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TR3A Heater change out


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Have any of you had the idea of putting in a Mark 1 Spitfire's heater.

 

The TR3 heater I have looks like a small ineffective spaceship.

 

Help requested and appreciated.

 

Steve - are you sure you have the correct heater matrix? The circular TR matrix is identical to that used on a number of British cars of the era - eg Morris Minor, Morgan - except that it is quite deep compared with those. From memory the TR heater is about 7-8" deep. The others are only about half that. Having said that, the blower doesn't do much & the whole thing is pretty useless.

BTW - isn't the sun always out in California??

Phil.

Edited by greasemonkey
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Steve - I don't think that a Spit mk1 heater will fit. And even more: if I look at the drawing in the Moss catalog, I'm pretty sure the heater motor is the same as in the TR. You can try to have the inside of the matrix cleaned. Be careful though, there's a lot to read about this process on this forum. Has to do with applying an overdose of water pressure!

 

Smiths produced these heaters for many car manufacturers. But, as always, you cannot fit one straight away! And if you find one... be prepared to pay a hefty bill. But there's a way out. I bought a new heater motor from a guy in Sweden; he sells Morris Minor parts. This heater motor fits in right away! And, because it's from a Morris, this motor costs roughly 10% of a TR heater motor -if you can find one.

 

And then there's the posh approach... Revington TR has a nice uprated heater. You can also find this heater at Holden UK for less money! In fact, this uprated heater is even cheaper than an old circular type.

 

Regards,

Menno

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And then there's the posh approach... Revington TR has a nice uprated heater. You can also find this heater at Holden UK for less money!

 

Maybe the Revington kit is more expensive as it includes a TR-specific fitting kit and switch?

 

 

 

TR2-3B Improved Heater kit, incorporating Clayton's 4kW heater unit. This heater unit has 2 swivel outlet vents, 2 screen demist outlets and a 2-speed blower motor capable of delivering 200cubic meters/hour (115cfm).

 

 

 

In addition to the basic heater unit the kit consists of a mounting cradle, 2 speed switch, 2 water hoses and sufficient air hose to connect both screen demist vents. The screen demist vents are not included in the kit. Fitting instructions are provided to make installation as painless as possible.

 

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  • 4 years later...

For a sidescreen what about one of these?

 

http://www.t7design.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=192

 

All pipework ducting etc can be sourced to

 

http://www.t7design.co.uk/

 

The size would fit nicely in place, 3.5 kw should be ample?

 

What do you think?

 

Cheers

Guy

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Clayton replacement matrix is a bit pricey but fits and works very well and looks close to original. MUCH more efficient than the original. The downside is that there is the same lack of room as before.

I have not found a better fan motor yet but on the look out for something better than "grannies dying breath" Smiths motor.

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Menno van Rij 2, on 19 Feb 2013 - 22:47, said:

Guy,

 

Your internet find really looks interesting! I would investigate further if I were you!

BTW, it's pretty cheap compared with the Clayton! Which is about 190 GPB

 

 

 

Menno

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thats what i thought, wildo

 

Cheers

Guy

 

 

 

 

 

Edit got one on order however they have a backlog so wont be shipped for a week.

Edited by Jersey Royal
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Clayton replacement matrix is a bit pricey but fits and works very well and looks close to original. MUCH more efficient than the original. The downside is that there is the same lack of room as before.

I have not found a better fan motor yet but on the look out for something better than "grannies dying breath" Smiths motor.

 

 

Rod

 

Maybe there is a burnt out winding on your fan motor ? I have pulled my heater apart and cleaned it and I also spruced up the fan motor at the same time, it now spins with gusto and blows out quite a breeze, only 1 speed though

 

Alan

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I fitted theRevington style 4kw 2 speed plastic box type in the footwell of myTR3A and it is as warm as you'd every want both for cabin heating and demisting. I also fitted aTX4 taxiheater valve insidethe cabin controlled witha Hillman Imp heatercontrol .

 

Yet to try it with tonneau.

 

Regards

 

Bill G @ NB

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I fitted the Revington kit a couple of years ago. Not cheap but it went in without too much hassle - although folding oneself in two to work under the dashboard becomes increasingly difficult with advancing years.I fitted the optional heater tap

The only bitch I have is that I was obliged to interchange the choke and rheostat for the 2 speed fan control as the choke cable won't fit twixt heater and dashboard.

The performance is excellent almost too good with the soft top which I rarely use and certainly 'extends the driving season' to all year round

 

james

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I have fitted a couple of the heaters that are the same style as the Revington ones (But bought direct from Claytons so much cheaper) and I found if you fitted it as far rearwards as the demist ducts will allow there is more room behind the dash than with an original one.

The only drawback is there is no actual fresh air intake to it but the heat output is very good.

Stuart.

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Took delivery of a Clayton heat exchanger for my Smiths heater today, only ordered it a 3pm yesterday!

 

It is very well made and hopefully will be much more efficient than the original core, Slightly more expensive than a new plastic heater!!

 

John Worthing

ps will post a picture later

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I had to have a new heat exchanger because mine was frost damaged, it had exploded (almost) and blew the clips off!! and although it still held water I do not trust it, I had to put in the vice to get it back to the original size!!

 

John

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Picture as promised, hope my feet get warm!!

P1020153_zps24cdef49.jpg

 

P1020154_zpsd6d2f199.jpg

Edited by TR24178
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  • 2 weeks later...

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thats what i thought, wildo

 

Cheers

Guy

 

 

 

 

 

Edit got one on order however they have a backlog so wont be shipped for a week.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Heater arrived yesterday, heres a few photos.

 

I was surprised at the size difference, and there is no weight to it either.

 

I fitted to ally strips to the underside, last picture. and this is bolted at 90 degrees to the existing two dash supports, so its all flush underneath.

 

DSC_0954_zpsc24f48a4.jpg

 

DSC_0955_zpsa9fba576.jpg

 

DSC_0956_zps2df15977.jpg

 

Its wired to the original type rheostat and allows me to adjust the speed of the fan.

I have yet to connect the last pipe connections to the bulkhead, and see how much heat is produced

claimed to be 3.5 kw.

 

However i have tested the fan and even with footwell vents open and pumping out

air, there is an extremely good flow of air up the windscreen.

 

So far brilliant. :)

 

Cheers

Guy

Edited by Jersey Royal
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  • 2 weeks later...

Update on T7 Design heater

 

Just been out in the Tr3a, following tuning with colourtune , top down (no top fitted as yet) no sidescreens on.

 

And i have to say its well worth the money, my footwells were toasty warm, i could imagine with a tonneau it

would be very very nice.. On the unit you cant turn off the windscreen demist, but the footwell have adjustable vents.

 

The unit fitted easily too, only thing i find it difficult to adjust the rheostat knob with the standard steering wheel.

 

As i type my jeans are still warm <_<

 

Cheers

Guy

Edited by Jersey Royal
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  • 3 years later...

Bringing this thread back to life as it's the only one that seems to come up in a search for "T7 Design". We've talked about their heaters more recently, but those don't come up in a simple search.

 

Here's another heater core/matrix thread with a lot of good information, including the T7 Design 3.5 kW lightweight heater:

http://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/58340-replacing-heater-matrix/

 

I'm normally a fan of originality, for the fun of a period classic and because all the old diagrams and mechanical instructions are still relevant. But I'm very likely to compromise when a heater goes back in my car. The T7 Design seems to be just about perfect for a sidescreen car.

 

The fan in the YouTube video in Guy's post #10 seems noisy. In fact, it seems to roar. Can those of you living with one of these comment on that?

 

Stuart was recommending the four outlet version rather than the two outlet/two vent louver version. Is that still the group's best thinking? (One can take Stuart to the bank, so I'm betting that it is.)

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Hi Don,

 

The picture Stuart posted up in the other thread is of my car when he was restoring it. The fan on my heater is certainly audible at full chat but is nothing compared to the engine/exhaust noise. With the roof off, you can't really hear it - I struggle when driving to fathom out how fast is is going by listening to it as the Rheostat doesn't have any indications on it (other than fast, slow stop!). With the roof on, you can just about hear it at full pelt but the engine noise is amplified by the roof and drowns it out.

 

I didn't hear the original Smiths heater before it was changed (it was broken) but I've never thought "bloody hell, that fan's noisy" so it can't be too bad.

 

By the way, during a drive out with Ben yesterday we decided you should be known as "The BFG" from now on!

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