In 1959, I bought a very cherry '36 DeLuxe Tudor that had been purchased new by the aunt of a high school cl***mate. It must have been a well equipped car because it had both a radio and a heater. The heater looked factory installed to me, as it was well integrated into the car. It was a hot air heater with a sheet metal scoop that was right behind the engine fan and directed hot air through a housing over the p***enger side exhaust manifold and thence into the cabin. It was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that the p***enger side exhaust manifold wasn't stock, but was a large cylinder with smaller tubes inside that the exhaust p***ed through. I'm sure that the restorers on "The Barn" or the EFV8CA know a lot more about this than I do.
Got a nice deal on this one at the LARS Swap a few years ago. Finally got around to breaking it down and having it powder coated. The face was chrome, but I didn't think it was worth the expense of re-chroming, so I had it powder coated to match the other trim in my Model A.
I am thinking about adapting a modern fan with a variable speed control. The back housing was originally wrinkle finish, and that part came out perfect, but less scratched than what I started with. I mainly got it for the br*** tag. Just thought it looked neat.
Thanks for the followup on the part number. I still haven't started the heater restoration so it is valuable. I will put the information with the heater so I will have it. One of the nice things abut Southern California is that rebuilding a car heater is not a high priority project. Charlie Stephens
I had a hot water heater in my 29 A coupe back in the late 60s. I can't remember what type, but that Arvin sure looks familiar. The problem was, with a non-pressurized radiator and system, it took forever for the water to get warm enough to make a difference when it was really cold out in Kansas City, and by that time, I'd usually arrived at my destination. Also, I never installed weather seals, so the heater couldn't keep up with the drafts.
I had a stock 1930 two door sedan that had the manifold heater and a round hole with a piece of sheetmatal that would swing to the side to let in hot air when needed
big regret missing two of those for $20. a piece.......when the heater in my d/d died I discovered they no longer made the core so a $10. dash fan and an old trans cooler did the trick lol
It's easier to replace a square or rectangular heater core than it is with a round one....just saying.
A cab htr from an old M***ey corn -bean combine is 12v. Dimensions are 7 x 7 x 7 square cube. Not art deco but lots of heat, cheap to buy in farm area. Greg
Look for a heater that doesn't have the fan motor sticking out the back. Otherwise the thing will protrude into the p***enger footwell too far and reduce leg room. And all of the old ones will be 6 volt. If you have 12 volts, aftermarket 12 volt fan motors are available. Most of these old heaters have copper radiators and can be repaired by any radiator shop.
The Jalopy Journal
