Pre-heat

[jazzaro]

Fiat 126, early 80's,  4 gears, 4 drum brakes.
Two levers between front seats, one for the choke, the other for the starter motor directly driven by the lever.
Cabin heater directly from the engine, a lever under the rear seat could open or close an air duct from the air cooled engine to the windshield (defrost) or to driver/passenger feet.
Air temperature was selected by gas pressure, the more you pressed the pedal, the hotter it came out from vents.

[Jocko]

Because of the noise when you opened the heater flap, my daughter called ours "Rory".

[jazzaro]

Just bought the Defa heater, 220v 550w, I will mount it during the fourth service when I will change the cooling fluid. 
Next winter I will test it.

[Zaier]

I've been using a Neoprene covering on the lower grill half since December, and it's helping my engine to warm-up a little quicker during my daily commute.
I have a short steep climb which helps me heating the ICE and a long and gentle descent where usually ICE kick in because it gets too cold, with the covering I've reduced a lot this behaviour.
If it's not foggy, I use also the air recirculation when the ICE is cold, it helps a lot in heating the cabin quicker and avoiding it to cool down quickly.

I've tested the car on a Highway trip with a gentle climb @ 110km/h, and the temperature never exceed the usual 80°-82°C, so I think I'll remove this only in March/April.

If you're asking why it's not covering the complete bottom grill, I've left opened the part where the PCU radiator is, because normally they don't mind cold temperature, and I can't read their temperature through OBD.

Just bought the Defa heater, 220v 550w, I will mount it during the fourth service when I will change the cooling fluid. 
Next winter I will test it.

Are you talking about the heater for the 4th Gen or a previous one?

[jazzaro]

Are you taling about the heater for the 4th Gen or a previous one?

3th generation, but it's  the same device.

[John Ratsey]

I've been using a Neoprene covering on the lower grill half since December, and it's helping my engine to warm-up a little quicker during my daily commute.

How did you fix it in place?

I've been wondering how I could block off some of the radiator but was thinking of putting something inside of the grille but access there is difficult. You've found an easier solution.

[Zaier]

I'm using the 3 vertical fins of the grill as a support, and also left the neoprene a little longer on the left side (looking from the front) where the grill is closed from the manufacturer.
I've inserted the neoprene from the front and cut a little where each fin is so it wraps better around.
Consider also that between the horizontal fin there is roughly 1.4mm, and my neoprene thickness is 1.5 so I had to push it a little bit to put it inside.
For the moment I didn't had any issue when braking or speeding up to 120km/h