Re: SLOW Heat

[tsm1@domain.elided (Tom Mandera)]

>My heater works, but it doesn't start blowing hot until I'm almost to work
>(about 25 minutes).  In addition, when I get on the freeway, the cold fast

Hmm.. my 196 starts blowing warm air oh.. about 3 minutes before I hit work
(10 or 15 min drive).

>air cools the engine down so much that the heater starts blowing cool
>again.  I'm looking for a way to solve both problems.
>I've heard that you can stick a piece of cardboard with a hole in it
>between the radiator and fan, restricting airflow to the fan, heating up
>the engine.  Is this a bad idea?  How big should the hole be?

As I understand it, most of the time the
"cardboard-in-front-of-the-radiator" is to make up for a bad or missing
thermostat.  Your engine should keep the coolant *IN* the engine,
circulating ONLY through the block and the heater core, until the coolant
hits.. oh.. 180 degrees?  Then the thermostat opens up and coolant is
flushed through the radiator.

Without a thermostat, or with a failed one, the coolant is continually
flowing through the radiator, and never gets a chance to really heat up.

My $0.02.. check the thermostat.

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout
'72 and '77 Scout IIs