My .02 on John's rebuild questions.
John,
I have a '62 TR4 and I did the TR 250 plastic fan installation and had the
same clearance problem. I slotted the holes in the brackets on either side
of the radiator where it attaches to the frame.
I did this with a round file. Barbaric, perhaps, but it worked, and the
fender washer covers the slot anyway.
There was enough adjustment in the upper support rods to compensate for
moving the radiator forward. The top of my radiator just grazes the
hood. If you had a TR 4a radiator that doesn't have the vestigial 'remote'
filler neck from the TR3, you might not have any of these problems.
I ended up with a VERY small clearance between the fan and the
radiator. Like, 1/2". I was worried the fan would pull out to meet the
back of the radiator, but it hasn't happened yet, and I've wailed on it a
few times.
No overheating problems, even with prolonged 80mph runs up California's Hwy
1 and my less-than-optimal 100% prestone coolant.
( After all my inside-engine rust abatement, I couldn't stand the idea of
putting water back in. )
I thought long and hard about going to the harmonic balancer and narrow
belt pulleys and what not, but it looked like it was going to be an
expensive endeavor. Over $300 at least.
I settled for balancing the pressure plate, flywheel, crank, rods and
pistons. About $175 just in balance machining.
-jeffrey
'62 TR4
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