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TR4/4A TR4 Heater Valve

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eyesie

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I am restoring a TR4. The heater valve adaptor that I boght from Moss, that screws into the block is a street elbow. When I am tightening it , it interferes with the stud next to it. Am I missing something or is there a better adapter available? I bought the bits a long time ago & have been procrastinating. Any help would be appreciated.

Alan
 
I take it it's a 45 degree street elbow? I think the idea is to install it before the head goes on -- perhaps not a helpful insight for your situation. The problem may be exacerbated by that right rear stud being longer than the others as that is where the rear lifting eye would be (or would have been).

You could probably get away with removing that one stud long enough to insert the elbow since that stud would be the last one torqued anyway when installing a head.
 
I have a 45 street ell , I have even tried grinding off the excess casting flashings. I think the original, which cracked when I took it off, was some type of cast copper & did not have quite the same taper as the street ell.
 
Jeff
I thought of installing a bushing & screwing the heater valve directly into that. All I need to do is find a BSP bushing
Alan
 
[ QUOTE ]
All I need to do is find a BSP bushing

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Alan,

A standard NPT fitting from your local hardware store will work fine. In fact, I'm not totally certain the TR4 head isn't tapped for NPT anyway. But, even if it is BSP, you'll find NPT is so close to the same thread it simply makes for a more secure fit (that's an old racer trick, mixing BSP and NPT in simple threaded fittings like this, for a more shake-proof fit).

I suggest you pick up a tube of Locktite Pipe Thread Sealer and use it, too. It both seals and helps keep the fitting tight.

I've got a short NPT pipe installed on my TR4, so can assure you it works fine. Just watch that the pipe is short enough so that the heater valve doesn't end up too tall, hitting the underside of the hood.

The only difference on my car is that short length of pipe leads to a compression fitting, not a heater valve. That's because I don't have any heater installed. So the heater pipe just routes extra coolant distribution to the rear of the head, instead. All the fittings were made up from parts bought at the local hardware store. Note that with the heater valve "off" or closed, you'll get the same routing of coolant to the back of the head.
 
Alan
Thanks for thwe tip. That sounds like a workable solution. It had to coming from someone that has the correct spelling fo his name.
Alan
 
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