I recored the radiator on my '59 TR3A and had a TR6 fan that I had been meaning to put in there so as long as I was going to be removing the front apron I did it. I was able to get the recore to be done so that it was about an inch less in thickness and I drilled new holes that allowed me to move the radiator forward about maybe an inch and a half from its original position. The TR6 fan fit on in the correct 'pulling' direction. What is really strange though is that with the recored radiator and the much more efficient fan the car was running about 50 degrees cooler than the normal 185, 6 o'clock position it had always run at. I had some other unrelated issues that I have finally worked through and the car is back on the road again but I put the original fan back on because the only thing in the cooling system that was different, other than the recore, was the tr6 fan. The last few times I have taken it out it seemed to run much closer to the normal 185 and at least now always gets up to 185 after I park it in the garage. It is running very well so I am not so worried about it running too cool now. When I put the old fan back in I removed the apron again but I am
hoping to be able to put the tr6 fan back in if it ever runs
too hot. I am pretty confident that I have enough room between the fan and the radiator to do that without removing the apron and the radiator and all that entails. In any case I know for sure that I have enough room to remove the original fan that is in there now in case I need to replace the rubber bushings which had previously wasted away to the point that the fan was making metal on metal sounds.
In summary, I was able to gain maybe 3 inches of very valuable real estate by both recoring and moving forward the radiator. The two long bolts that stabilize the top of the radiator worked fine in the new position. The only thing I had to improvise was the original top hose. That was not long enough. I am very curious myself as to whether I'll have enough room to try the tr6 fan again without removing the radiator. It looks like I have a pretty good shot.
I was kind of surprised that the car wasn't built with the radiator in the forward position I have now. It was not possible to remove the fan, or to just replace the worn or absent rubber bushings with the amount of space Standard Triumph left me.
I don't think the tr6 fan pulling accounted for the 50 degree cooler temperature but I am sure it contributed somewhat to it. Also I double checked the original temperature gauge against a new one to make sure it was not reading low. They both read the same.
Thanks,
Jim Lee