• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

TR5/TR250 TR-250 Radiator Shroud

Share this page

A

arbs_53

Senior Member
Offline
In the next couple of weeks, I will be installing my freshly re-built engine into my little six-pot and I would like to install a radiator shroud to help in cooling the engine. Years ago I ordered the two flat pieces of air deflectors that are supposedly what was supplied from the factory for the 250, but I couldn't figure out how to attached them. I'm also missing the clips that are needed to finish the job. I would prefer to use a real shroud; one that fits between the back of the grille and the radiator. I was wondering if one from a TR4A would work. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Dave
 
That's just what I was looking for. Thanks, Geo.
 
Hi,

If originality is important, you'll want the fiberboard item shown at the above link.

If durability is more important, some of the vendors offer a black plastic version that holds up better (VB, I'm pretty sure, and maybe Moss and TRF, too). It is actually a TR250/TR5/TR6 style shroud, so should be a good fit for your car. But it can be fitted to TR4/4A with a little tweaking. It doesn't include the two side pieces #94 shown at the above link and cost a bit more than the fiberboard version even when I bought one about 5 years ago. And, I had to elongate the mounting holes because they were drilled off center and shifted the whole thing to one side.

To use it on TR4/4A, it helps to reinforce it with a strip of 1/8x3/4" aluminum riveted inside, to encourage it to bow upward for a better match to the earlier radiator shape. And something is needed to extend the top and sides about 3 inches to fit snugly up to the radiator. I'm using reinforced rubber sheeting. Even with modifications, it's cheaper and easier than fabricating one out of aluminum.

Those fiber board shrouds seem like a silly, throwaway item. But most TRs of all years will overheat if driven without one in place.

Cheers!

Alan
 
I installed the plastic shroud from VB on my TR250, and it noticably improved cooling. The mounting holes did not match up very well and had to cut a slot for the oil cooler hoses, but otherwise was pretty straight forward. That, combined with a 14" thermostatic fan, keeps things cool.

Rob.
 
Great information guys. I always had problems with the engine temperature while in traffic, and my anxiety level would rise along with the needle as it crept nearer and nearer to the redline. Part of the problem might have been gunk in the water jackets (I once had to use a small screwdriver to dig some of it out to get the water to drain out of the block). But I just had the engine re-built and now everything should be clean. But I thought the shroud would be good insurance, instead of those two pieces of fiber-board, and from what I've read, essential. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gifThanks.
 
Back
Top