Memorial Park sent Emma this picture last week ...

 

[hjames]

Its not all trophies and unicorns. Car has been running hot in these 90+ days so I'm checking out the cooling system, in the sunny driveway.
Goes without saying I would enjoy having a garage!

Got her up on a Pass Side ramp so the coolant overflow reserve is higher, to help get any residual air bubbles out of the system. I put a 180 degree thermostat in last August, but I've got a 160 thermo on order/on the way. The car has an aftermarket oversize alum radiator and a front mounted 14" electric fan, which seems to be working fine.







The car has a heavy rubber shroud attached just before the hood that has sagged over the years, so I laid a bead of weatherstrip adhesive along the top to span the gap, and some duct tape to hold it in place until the glue dries. There is no shroud along the side or bottom. The front spoiler does direct air upward.

 

[spicer]

Its not all trophies and unicorns. Car has been running hot in these 90+ days so I'm checking out the cooling system. Got her up on a Pass Side ramp so the coolant overflow reserve is higher, to help get any residual air bubbles out of the system. I put a 180 degree thermostat in last August, but I've got a 160 thermo on order/on the way. The car has an aftermarket oversize alum radiator and a front mounted 14" electric fan, which seems to be working fine.
View attachment 3802364
View attachment 3802365
View attachment 3802366
View attachment 3802367
View attachment 3802368
The car has a heavy rubber shroud attached just before the hood that has sagged over the years, so I laid a bead of weatherstrip adhesive along the top to span the gap, and some duct tape to hold it in place until the glue dries. There is no shroud along the side or bottom. The front spoiler does direct air upward.
View attachment 3802369View attachment 3802370View attachment 3802371

Is the fan a pusher, front of radiator pushing air thru instead of pulling it thru? Did it come with an engine driven fan? Pushing is not at all the same as pulling air thru the radiator. It requires a high volume electric fan to take the place of an engine driven fan, a shroud makes a big difference, assuming it would have come with one for an engine driven fan. I might say new radiator but the one in place is good, an upgrade. A lower temp thermostat will make little to no difference for overheating problems, might take a bit longer to overheat. It needs increased airflow thru the radiator on hot days.

 

[pfcs49]

Check that the fan is indeed blowing the right way!!
As a mechanic I've seen a couple instances where the fan was on the wrong side of the radiator<OR>polarity got reversed and it ran backwards.

PS: aux fans only needed at standing still and very low speeds. Above ~20mph there should be abundant airflow, much more than the fan provides.

 

[TPettenati]

How is the fan turned on and at what temperature? I've used adjustable fan controllers with moderate success. One model I used had an extra terminal for A/C, which would forced the fan on anytime A/C was in use. Since I didn't have A/C, I hardwired the terminal to a cockpit switch, and I would switch the fan on when in traffic and on a hot day before the temperature started rising.

You should also verify that your temperature gauge is accurate. An infrared thermometer pointed at the thermostat housing (when opened) should give a close approximation.

I see daylight on the sides of the radiator. That should be sealed. Ideally you want all air entering the front to go thru the radiator, not around it. Otherwise it will follow the path of lease resistance.

Also replace the radiator cap. Having pressurized coolant raises the boiling point and can help with overheating.

 

[gadget73]

Yeah air is bad today. Sitting at the bar and glad I serviced the old Smokeeter that's up here.

 

[hjames]

Visited Tom in Md this morning since he offered an unused Maradyne Fan install kit so I could move my TR8 fan from the front of the radiator to the Motor side (where most feel it belongs!). Got home by 13:00 and got the fan off the front already, but its nasty hot & muggy, and it looks I need to lift it from below and get the ties and such cinched down.
(May need Emma's hands to help hold it once I lift it into place). She plays pool on Tuesdays, so tomorrow, perhaps.
Weather folks are calling for a storm shortly, so think I'm done for the day anyway.

 

[Copanel]

Visited Tom in Md this morning since he offered an unused Maradyne Fan install kit so I could move my TR8 fan from the front of the radiator to the Motor side (where most feel it belongs!). Got home by 13:00 and got the fan off the front already, but its nasty hot & muggy, and it looks I need to lift it from below and get the ties and such cinched down.
(May need Emma's hands to help hold it once I lift it into place). She plays pool on Tuesdays, so tomorrow, perhaps.
Weather folks are calling for a storm shortly, so think I'm done for the day anyway.
View attachment 3805356
View attachment 3805359
View attachment 3805360

It is excellent that you are mounting the fan behind the radiator; however, that mounting kit isn't the best choice. I hope you can find a fan shroud so that it can capture all the air passing through the radiator core.

 

[grey]

got a 160 thermo on order/on the way

There are theoretical caveats with running an engine too cold. The best electric fan that I've found is from a Lincoln Mark VIII. The down side is that it takes a good alternator and serious relays to fit one.

 

[peterp1]

It is excellent that you are mounting the fan behind the radiator; however, that mounting kit isn't the best choice. I hope you can find a fan shroud so that it can capture all the air passing through the radiator core.

Agree with this. Whether you have a shroud or not, you need a fairly perfect seal of the fan against the radiator -- any small open gap and the air will be pulled through that open "zero resistance" gap rather than from through the higher resistance radiator fins.

I had a car with a custom overbuilt radiator and 2 electric fans, and it would start overheating almost immediately whenever I pulled up to a stop sign or traffic light. It turned out the problem was a small gap in the shroud underneath the car, and all the air was being pulled through that gap, with almost no air going through the radiator.

Redline Water Wetter added to the coolant can help also. It increases the surface contact of the water/coolant with the radiator so that it cools better. It's not a dramatic improvement, but it does cool better with Water Wetter.

 

[Copanel]

Aftermarket 14in Electric Fan - TR8 TR7

Keep your car cool with this low amp electric fan!

thewedgeshopstore.com

I noticed that TWS sells fans for mounting in front of the radiator—like the setup you had—but they also offer a kit with a shroud for mounting behind the radiator; the latter is recommended for warmer climates or situations where improved cooling is needed.

 

[hjames]

Aftermarket 14in Electric Fan - TR8 TR7

Keep your car cool with this low amp electric fan!

thewedgeshopstore.com

I noticed that TWS sells fans for mounting in front of the radiator—like the setup you had—but they also offer a kit with a shroud for mounting behind the radiator; the latter is recommended for warmer climates or situations where improved cooling is needed.

TWS no longer sells the radiator that is on my car. Vendor priced themselves out of the market.
The shroud they offer now won't fit my radiator - Had that call with Woody (owner of TWS) Monday ... we spoke of many things.
The install kit I'll use is exactly the kit thats been on it for 10+ years, but pointed properly backward!

No worries about running too cool - It'll be fine.

Any changes after this will be incremental, if needed.

 

[gadget73]

There are theoretical caveats with running an engine too cold. The best electric fan that I've found is from a Lincoln Mark VIII. The down side is that it takes a good alternator and serious relays to fit one.

The Contour fans are a good option too, and its two smaller vs the single massive one. Easier to find these days as well. An advantage to the Contour fans is they do two speed with a big resistor rather than two windings that can't be powered at the same time. You can start it on low with less inrush and have a second relay wired off a high temp switch to simply bypass the dropper resistor for high speed.

 

[hjames]

For me, I have nothing to find - I have the Maradyne fan and install kit in hand - I'm just waiting for a somewhat cooler day ('twas brutal hot and humid yesterday!)

I'm not planning further changes to the cooling system in the car until I get done what I plan to do - put the fan on the motor side of the radiator,
and see how that affects the system. My friend Tom who gave me the install kit yesterday has gone through similar issues with his TR8 (his 2nd TR8) over the years
and did his changes on an incremental basis a few years back and has no further cooling issues. I'll follow the lead of a man who has worked this issue to conclusion.
(FWIW, his car's got the dual carb engine with non-connected AC, shown here).

 

[pfcs49]

Don't know if this is relevant, but I recall that the TR8s had two fans that ran in series with a funny relay circuit that put them into parallel when the car got hot or AC was called for.

 

[hjames]

Don't know if this is relevant, but I recall that the TR8s had two fans that ran in series with a funny relay circuit that put them into parallel when the car got hot or AC was called for.

Not relevant at this point. The original 2 fan setup is long gone, probably circa 2010 when a previous MA owner had the cam, manifold and 4 bbl installed.
Not sure exactly when the 14 inch electric fan was installed. I didn't receive full service invoices from the car's history

 

[usedto]

I must be missing something here.

If that fan is a pusher, mounting it on the back of the radiator will push out impeding the natural flow of a moving car. And, even if reversing + and - would reverse the fan rotation (which it may not, depending on the motor), the fan blades aren't configured to run backwards.

Like I said, I might be missing something.

And on the thermostat - sometimes a cooler thermostat can allow the water to pass through the radiator too fast, before it can actually cool down. (more common with removing the thermostat)