Peerless GT
Gary blasts cold air into the Peerless using a boat fan
As I may have mentioned once or several times before, generating heat in a Peerless is not a problem. Driving in warm weather without sticking your head and tongue out a window like a happy dog, however, can prove tricky. Some PWOR owners manage that quite well, but it’s not a technique I’m particularly happy to adopt.
The original Smith ‘snail’ heater blower was tucked away upfront behind the nearside headlamp. From there it pushed a very leisurely waft of air into the cabin via the small heater box, located in the engine bay on the bulkhead. The air moved at such a glacial speed that it was invariably warm before it even reached the heater box. My solution? Volume and lots of it. I’ve become something of a blower motor expert during the course of finding a solution, but think I have the answer at last.
Most aftermarket or adaptable versions have outputs not in excess of 130cfm. For the Peerless though, that simply isn’t enough to move cold air from the intake area at the front grille all the way to the cabin, some six feet away. I decided on an inline fan in order to do away with the mucky wheelarch/headlamp location. Unfortunately, even those don’t create huge cfm outputs. Then I found a 12v bilge ventilation fan with a whopping 270cfm output. I could blow dry my armpits from the screen vents with that!
Battle of the Bilge
The bilge fan uses a 4in (100mm) bore size, so I had to drop the inlet and outlet bores to 3.15in (80mm) using reducers. These were bought online as the closest size I could find and, as such, had to be modified for a sealed fit. I first cut them to size to minimise the overall fan dimensions and then created four tabs on each to fit over the outer housing lips. The reducers were then bonded in place using strong epoxy resin. Plastic primer was next applied, followed by several coats of tough satin black paint and left to dry for two days.
Out of curiosity, I removed the passenger side road wheel and checked if the bilge fan might fit tucked up high in the wheelarch. I decided against because of limited space when the wheel
was on either full lock. This confirmed that the engine bay was the best site for the fan.
Battery repacked
A trial fit showed the battery protruded too far for an achievable angle to the heater box so that was moved back and up at a slight angle by re-drilling the bulkhead holes for securing the mounting box brackets. The flexible rubber coupling sourced from a LR snorkel was unable to achieve a tight 90-degree angle, so that will now be replaced with an angled hose, as will the other end through the flitch panel. Though ordered, they hadn’t arrived in time to photograph for this Saga instalment.
The fan, though large and powerful isn’t too loud in operation and, to give me a flavour of what to expect, I connected it to the battery to see how it performs. I can confirm there is a strong breeze now directed into either or both footwells and at the heater box outlet for the demister vents. On the move, air will be rammed into the 80mm tubing, ensuring cold air reaches the cabin.
While listening to the fan’s noise level it became obvious that mounting it between two rubber connectors, but not to the bodywork, makes a big difference, so that’s what I’ll do. The two mounting feet will now be ground off for a neater fitment. And lastly, I hope to fit a variable rheostat type switch using the original knob to give me any fan speed I choose.
Making the moulds
The recurring broken rev counter cable issue still hasn’t been solved. I’ve spoken with Speedy Cables, who hadn’t heard of such an issue before, so it’s definitely down to me, the gauge or the distributor drive gear. I have another new cable but until I’m more confident, it will not be fitted. I did remove the dizzy drive which seems fine so I will observe it rotating and see if any clues reveal themselves. Answers on the proverbial email.
I’ve also been making moulds for new engine bay flitches. Mine are fine but the customer car
I’m restoring needs both sides, as repair wasn’t an option. The process of repairing the old pair to a high enough standard for making the moulds is laborious and the mould has to deliver a smooth finish with minimal prepping before new panels can be made from them. I’m very pleased with the results so far and it’s good to be reminded how versatile GRP is to work with. Sticky, but versatile.