trough@ihuxa.UUCP (Chris Scussel) (01/21/84)
During the winter (which this year seems to be hitting the whole country) I often see cars and trucks with their grilles covered by something, frequently cardboard. I've thought about the potential reasons for this, and the only thing I've been able to come up with is to decrease warmup time and increase operating temperature (and thus heater effectiveness). Seems to me that it might lead to overheating on "normal" days (~30F). Any opinions? Chris Scussel Bell Laboratories Naperville, Illinois "high of -5F"
seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (01/24/84)
Cardboard (or whatever) over the grill does indeed help the
engine warm up faster,at least in the case of a poor design.
Yes, you need to take it back off when the weather warms up again.
Our '59 Ford was so bad, we rigged up a permanent solution
in the form of canvas that we could lower in front of the
radiator, with a resolution of 1/4 radiator. As the temp
went up or down, canvas got added or removed. This worked
very nicely. Semi trucks are often seen with some sort
of material over the grill, with a zipper up the middle
for adjustment. If you want to really go crazy, servo
adjusted venetian blinds spring to mind.
Many newer and better designs do not require this garbage.
If the thermostat does it's job, there won't be any coolant
going thru the radiator until the engine warms up, so blocking
the grill won't make any difference. (Other than reducing the
air flowing through the engine compartment, which does cool
the engine to some extent.)
If you decide to try this, please check your owner's manual.
Mine says not to block the grill. The car warms up quite
fast with the grill open, so there's no real need, anyway.
--
_____
/_____\ from the flying doghouse of
/_______\ Snoopy
|___|
____|___|_____ ihnp4!ihuxl!seifertpaulson@ihuxt.UUCP (01/25/84)
I'd forgotten, but my 1961 3 cylinder two cycle Saab had, as standard equipment, a tiny windowshade that could be run up or down to cover the radiator. This was controlled by a string that came out of the dash and had several knots that fit into a little groove. Bill Paulson ihnp4!ihuxt!paulson -- Bill Paulson ihuxt!paulson IH 2D311 x6609
jlw@ariel.UUCP (01/25/84)
My old 1960 Volvo PV-544 had a built-in radiator cover as well. It seems to have been a common practice in the 50's and 60's in Sweden. The device was not present on my 1967 SAAB 96-V4 (4 stroke cycle), but the holes and stampings were there in the front end metalwork. Joseph L. Wood, III AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Holmdel (201) 834-3759 ariel!jlw
tbm@hocda.UUCP (T.MERRICK) (01/26/84)
I owned a 59 Volvo PV544 with an upside-down window shade in from of the radiatior. There was a chain or something like it to pull from the drivers seat. Worked OK, but you might forget and leave the radiator covered too long. Tom Merrick AT&T Bell Labs
andrew@inmet.UUCP (01/26/84)
#R:ihuxa:-35000:inmet:2700044:000:370 inmet!andrew Jan 24 09:30:00 1984 Yes, that's what it's there for! Around here you see sheets of vinyl over the grilles of trucks. I grew up in the Adirondacks (upstate NY) and recall seeing permanently-installed shutters in front of car radiators, with a control inside the car to open and shut them. BTW, if you can't get adequate heat (even in a van) at +40F, I'd suggest checking your thermostat.
hlh@linus.UUCP (Henry L. Hall) (01/30/84)
Also, a 1974 VW Dasher (first year for the US to get the water cooled engine),
had a little cardboard flap that had two different sized holes in it. In the
summer you were to slide it so that the larger hole was in front of the
radiator and in the winter you were to slide the smaller hole in front. I
must admit that there were years when I just let the thermostat do its thing
with no noticable problems.
Old solutions never die,
(Except maybe the bubble sort)
Henry L. Hall
{allegra, cbosgd, decvax, ihnp4, philabs, utzoo} !linus!hlh {UUCP}
linus!hlh@mitre-bedford {MIL}norskog@fortune.UUCP (Lance Norskog) (02/12/84)
Regarding cardboard-on-the-grill, and the Packard-Venetian-Blind-Trick,
my '70 MBZ 280SE (today's Packard :-) has 2 engine fans. The normal
one is in the usual place, but is connected to the crankshaft with a
fluid coupler; it normally runs at RPM/4, until at 195 degrees F. a
bimetal strip allows the fluid pressure to increase and the fan speed
kicks up to full RPM. The car heats up from cold VERY fast. A small
'extra' electric fan is mounted on the front of the grill and runs off
the battery when the temp goes above 205 F.
Gee, and I wanted an old car because I thought it would be simple...
Lance C. Norskog
Fortune Systems, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, CA
{cbosgd,hpda,harpo,sri-unix,amd70,decvax!ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!norskog
p.s. Does anyone know where I can get air dams and a spoiler for it?
I've seen them for newer models.