Hamish Posted December 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2022 Well I made a start today and removed the old leaky heater it does appear to be the heater core that’s the issue. I have decided to go my own route to the final fit. Rubber bobbin isolation fixings to the back of the battery box. this allows a vertical fit with the water pipes out the top, the cabin vents to below the dash stays. And easily to hand. ( have noticed the vents can’t fully rotate as the internal fan gets in the way but will position well for my location) I plan to put a spacer board in the battery box so the battery is not affected by protruding nuts. will make final connections and final fit another time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted December 5, 2022 Report Share Posted December 5, 2022 (edited) 13 hours ago, Hamish said: Well I made a start today and removed the old leaky heater it does appear to be the heater core that’s the issue. I have decided to go my own route to the final fit. Rubber bobbin isolation fixings to the back of the battery box. this allows a vertical fit with the water pipes out the top, the cabin vents to below the dash stays. And easily to hand. ( have noticed the vents can’t fully rotate as the internal fan gets in the way but will position well for my location) I plan to put a spacer board in the battery box so the battery is not affected by protruding nuts. will make final connections and final fit another time. Hi Hamish, The contact between vents and motor annoyed me so I made a couple of extension tubes to move the vents out about an inch. See in photo. The alternative was to strip the heater completely and mount the fan externally between the case and matrix. This made the heater deeper and the gain in space behind the dash was lost. Rather than making I wondered if these from T7 could be adapted to fit. https://www.t7design.co.uk/round-air-vent-twist-base-ravtb.html Edited December 6, 2022 by BlueTR3A-5EKT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Vincent Posted December 6, 2022 Report Share Posted December 6, 2022 What diameter are the tubes? Would a piece of plastic drain down pipe do the job? Rgds Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted December 6, 2022 Report Share Posted December 6, 2022 One thing with fitting that way Hamish is your not going to get fresh air from the vent going through the element so if you have wet in the interior from any source (wet carpets/clothes) it will draw the damp air into and up to the screen thus misting it up. Just my opinion. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted January 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2023 Well with work, xmas with in laws, time with my mum in Devon for her 91st birthday I had the chance to final fit plumb and wire up the heater. electrically it works I’ve not started the car to test the water / heat. hardest part was getting the screen air vent tubes on the screen vents !! happy with it so far but I can see why there may be a need for a better speed controller The vents are within reach using this mounting method. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drewmotty Posted January 3, 2023 Report Share Posted January 3, 2023 Looks good Hamish. The TR3 system doesn’t have a plenum so it’s essentially just a recirculating system; as long as the inlet is clear it will work fine and you won’t have any problems with trapped air as the water ports are at the top. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dpb Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 Hello Hamish Resurrecting this, as I'm just fitting the exact same T7 heater in my car and quite like the idea of fixing it to the rear of the battery box. Did you end up fitting it like this, and/or come across any problems during or since? regards Dave ( new TR3A owner). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted January 27 Author Report Share Posted January 27 (edited) 2 hours ago, dpb said: Hello Hamish Resurrecting this, as I'm just fitting the exact same T7 heater in my car and quite like the idea of fixing it to the rear of the battery box. Did you end up fitting it like this, and/or come across any problems during or since? regards Dave ( new TR3A owner). Dave thanks for the reminder it appears a year ago - doesn’t time fly. yes my set up is as the pictures above. i think the only thing I did that’s not fully clearly described was to fit a “backboard” to the battery box with plywood body coloured only so the heater mounting nuts didn’t press into the battery. Not needed if your battery is unaffected by the nuts. not bothered with changing the fan speed controller either as I’ve been happy with either on or off fan function that the original controller seems to provide as last year I didn’t use either soft top or hard top nor windscreen for that matter. So just full heat in the open car No leaks or hassles since fitting. Edited January 27 by Hamish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dpb Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 Thank you Hamish I've decided to go with your method. A bit of trial fitting shows it gives loads of room to get at the panel wiring (which is in dire need of rewiring). Agreed, I think either on or off will do for me. Usually on where I live. Cheers Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 My only comments are 1/ It is quite noisy compared to the old Smiths unit. 2/ Puts out a lot more heat than the old Smiths unit. 3/ I need to add another downward vent as the side vents are near inaccessible to open and close the way I have fitted the heater unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 25 minutes ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said: 3/ I need to add another downward vent as the side vents are near inaccessible to open and close the way I have fitted the heater unit. Thats why I fit them the way I pictured earlier. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 49 minutes ago, stuart said: Thats why I fit them the way I pictured earlier. Stuart. I will try lifting the whole unit to the height you use. Mine is fitted sitting on the original heater/dash stays. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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