Radiator shutter concept

[CharlieZ]

A light bulb came on when I saw this auto sun shade in the 'Mission' store for a buck.
Took it home to measure it up to a Festy radiator. Not a bad fit. With a little good ole Arkansas engineering, I think this might be a possibility023.jpg026.jpg to serve as radiator shutter. All one needs is to disable the lock-in-position rachet to assure a return to the default (wound up) position.
A button on the end of the cylinder releases the shade. A couple sheetmetal screws thru the end piece into the button would keep it depressed. Then either a manual or motor driven means of pulling the shade across the radiator.
The shade I picked up is close to the same width as the radiator core is tall. The shade mechanism is about an 1-1/2 in. or so longer. The shade material is a close mesh of some pretty tough plastic like fabric. It wouldn't block air by 100% but would provide a major restriction to air flow. another material might be substituted if the shade comes apart without damaging it.
My car has AC so I may or may not be able to fit it between the condenser and radiator but with a little ingenuity I think it could be made to work. I haven't attempted to fit it into the car. The pix shows the shade taped in place on a spare radiator.
In any case I thought I'd throw the idea out there.

[KingFish]

I would worry how well the plastic will hold up to the heat before getting brittle and decaying. But if it works, that is a good solution to the slow warm-up times.

[crazyrog17]

Neat idea

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

But shouldn't a properly functioning thermostat stay fully closed and thereby prevent coolant from flowing from the engine to the radiator until the engine is up to operating temperature? How would this speed up warmups?

[KingFish]

these little B series engines don't hold on to heat very well. I'm running a 1.8L SOHC w/ a single core rad and still run cool.

[scitzz]

Not bad at all!

[Bert]

A couple of years ago when I was highway driving 120 miles a day during the winter I blocked the entire rad off with a piece of thick cardboard. If there was a difference I never noticed it. Getting serious heat out of a Festy engine that is being air-cooled at 60 miles per hour is almost impossible. Forgot about the cardboard until mid-April when one day I noticed the temp gauge had actually moved to halfway.

[KingFish]

I always wondered of the cold blooded nature had anything to do with the longevity of these guys.

[Bert]

I always wondered of the cold blooded nature had anything to do with the longevity of these guys.

I doubt it. Engine wear is always greatest at start-up and becomes negligible when consistent operating temperature is achieved. I think it's more a case of Mazda 'had it's poop together' when it designed and built B-series engines. Compared to some garbage products (see GM Chevy Vega alum engines that had no cylinder sleeve protection and promptly wore out the moment such a motor overheated) the Japanese really managed to 'raise the bar' with regard to engine technology.