John McCormack Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 I am building my long door TR2 to original specs, as best as I can. The new radiator that came with the car doesn't have the crank hole, nor does my driver car. Does anyone know how to correctly locate the crank hole in a new radiator? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richardtr3a Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 Hi, The absence of the hole helps the cooling by allowing more radiator area. You will never need the starting handle after you have up rated the coil, the starter, the condenser, the plugs and a new battery. Even when my car was worn out I never used the handle. Good luck, Richard Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted April 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 Hi, The absence of the hole helps the cooling by allowing more radiator area. You will never need the starting handle after you have up rated the coil, the starter, the condenser, the plugs and a new battery. Even when my car was worn out I never used the handle. Good luck, Richard Thanks Richard. I want the hole just for originality. I aim to build this car as close as I can to how it was when it left the factory, although built to the standards the factory probably wished they had been able to build it. I have another TR2 I have owned for 42 years as a daily driver, covering about 10,000 miles a year. It is also very original but with an electric fan, no crank hole, high port head and a hi-torque starter motor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 (edited) It should be pretty easy to find details around the crank hole, John, Im on the road so away from any of my information. Theres the combination of original location and packing pieces, of course, to get alignment right for the crank between the support block in the apron and the driving dog on the crank bolt. Although its not strictly authentic (so probably out of bounds for your project) cutting slots in the tops of the mounting bolts really helps taking the rad in and out. Something to at least consider (smile). Edited April 18, 2018 by Don H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 (edited) As you radiator re-corer if he understands what a 'wet box' is. I have a drawing somewhere of the slot position. If you have an engine and a chassis it is easy enough to put both together and measure the position from the rad mount brackets on the chassis up to the c/l of the starting handle dog. Peter W Edited April 18, 2018 by BlueTR3A-5EKT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vivdownunder Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 John, seeing you have the engine and radiator in, run some strips of masking tape on the inside of the core opposite the dog bolt. Mark where you need the hole. The hole is nominally 30mm x 30mm or just big enough for the starter handle boss to pass through. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 Hi John ~ Don mentions cutting slots in the radiator mounting bolts. I did this to good effect. This makes securing or undoing the bolts far more easy. Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 Hi John ~ Don mentions cutting slots in the radiator mounting bolts. I did this to good effect. This makes securing or undoing the bolts far more easy. Tom. IMG_2665 - Copy.JPG +1 Tom reminded me of this tip this spring. Saved me a lot of messing about. Especially on steering box side. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 (edited) Images of starting handle hole. Round hole (beit in the wrong position!) is a proper 'wet box' that does not blank off the tubes of the core above it. - keeps all the core cooling tubes live. Oblong hole is a simple punch through and blank off that blocks a strip of radiator cores the width of the hole and the full depth of the radiator. Peter W Edited August 1, 2019 by BlueTR3A-5EKT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John McCormack Posted May 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2018 (edited) Thank you all, especially Conrad with the measurements for the hole location. I have obtained two quotes today for a straight hole and for a wet box hole. The straight hole I am looking at up to 8 hours labour or $1,200 plus tax, a wet box could be as much as 30 hours labour or $4,500 plus tax. Both specialists said it would be better to start with another core that the manufacturer put the hole in. If it had been cheap I could have maybe justified it but paying that sort of money to achieve a minor originality feature (and lose 15% cooling capacity when I live in a hot country) doesn't make sense. It is more important to me that the engine bay is as per factory with an original fan. I'll scout around for a reasonable one with a hole in it already that I might use for show situations. Edited May 7, 2018 by John McCormack Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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