Hot Rods What heater is in YOUR hot rod?

All right tough guys , ever tried to drive a mountain road in a closed car in sub zero no heater demister frozen fingers fogged screen so wiping the screen with one hand while shiftn and steering . Hmmm done it too often so a decent heater is on the list. So I am shopping.

 

This little box heater looks to be very similar to the one that Southern Rods sells. I bought it ages ago to put in my Model A but never did. I decided that I was not going to be cold in the '32. It is out of the way up under the dash. Two speed fan works fine.

Like HRP I am getting too old to be cold! If I need A/C I tilt out the windshield and open the cowl vent.

 

wife's tropic aire for her coupe

 

Stock heaters work great,,anyone who says they don't need a heater don't know -40.

 

The guys at brassworks just hooked me up (trust me when I say they are generous) with a set of Bentley heater cores that someone didn't pay for. $1100 cores for a days pay and there is two! They look really cool and might keep the window defrosted--maybe. The cold isn't so bad, but your mouth breathing on the windshield makes seeing impossible!

 

While we are on the topic of heaters......Does anyone know if this can be run off of 12 volts, or converted to a 12. this came out of my 46 chevy pickup but has no markings.

 

here's mine!

 

I have a little so-cal heater, works ok on cool Wisconsin nights.

 

since this thread has been brought back up....

Funny man,,does it get cold in California,the weatherman said the temperature for the morning commute in the morning will be 26 degrees.

I still haven't installed a heater in the sedan so I will be in a non hot rod tomorrow! HRP

 

Hook it up. If it turns too fast, hook up a Chrysler ignition resistor to the feed wire (before switch). That'll work dandy then.

Alternatively, if the switch goes through a resistor setup, just don't use the 'Hi' position.

I've used both methods.

Cosmo

 

Stainless Ruger 357

 

Running the stock one (cardboard STILL intact!) in the Falcon, for now. Going to a Vintage Air setup, when funds allow. It is damp enough here in the winter that it is hard to see where I am going.

 

Original heater in my 55 sunliner and none in my 37 Chevy p/u.picked up a period GM heater for the 37 but not yet installed.

 

Using a vintage HaDees from the swap meet.

 

I open the cover in the floor over the master cylinder and let the engine heat come in my roadster. Have a heated seat cushion from Menards but haven't tried it yet. I'll get a chance this weekend as the roadster has been requested for the Santa Parade. Plus some good warm clothes...I don't like to be cold that's why I don't ski.

 

I'm sure that if you are willing to pay the price, the motor could be rewound for 12 volts, but it won't be cheap. You might be able to find a 12 volt motor of similar size/shape that you can swap into the unit.

 

Or you could make a dropping resistor out of a piece of 1/8" aluminum tig rod. Wind it around a non condutive core about 1.5" in dia. and connect one end to the 12v + wire to the blower. fasten an alligator clip to the blower motor wire so you can move it around on the coil.Attach a volt meter to this clip too.Turn on the blower and move the clip twoard the 12v source end of the coil untill the volt meter reads 6v.Clip the unused part of the coil and permanently fasten the blower motor wire at this point.This will cost abot 50 cents instead of many $ for a new motor. 55 yrs ago I made 3 of these for my 28 chev,one each for the 6v power window motors and one for the heater blower.They still work fine today.

 

I have this for my 31 pontiac

 

Mine in the coupe...an old Firestone accessory heater with bakelite knobs and rotating directional bezel. I love the old Art Deco heaters like Hadees, TropicAire etc....

 

hi i just brough one from jegs.its 28,000 btus.my friend has one in his car,it works great.his doesnt even have windows in the car.it even has defost set up to.you can buy
.its on sell for 129.00 and 34.00 for the defost kit.

 

Heater? Hot Rods have heaters?

 

Hippy Hot Rods Have Heaters. When you drive them 'tll the snow flies -20 degrees and no heater is a beach.

 

My "heater" rides shotgun, my wife.

 

Well, when we don't live in the land of palm trees we sometimes need a heater on a clear blue sky day in late November when we want to drive the hot rod to town to get the paper and cat food.
Today


Saturday morning



Just after being outside taking sunrise photos

Hell, my indoor temp at 7:02 on Saturday morning was probably too low for some Az and SoCal guys to think about driving their cars.

Probably the best heater I ever had in any car was the under seat heater in my 55 Buick Special 4 door hardtop. My friend's girlfriend always wanted to double date in that car as it was a lot more comfortable seating wise an warm wise than his 57 Ford was.

Vintage Air has a heat/defrost only unit that is pretty small but should put out plenty of hot air for most hot rods and is small enough to hide up under the dash out of site in most any rod.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/vta-50515-vuh?seid=srese1&gclid=CLvf98bEgLsCFUWTfgod5TYAkQ
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/vta-506101?seid=srese1&gclid=CIO9otvEgLsCFeN_QgodNWQATg
Not cheap but rebuilding, recoring and converting an old deco unit to use in a hot rod isn't cheap either most of the time.

 

Just finished hooking this up. Getting ready for winter driving. Was 19* here this morning.

 

Right now I use the garage heater to keep it warm. If I ever get it to where I can drive it I will use this one. Dennis D

 

Most of the 6V motors are robust enough for 12 V usage. But remember the speed control on these is a resistance switch passing full voltage only at the full speed setting. If you check the line voltage through a 12 V switch you will probably get something like 6, 8, and 12 V. So at 6 and 8 V it should be no problem for the 6 V motor. If you can live without having the minimal speed from you unit and can remember not to engage the 3rd stop of the switch.

 

That's great info on heaters I have a 41 chevy radio delete and now that we r down under 30 degrees I realized I have a heater delete that came out of Texas. Wearing long underwear this morning ,original motor one pump and she started up..will install small heater for winter.

 

That is a good looking heater...I bet it gets hotter that Hadees! HRP

 

That is a good looking heater...I bet it gets hotter that Hadees! HRP