Confucius say. "Man who can strip down TR7 heater unit proves his skills and determination and having done so, is now trained and fit for any job". A bit like Grasshopper at the end of his training, walking on rice paper and leaving no mark. Excellent job. I'll be using this video a lot when I come to tackle my heater box shortly.
🤣 I do feel like I've completed a trial of some sort. It was a lot of work for something fairly simple. It's relatively straightforward, just a lot of rivets to deal with!
@@RedsGarageUK Just noticed all the info you've added re products etc. Thanks a lot for taking the time to do it. VERY helpful. I was lucky with the foam for the heater pipes to pass through. Opposte where I work there is a company that make artificial limbs, the foam they use for the interior is the perfect density. Recoverd a few samples from their bins. You have to keep an eye out for suitable stuff.
@@andy1way not a problem, glad it's useful! I did find some denser foam online of the right thickness, but it was stupidly expensive. I think the stuff I got should do the job okay though.
Good to hear! I'm really doing this on hard mode, a lot of what I'm doing isn't completely necessary. The heater, for example, is an afternoon's job once you've got it on the bench, unless you're going to be like me and insist on cleaning and painting everything 😁
For a basic heater without a/c, climate control etc it was certainly a lot of work! I was surprised how much work it took to even get the heater matrix out, something you'd think would be designed to come out relatively easily.
Yeah, I was really hoping it would work. That pipe was hard to bend, even after heating! I considered getting a pipe bender and doing it properly, but then it would be another tool in the garage that I hardly ever used.
I am not surprised that the steel pipes split, they have to be treated with respect and the sand filling is only an aid not the primary bending method. Those pipes would be better to be 15mm copper that could be bent with simple springs or a plumbing pipe bender. Using an approved coolant mix will contain inhibitors to eliminate galvanic corrosion. The other alternative would be to use hose instead of pipe. All of that would be much more economic than buying new pipes
It's all a learning experience though. You don't know until you try. I don't mind spending the money where needed, my gripe was it was a lot of money for just a couple of (quite shoddily fabricated, as it turned out) pipes.
@@RedsGarageUK I can understand the point about overpriced standard (and low quality) parts. The thing to do is think outside of the box. My Audi 80 burst its power steering pipe and the Audi replacement pipe cost was over £200! for a bog standard pair of rubber pressure hoses, so I took a trip down to my local hydraulic hose supplier and got two new stainless steel braided teflon hoses with a central connection to make the installation infinitely easier and the cost was £34.00. The cost in supplying hoses is in the fittings not the hose so inferior rubber hose only would have saved me a couple of quid. I would have thought that hose could have been used instead of pipe as there appears to be enough room.
@@clivewilliams3661 I did consider hose, but decided against it for two reasons: 1; the original setup makes for a nice solid connection (and looks decent enough too), and 2; If I'd used hose then I'd still have had to work out a way to get them through the bulkhead without it chafing and in a way I could have easily connected them to the supply hoses (Bear in mind that 90 degree angle is there for a reason; there's not a lot of space in that area before the engine gets in the way). In the end, I just coughed up the cash for the sake of an established solution to what was already becoming a long involved job.
Hi, been there done that! I came down one morning in the early 90's to find the footwells full of coolant. I managed to remove the dashboard, dismantle the heater and get the local radiator bloke to re-core it with new rubber bushes bushes overnight, as it was my only car. The whole job took 2 days, but I wouldn't like to do it again! Looks like you have a future proof solution with the Polo core. Couldn't you have bent the pipes up out of copper pipe?
'footwells full of coolant' yeah, been there done that. That's why I didn't take any chances with the old heater matrix. I can't take any credit for the Polo core, some other bright spark (I couldn't figure out who got there first, otherwise I'd have credited them) came up with that and it's a fairly common modification. I honestly hadn't thought of copper pipes for some reason, I just got fixated on the stainless steel. Too late for me now (particularly as I sawed my new pipes in half 😆) but it's a good idea! 👍
It's possible, yes (although you'd need an elbow where it exits the bulkhead - there's not much room). You'd need to be careful to make sure nothing was chafing anywhere, too. I did consider this, but in the end decided to play it safe and stick with the pipes.
@@RedsGarageUK Thanks a lot for the help. I have two heaters so I might just check if either section of steel pipe that passes through the bulkhead is salvageable and join the ends with hoses.
I've got THEE most stupid idea !!! ... Hey you wanna nick an old A/C system of a rotten Toyota Corolla .... (they hatchback type) . (they get cold..... then colder.. and colder ... and colder) lol.... HONEST !!! ... Just formulate up a seperate box for the evaporator and it's own fan and the car would be ice cold !!! ... I know the heaters on the TR7 s are amazing anyway !!! ... ... I worked in a Vauxhall garage many years ago and they had an imported TR7 from the USA with factory A/C ...... the compressor was at the top of the engine and was "square" !!! . (The same as fitted on French cars ... Jensons ..... a 4 cylinder "thumper" pumping heavier gas than R12) ... But a small one with our "134A" would be so good !!! ... It would make it even more "cool" !!! ... HAPPY NEW YEAR MATE
Haha, that could work I guess! I'm not actually a fan of A/C though, I prefer to just wind the window down :) I've got it permanently switched off in my daily.
This gives me much encouragement in tackling the heater/Aircon box, if I ever have to restore one. Thanks for posting.
No worries! It looks like a lot of work and it is, but it's fairly straightforward.
Confucius say. "Man who can strip down TR7 heater unit proves his skills and determination and having done so, is now trained and fit for any job". A bit like Grasshopper at the end of his training, walking on rice paper and leaving no mark. Excellent job. I'll be using this video a lot when I come to tackle my heater box shortly.
🤣 I do feel like I've completed a trial of some sort. It was a lot of work for something fairly simple.
It's relatively straightforward, just a lot of rivets to deal with!
@@RedsGarageUK Just noticed all the info you've added re products etc. Thanks a lot for taking the time to do it. VERY helpful.
I was lucky with the foam for the heater pipes to pass through. Opposte where I work there is a company that make artificial limbs, the foam they use for the interior is the perfect density. Recoverd a few samples from their bins. You have to keep an eye out for suitable stuff.
@@andy1way not a problem, glad it's useful!
I did find some denser foam online of the right thickness, but it was stupidly expensive. I think the stuff I got should do the job okay though.
I loved the comment about how old the leaves are. I was thinking the same.
It's one of my favourite parts of dealing with old machinery. Always plenty of mysyeries.
I really look forward to these videos, then have a sense of dread of what I’m in for myself 😬
Good to hear!
I'm really doing this on hard mode, a lot of what I'm doing isn't completely necessary. The heater, for example, is an afternoon's job once you've got it on the bench, unless you're going to be like me and insist on cleaning and painting everything 😁
@@RedsGarageUK my ocd won’t allow me NOT to do it!
@@edwardwright8096 haha, that's half of my problem! 😆
Great Job !!!
Thanks! 👍
Great channel. ! Tr7/Tr8's are cool !
Thanks! Couldn't agree more! 👍
Great job! Now I can work on one of mine
Thanks! You can do it! 👍
awesome video, keep them coming! this really helped me with my project
Thanks! Good to know it's all helping! 👍
Sure is a lot more difficult than the TR6 heater…nice job. I’ll be restoring a TR8 in the future so I’m taking notes.
For a basic heater without a/c, climate control etc it was certainly a lot of work! I was surprised how much work it took to even get the heater matrix out, something you'd think would be designed to come out relatively easily.
Very cool pipe bending tip. Shame it didn’t work. I would like to know what went wrong because I’m sure it will just be practice
Yeah, I was really hoping it would work. That pipe was hard to bend, even after heating!
I considered getting a pipe bender and doing it properly, but then it would be another tool in the garage that I hardly ever used.
you should add a parts list, and where you purchased them.
It's in the description 🙂
I am not surprised that the steel pipes split, they have to be treated with respect and the sand filling is only an aid not the primary bending method. Those pipes would be better to be 15mm copper that could be bent with simple springs or a plumbing pipe bender. Using an approved coolant mix will contain inhibitors to eliminate galvanic corrosion. The other alternative would be to use hose instead of pipe. All of that would be much more economic than buying new pipes
It's all a learning experience though. You don't know until you try. I don't mind spending the money where needed, my gripe was it was a lot of money for just a couple of (quite shoddily fabricated, as it turned out) pipes.
@@RedsGarageUK I can understand the point about overpriced standard (and low quality) parts. The thing to do is think outside of the box. My Audi 80 burst its power steering pipe and the Audi replacement pipe cost was over £200! for a bog standard pair of rubber pressure hoses, so I took a trip down to my local hydraulic hose supplier and got two new stainless steel braided teflon hoses with a central connection to make the installation infinitely easier and the cost was £34.00. The cost in supplying hoses is in the fittings not the hose so inferior rubber hose only would have saved me a couple of quid. I would have thought that hose could have been used instead of pipe as there appears to be enough room.
@@clivewilliams3661 I did consider hose, but decided against it for two reasons: 1; the original setup makes for a nice solid connection (and looks decent enough too), and 2; If I'd used hose then I'd still have had to work out a way to get them through the bulkhead without it chafing and in a way I could have easily connected them to the supply hoses (Bear in mind that 90 degree angle is there for a reason; there's not a lot of space in that area before the engine gets in the way). In the end, I just coughed up the cash for the sake of an established solution to what was already becoming a long involved job.
@@RedsGarageUK I understand, thank you.
Hi, been there done that! I came down one morning in the early 90's to find the footwells full of coolant. I managed to remove the dashboard, dismantle the heater and get the local radiator bloke to re-core it with new rubber bushes bushes overnight, as it was my only car. The whole job took 2 days, but I wouldn't like to do it again! Looks like you have a future proof solution with the Polo core. Couldn't you have bent the pipes up out of copper pipe?
'footwells full of coolant' yeah, been there done that. That's why I didn't take any chances with the old heater matrix.
I can't take any credit for the Polo core, some other bright spark (I couldn't figure out who got there first, otherwise I'd have credited them) came up with that and it's a fairly common modification.
I honestly hadn't thought of copper pipes for some reason, I just got fixated on the stainless steel. Too late for me now (particularly as I sawed my new pipes in half 😆) but it's a good idea! 👍
Hi, rather than the expensive stainless steel pipes. would it not be possible to run the flexible hose all the way through the bulkhead?
It's possible, yes (although you'd need an elbow where it exits the bulkhead - there's not much room). You'd need to be careful to make sure nothing was chafing anywhere, too.
I did consider this, but in the end decided to play it safe and stick with the pipes.
@@RedsGarageUK Thanks a lot for the help. I have two heaters so I might just check if either section of steel pipe that passes through the bulkhead is salvageable and join the ends with hoses.
where do you buy your foam?
I picked those bits up from eBay - can't remember the exact seller, but there are a few out there to choose from.
I dread the day mines goes, the labour cost for the heater must have been more than the engine!
Yeah, that's why I didn't take any chances with the old one. It's a lot of work to swap out, so I'd rather not have to worry about it for a few years!
I've got THEE most stupid idea !!!
...
Hey you wanna nick an old A/C system of a rotten Toyota Corolla .... (they hatchback type)
.
(they get cold..... then colder.. and colder ... and colder) lol.... HONEST !!!
...
Just formulate up a seperate box for the evaporator and it's own fan and the car would be ice cold !!!
...
I know the heaters on the TR7 s are amazing anyway !!!
...
...
I worked in a Vauxhall garage many years ago and they had an imported TR7 from the USA with factory A/C ...... the compressor was at the top of the engine and was "square" !!!
.
(The same as fitted on French cars ... Jensons ..... a 4 cylinder "thumper" pumping heavier gas than R12)
...
But a small one with our "134A" would be so good !!!
...
It would make it even more "cool" !!!
...
HAPPY NEW YEAR MATE
Haha, that could work I guess!
I'm not actually a fan of A/C though, I prefer to just wind the window down :) I've got it permanently switched off in my daily.