One word of caution about using old heaters - most of them have 6 volt blower motors - I learned that the hard way. I bought a new aftermarket heater for my '46 pickup. It is a 7-inch cube containing the heat exchanger, blower, ducts for defrost, etc. all in a small package. For under a hundred bucks. Forgot the brand name but they are common on ebay. Good luck.
I use a MOJAVE in my 32 cedan. Hides up under dash and the hoses run down the side of the cowl and along the top of the frame rail. Works great and beats the cold.
I have an old aftermarket heater in my 46 chevy pickup...has opening doors in the front and sides plus defroster outlets in both sides. The fact it has a 6 volt fan motor was a plus....I used a 3 way switch and wired an old 6 volt voltage drop to one side of the switch and a straight 12 volts to the other side. Works great and haven't had to switch it to 12 volts yet..
Check out the Vintage air compact bi-level heaters. Heat and defrost blowers. Everything you need is contained in the single unit and could possibly hide under your dash depending on what else you've got going on under there. They don't look as cool as the vintage heaters.....but functionally for the price they're hard to beat.
Heaters are for pussys? Bullshit. Just don't buy the heater from Mr 40's. It is complete over-priced JUNK that doesn't work for shit. To replace my JUNK heater, I got an old heater, had the core rebuilt, and put a computer fan in there. It was nice and TOASTY when I drove the '36 to work and it was 19° on Thursday.
Some great heater ideas, my a is a draft box and heat to me is a must esp on damp nites when your winsheild fogs.I use to work at a chrysler dealer and the minivans had a recall on heated seat elements,they went on fire.The kit had carbon fiber pads and replaced the grid type.So with a abundance of them i decided to put a set in my coupe and my buddys roadster.My coupe has a vinal metalflake seat and even on low when it touches your bare skin it burns a bit.The roadster has ultraleather and doesnt burn at all.Must be why they only offer it on leather seat vehicles.Who knew i had to try it.I recently scored a southwind gas heater new n.o.s. on e-gay.I dropped the voltage with 3 standard ignition ru-100 resistors and the fan and glow plug work perfect.The look on peoples faces when i tell them the heater blowing on them is gas powered is priceless.By far the best heater i have used so far,and it is period correct.
1) To the guy restoring the Southwind heater, just FYI, millions of general aviation aircraft used them. I'm sure there is a good market for service parts if you look in the sky for your sources. 2) As far as the 6 volt deal. I've done a few and a company called Old Air Products has always been able to sell me an interchangable blower motor for 12 volt operation. Check em out, they sell more than aftermarket AC kits.
Run a 8 inch cube heater of unknown mfg in a 39 ford cab, used a v drop for the mtr. one speed and a ball valve for temp control. The only problem is fogging of the windows. This has kept the bite out of the cab in the winter
I still have the late '30s to early '40's style "Chevrolet Deluxe Heater" that was in my '40 GMC when I bought it. it's 6 volt so I have a PepBoys style aftermarket heater switch, the kind with the cheap-ass brown plastic knob that falls off every time someone hits it with their knee unless you Epoxy it on type. It's basically a ceramic Rheostat voltage drop unit so I just NEVER turn it on to the full 12v position and the 6v motor lives on... 14 winters so far. The best thing about a coolant heated heater is, IF you have a marginal radiator or start overheating for any reason, even in summer, you can turn it on and it gives you that much more (Maybe 10%?) Motor cooling capacity. Drawback of the ancient heater core is it wasn't made for a pressurized system, is round and wrapped around and soldered to the fan motor so if it springs a leak it's basically history. That's why I only run a 7 LB pressure cap. A radiator repair guy once told me "I can fart 7 psi!"
After freezing my butt off last winter @ 15F and the wife refusing to ride with me when it got below 50F, I ordered one of these... $169.99 from Northern Tool online. Industrial looking, but it has provisions for defrost hoses...
Wow, I'm not moving to Utah. They'd probably string me up for having a heater in Azreal and Annie Oakland. But after spending time outside for 14 years in the service and being so cold you never knew humans could survive that long being cold, I LOVE HEAT. My knees and my arthritis doesn't agree with cold and wet at the same time. If you can hide it under the dash, Permacools Mohave heater puts out 12,000+ BTU and comes with a three speed motor and switch, all for the low low average price of $125.00. And MAN does it heat you out of the car. Add a heater control valve from a 1998 GM Van with a control cable, and you can guarantee not to bake yourself out in the summer. Back Seat Betty has one, and you'd never know it's there.
To put BTUs in perspective, I am heating my 1400 sq foot shop with a 5000 Watt electric forced air heater, before the living quarters were sealed off that same heater to the chill off all 2800 sq feet in 10 degree weather............12000 watts is plenty toasty for a car!
I agree...but of course I don't have to worry about it with my Buick moordoor. I have the heated seats. Fitysix
Has anybody tried to run a Southwind heater on propane?.. I am experimenting... I drilled and tapped a burned out glow plug to use a Duramax 12 volt glowplug. Under full vacuum, the heater refuses to ignite.too much velocity!!... still experementing.. Yes lots of airplanes use a Southwind,or Janitrol liquid fueled system. For ignition they use a sparkplug,with a coil, or full electronic. These heaters are really Furnaces,and will get VERY hot.. Make sure you leave plenty of room around them,and a good hi-flow fan...Now I have to get back to my experiments...... Sparko
I found this one at a swap meet, I have no real idea what it originally came out of but it works great in my 37 chev pickup. Sorry it's not the best picture of the heater but it gives you an idea of the placement in the cab. I had to fix the core before installing it, but now it will drive you out of the cab if the weather isn't cold enough. even with the windows down I still have to open the cowl vent to mix some cold air with the hot air. View attachment 383699
I've owned several Roadsters and the forced air heaters were'nt any good... they dissapate the heat well before they reach any occupants! Besides "Real Hot Rods" don't have heaters But it's been known that "Hot Rodders" carry them...! I recomend electric seat heaters either built into the seats or the aftermarket strap ons... they both have temp controls and get the heat where it does good. I was going to say that none of my roadsters had side curtains and many didn't have a top so these heaters were pretty useless and I didn't like haveing heater hoses coming out of the firewall. I had my roadster out yesterday when the temp was 18 degrees F and drove it 50 miles out to my friends shop... and wore my Carhart bib cover-alls wool hat and a hood and I was perfectly fine except for the blowing snow was hampering my traction and I hated driving around the plow trucks that were spreading salt...! My roadster looks Like it was racing at Bonneville... "One big SALT LICK"... I was told to park away from the cattle so that their tongues wouldn't get stuck to the "COLD" metal on the car...!
anyone ever try one of the small 12v electric heaters?? ive seen em for around 100 bucks , compact and no hoses to run. curious if anyone has any experience with one.
I've driven roadsters of the British sports cars variety top down in years of winters and yea, it does get down in the 30ºs in So Cal cities and single digirs in the high desert and mountains, (an hour and a half from the Beach) and I found the way to stay warm is to have a car blanket draped around your and passenger's lower body (up to the arm pits?) and the lower part pinned up under the dash so it contains the heat, yet allows pedal operation. Although I did drive an MGA for 4 years with no side curtains, no back window even if I did put the rag of a top up and no heater. Drove it to SF one November night up 101... ever try to work a clutch from inside a sleeping bag?
Damn right they do! I lost the heater fan in my truck once during the winter two years ago... it was fricken' COLD! Jordan
I'm going to run one similar to the one posted by brandy, but not when it's 47 out, that's nice weather here.
If you run an old (30's - 40's) vintage heater what do you do for a valve to control the hot water? The one I'm fixing up has a fan control, but no provision for a valve control.
Parts store. I am looking for an old Lane Anderson article in Rodders Digest that details refurbbing an old unit.......NAPA part numbers and all. Worse case, I drive 20 miles west and get it from Lane himself I THINK I posted it years ago?
If you plan on running an older heater ,and want to switch to 12 volt, use a small 12 volt fan/motor assembly used to cool an ATV. They're small and lightweight.You can find them at a reasonable cost on Ebay...........Mike
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