• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR4/4A TR4 Cooling

SBooth

Member
Offline
Noticed that some TR4's being raced, SCCA; etc., have holes cut in lower front valence that would appear to help air flow to radiator.
Anyone know if this is really effective; looks like a lot of the radiator is positioned below the grill opening.
Thinking of a couple of rectangular openings covered w/ screens.
Thanks
 
I would rather see a custom radiator shroud added to keep the original look or even add an electric fan to the front of the radiator. I have seen a shroud on a show car made of chrome that was really nice looking and funneled the air nicely. It wrapped all around the front of the radiator and fanned out to grab as much air as possible. The original shroud works on my car since I don't have an overheating problem but it only shrouds the top half.
 
I use an air dam/spoiler to get air against the lower third of the radiator:

airdam1.JPG


It's made of plywood and lasts as long as I remember to not run it up against parking lot tire stops. Pretty much unseen unless you get as low as I was taking that pic.

Absolutely no proof that it helps, but that is true of several things I do to help the TR keep its cool. The sum total of them seems to work.
 
There is frequently an oil cooler behind the hole in the valance, though the radiator likely benefits also.
I would rather not cut holes, though the valance panel can be purchased if you wanted to go back to original later.
Simon.
 
Most use a valance from the TR250. The 250 lower valance already has the hole cut and if you also use a radiatior shield from a TR6, it already has mounting hole drilled for an oil cooler that lines up with the 250 valance.

The TR6 radiator shield also allow mounting options for front sway bars.

My 4A(project) has both the 6 shield (with and Addco TR6 7/8" front bar ,a Mocal 13-row oil cooler + thermostat), and the 250 valance.
 
Back
Top