S1 heater motor

[tony 69]

Ok fellas as some of you know I'm restoring my S1 and found the heater motor is rusted solid. I know I can just buy a new motor however it was never a great motor in the first place, so my question is has any of you replaced or changed the motor in yours for a more up to date motor.

Cheers

[phillpot]

tony 69 said:

it was never a great motor in the first place

It's a motor with a fan, it goes round, it blows air...... what more do you want?


Where would the charm and character be in a TVR with an efficient heater/demist system

[Alan Whitaker]

Hi,
My heater was naff so I have one of these, it's only set up for the demist but there are 2 outlets that could be used for the dash vents.



Alan

Edited by Alan Whitaker on Tuesday 17th January 18:19

Edited by Alan Whitaker on Tuesday 17th January 18:21

[Griffinr]

[quote=Alan Whitaker]Hi,
My heater was naff so I have one of these, it's only set up for the demist but there are 2 outlets that could be used for the dash vents.



https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1611...

Alan

Did you mount it behind the dash in place of the original or remotely and duct the air. I've looked at those myself as my fan sometimes squeals and is reluctant to start.
Rob.

[phillpot]

Griffinr said:

my fan sometimes squeals and is reluctant to start.

A squirt of this would be cheaper Rob ........

[Alan Whitaker]

Yes just behind the dash, had it running on the bench for about 2 hours, no noise from the fan. Had to fiberglass the old slot under the dash and cut 2 new holes, I just got some of the 2" screw on flanges from car builders and sealed them with silicone, not had hot water through it yet.

Think you can get them from ebay as well
Alan

Alan

Edited by Alan Whitaker on Tuesday 17th January 09:45

[Griffinr]

phillpot said:

A squirt of this would be cheaper Rob ........

So have you got a clever trick for getting in the bearings without taking the dash out?

Rob.

[mk1fan]

I'll be fitting similar to Alan's when I get round to the S. The TVR one is such an inefficient bodge, I prefer functionality over originality.

[TVRees]

Alan Whitaker said:

My heater was naff so I have one of these, it's only set up for the demist but there are 2 outlets that could be used for the dash vents.

Looks very nice. What is it and where did you get it ?

[Alan Whitaker]

It came from Ebay

Alan

[greymrj]

tony 69 said:

Ok fellas as some of you know I'm restoring my S1 and found the heater motor is rusted solid. I know I can just buy a new motor however it was never a great motor in the first place, so my question is has any of you replaced or changed the motor in yours for a more up to date motor.

Cheers

Yep, no surprise there! The passenger side wiper pivot drips onto the wiper assembly and on to the heater motor! Getting a replacement motor isnt as easy as it sounds partly because of the way TVR mounted it and the **** material they made the heater box out of.
I went to the local auto electricians and we determined the original was ACDelco and no chance of getting a new one. Nor, surprisingly, could they find anything like it as modern car heaters dont use an inefficient radial fan like that. Eventually I found a Fiat Uno rad fan motor was pretty well perfect for the job and had just that bit more power. I now have a demist that works eventually, rather than hardly at all.

It is a **** heater design and terribly badly made. I honestly thought mine was an amateur botch job at some point in the cars history...I was amazed to find out that is how it came out of the factory. I have also looked at one of the systems offered by CarBuilderSolutions as I would also like a little bit of heat at our feet when the hood is down! I will have to take the dash out again at some time so that is on the wish list.

[TVRees]

I'm only asking, because I'm pretty sure that my original motor/blower is also not working anymore, so it'll need replacing soon.

---

Alan Whitaker said:

It came from Ebay. Alan

Alan, for the uninitiated - does it have a name ?

---

greymrj said:

....Eventually I found a Fiat Uno rad fan motor was pretty well perfect for the job and had just that bit more power. I now have a demist that works eventually, rather than hardly at all.

Richard, Have you got any pics of fitting the Fiat Uno unit ? Would be very much appreciated

---

[Alan Whitaker]

Here is a link

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-12v-Lightweigh...

Alan

[TVRees]

Brilliant. Many thanks.

[Griffinr]

And add one of these (or similar) for infinitely variable fan speed.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-12V-40V-10A-13khz-Pu...

Not tried one myself but it should work. Been on my to do list for a while.

[GreenV8S]

Griffinr said:

Been on my to do list for a while.

In idle moments I've been wondering about using a variable speed controller for the main cooling fan too. The price of brushless motors and solid state speed controllers has come down massively now that they're used so widely. I think that might work better than using a relay to switch a big clunky inductive motor on and off, with all the electrical stresses that causes.

[phillpot]

GreenV8S said:

I think that might work better than using a relay to switch a big clunky inductive motor on and off, with all the electrical stresses that causes.

Unless you have a problem it shouldn't be on and off very often

[GreenV8S]

phillpot said:

Unless you have a problem it shouldn't be on and off very often

In hot traffic the main cooling fan cycles on and off. Well, in warm traffic it does. In really hot conditions it runs continuously, even with the big fan and big radiator and bonnet vents and so on.

[phillpot]

GreenV8S said:

In hot traffic the main cooling fan cycles on and off. Well, in warm traffic it does.

that's the price you pay for messing about with your engine

[greymrj]

phillpot said:

Unless you have a problem it shouldn't be on and off very often

Agreed, it isnt that big a motor or fan and I certainly dont find myself switching it on and off very often at all. If it is wet and the hood up it tends to be on demist pretty well full time. If it is cold and the hood down it tends to be trying to warm our feet full time. Otherwise it is off.

The Uno rad fan motor I used only drives a small fan on the Uno. It wouldnt be powerful enough for the big fan on the TVR rad. That is why the rad fan operates through a relay and the heater fan doesnt!
The Uno motor had the distinct advantage that is is almost exactly the same length and diameter as the original and needs the minimal amount of change to the mountings. Modifying the mounting to the fan itself was more tricky.

It has been suggested to me that the motor off a Lucas heater box as fitted to the Morris Minor, MG Midget, MGB might be able to be adapted. Looks promising but I haven't tried.