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3A Grille bar crimping


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As part of the ongoing heat management in my 3A, I have been thinking some time about crimping the horizontal bars on the grille to narrow them and improve air flow like pictures of early 3As and others have done (such as Hoge's racer). Been practising on an old scrap grille I picked up and finally worked out a technique that would crimp across the width of the bar in an easy, single, neat movement that didn't damage the bar.

When I attempted this yesterday on the grille fitted to my car I discovered:

- the holes are even smaller than the old test grille so I couldn't get my kit around the bar to crimp (even less air getting in than I thought!);

- the metal is about twice as thick as that on the test grille and hard to work in any event. Even removing the grille to see if a different technique could work was unsuccessful.

So....

1. Does anyone know if any of the after market grilles are noticeably of thinner metal than any others?

2. If any of you have done this, what techniques and especially what tools have any of you used to achieve this without damaging the grille or it requiring reanodizing?

3.Do any of the aftermarket grilles have noticeably narrower bars / larger gaps?

As ever, thanks for your thoughts.

Miles

 

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Edited by MilesA
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It seems that all the new grills have the smaller holes, I dont know about thickness though usually with aftermarket stuff its often thinner as its easier to press.

Stuart.

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I was going this route until I fitted an up rated radiator core with offset tubes and more fins. It stopped any more problems and the electric fan only fires up a couple of times a year.  The best answer overall was to have the liners at the correct height. In the end my grille is still standard.                                    Good luck Richard &B

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3 hours ago, stuart said:

It seems that all the new grills have the smaller holes, I dont know about thickness though usually with aftermarket stuff its often thinner as its easier to press.

Stuart.

Are these the ones made down you way Stuart? I had a chat with the a manufacturer down there and he was adamant his were right......

Iain

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19 minutes ago, iain said:

Are these the ones made down you way Stuart? I had a chat with the a manufacturer down there and he was adamant his were right......

Iain

I expect so as I think he`s the only one making them. Talking about them to Jeff from Moss he was saying that they can be difficult to deal with.

Stuart.

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2 hours ago, stuart said:

I expect so as I think he`s the only one making them. Talking about them to Jeff from Moss he was saying that they can be difficult to deal with.

Stuart.

So both grilles and manufacturer difficult to deal with!

4 hours ago, Richardtr3a said:

I was going this route until I fitted an up rated radiator core with offset tubes and more fins. It stopped any more problems and the electric fan only fires up a couple of times a year.  The best answer overall was to have the liners at the correct height. In the end my grille is still standard.                                    Good luck Richard &B

Richard, you are right and I know that an upgraded radiator is really the solution, but thought I could try a quick fix. My radiator has the starting handle hole in it, plus four 1" square tabs supporting the fan reducing the exposed core further, plus an oil cooler set by the grille rather than by the radiator so further reducing effective airflow. Perhaps you could let me know (here or by PM) who the rad' supplier was so that when I can work up the enthusiasm for changing the fan mounts and oil cooler position, I can install an upgraded radiator too!

Many thanks

Miles

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I mounted my fan on the front of the core. I riveted a plate down each side of the radiator and bolted the fan brackets to the plate. I gave up on the starting handle hole. I will send you the supplier when I get back to the laptop this evening.  Richard & B

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He was a very helpful supplier who uprated my radiator and offers collect and deliver. I knew him already and my local service garage use him as well.

Guildford Radiators

Unit 10 Little Mead Ind.Est.

Little Mead, Cranleigh. GU6 8ND  01483 277713

It is a shame that the front bumper and apron have to come off to give you access. There was an owner in the USA who hinged the front panel so that you could open it like a regular bonnet.

Good luck and let us know what yo decide to do. I have an oil cooler as well but it may be redundant nowadays.

Richard & B

 

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Miles

i did mine with pliers with the grill off the car. But I had already decided to paint the Center leaving the edge bright. 
 

i f I wasn’t painting it I’d find a small diameter bar To fold around with pliers protected with tape or similar.

 

89C54EF7-6203-4333-B0E8-638D33CB29CC.jpeg

30A6CDA0-32E9-402C-A30B-6DB36D304478.jpeg

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2 hours ago, Richardtr3a said:

He was a very helpful supplier who uprated my radiator and offers collect and deliver. I knew him already and my local service garage use him as well.

Guildford Radiators

Unit 10 Little Mead Ind.Est.

Little Mead, Cranleigh. GU6 8ND  01483 277713

It is a shame that the front bumper and apron have to come off to give you access. There was an owner in the USA who hinged the front panel so that you could open it like a regular bonnet.

Good luck and let us know what yo decide to do. I have an oil cooler as well but it may be redundant nowadays.

Richard & B

 

Mine was also re-cored by Guildford Radiators. best company for miles (:)) around

Bob.

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Richard and Bob - thanks for the recommendation for Guildford Radiators.

Hamish - on my old test grille, I was able to use a mole grip and 2 short lengths of wood across the top and bottom of the bar to get a uniform crimp in one movement without leaving any marks in the bar. The problems with the one on (and off!) the care were that there is a shallower angle on the pressing of the bar. This means I cannot get the mole grip and wood 'hinge' into the gap. Also because of the more vertical angles of the bar combined with the thicker metal, the bar is very resistant to bending, requires considerably more pressure and simply cuts into the wood. A metal door hinge with a pair of long nosed molegrips may be the solution though.

Or just mangle it into shape with pliers and paint like yours!

Miles

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1 hour ago, MilesA said:

Richard and Bob - thanks for the recommendation for Guildford Radiators.

Hamish - on my old test grille, I was able to use a mole grip and 2 short lengths of wood across the top and bottom of the bar to get a uniform crimp in one movement without leaving any marks in the bar. The problems with the one on (and off!) the care were that there is a shallower angle on the pressing of the bar. This means I cannot get the mole grip and wood 'hinge' into the gap. Also because of the more vertical angles of the bar combined with the thicker metal, the bar is very resistant to bending, requires considerably more pressure and simply cuts into the wood. A metal door hinge with a pair of long nosed molegrips may be the solution though.

Or just mangle it into shape with pliers and paint like yours!

Miles

A bit tedious but if you laid the grille flat on a firm surface you could hammer a wedge shaped piece of wood into the slots to make them wider and at the same time start to shape the slats so that they would be more ready to bend rather than just cut into the wood.

Rgds Ian

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Hi Miles

your post started with Heat management as the theme...just some thoughts (i don't what you have already done.)...been here got the T-shirt!

Have you flushed the block and rad with a serious cleaner? Does water issue from the block drain tap or has it blocked up? 

Do you have the cardboard air deflectors in place?

Is the ignition timing correct through the rev range? (Rolling road)

Are the carbs leaning out at high rpm? (Rolling Road)

Iain

 

 

 

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Iain

Thanks for the thought, but I have  (most of) the T-shirt too. All of the above (although it's due a retune on a RR) plus Alstom high flow thermostat as used on 3As in Australia and just fitted a restrictor (although not yet tried in anger since). Its actually not far off where it should be temp wise, but I am sure that with a fully cored and recored rad and the oil filter close up to it to prevent air swirl between the two I would be there. Its just the hassle that's putting off completing the T-shirt!

Miles

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6 hours ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:

Or hack out some of the bars as Triumph did

 

Cheers

Peter W

image.jpeg

And I think we can all see why that did not succeed as a design improvement Peter....!

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1 hour ago, Deggers said:

The full floating "Vista Grille".

All yours for $37.95 from your local AMCO dealer. :)

TRVist1.thumb.jpg.da41c7eb4e8a57c461e78e2813a4c1af.jpg

Cheers, Deggers

Great one Deggers but can you post the web link to the site ........….…

:ph34r:

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"Currently unavailable" apparently, H.

Girl from customer support said the tech boys were looking into it, and they're hoping to have it sorted the moment someone invents the internet. :D

AMcomp.thumb.jpg.26ee8d0044a28321aa04904ac8f40ddb.jpg

Deggers

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12 hours ago, Deggers said:

The full floating "Vista Grille".

All yours for $37.95 from your local AMCO dealer. :)

TRVist1.thumb.jpg.da41c7eb4e8a57c461e78e2813a4c1af.jpg

Cheers, Deggers

Now that looks a bit better with the additional bars - i'm in!

I would be up for a Beta too - lovely car in the flesh.

Miles

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5 hours ago, MilesA said:

Now that looks a bit better with the additional bars - i'm in!

I'm with you Miles, I like it!

Rare as hen's teeth, but they crop up occasionally.

(Or a metalwork project for lockdown? ;))

TRVG2c.thumb.jpg.59baa04373581d07d90f140af2e82efd.jpg

TRVG1c.thumb.jpg.171a0cc1354f36ca5761e0e6ebc26663.jpg

TRVG3c.thumb.jpg.cd8465762b4ca9ad457b3ac4c8bfd9e2.jpg

TRVGred1c.thumb.jpg.7b20c9e1242a1a57839b35b8e1ef1a50.jpg

Deggers

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  • 3 weeks later...

Very elegant, clean design, the TR3B grille! I agree.

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13 hours ago, DavidBee said:

Very elegant, clean design, the TR3B grille! I agree.

Thats an aftermarket grille.

Stuart.

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