geobloke wrote:

So the question is... Do rad muffs work?


Super old skool tech that was once a popular fix but with the advent of diesel auxiliary heaters they have somewhat gone by the wayside.

But, to those few, those lucky few that refuse the draw of "luxury", that refuse the allure of heat on tap, that would rather wear coarse horse hair long johns than spend time in an electric eurobox...



...there are radiator muffs


Yesterday morning it was a balmy -2DegC here when I set out in Miffy, rad muff down and heated seat on...

By the time I had driven 7 minutes the coolant temp was... a tad warm


Click image to enlarge



Yes it works... It works really darned well... Now for the downside to a rad muff... You have to get out and raise it. Or half raised it. Super toasty warm inside the cab. Perhaps, I should have stopped earlier, but it shows that if you live in regions where the temps are consistently low. Once the muff was raised to 2/3rds height the temp dropped very quickly back to between 76-82DegC all the way through the mountains of Snowdonia.

It will be interesting to find out whether the muff helps retain the heat during slow commuter traffic as well. Not much of that around these hills, but I will find out eventually.

Coincidentally, last weekend I re-installed the speakers in the old girl after removing the AC system. Unfortunately I must have dropped the Check Temp sensor into the speaker/wiper void behind the dash as it was reading 58DegC heater air temperatures. No complaints there at all and highlights that the standard heater isn't that bad at all. What I did notice is that as I do not have the angled footwell vents in place the volume of air appears to be less restricted. Ugly but more hot air. Some might say like its driver


And to finish a few photos from a favourite ford of mine that also happens to be an excellent dog walking spot too.



Click image to enlarge


Click image to enlarge