Hot Rods Do you have heat in your hot rod or custom?

Here is the Sunny South most of us are fortunate enough to be able to dive our hot rods & customs year round but that's not to say it doesn't get COLD!

For more years than I care to admit I drove around bundled up like I was a explorer heading for the North Pole, I didn't have a heater and froze my arse off, finally at the ripe old age of 70 I said enough is enough, I want to be comfortable driving my old beater in the cold weather and not look like Bibendum ( the Michelin Man ) a big plus is not having to use a credit card constantly to scrape the ice from my breath off the windshield.

The old adage may very well be true, "With age comes wisdom" HRP

 

Yes. Heaters are about the easiest thing to install, so I don't know why so many cars don't have them. Mount to firewall, run two hoses, power, switch, done. I do suggest a valve so the heater core isn't circulating when it's 100+ degrees in the summer.

And I live in Texas, where most cruising is done in fall & winter, so the heater helps take the edge off on a cool morning.

 

Well in Ohio you can’t survive without defrosters at minimum, needed Every day.
a few (3ish) months in the spring and a few in the fall I’ll need the heat in the morning and need AC in the afternoon.
If you’re gonna drive your hot rod in Ohio and not need heat or defrosters it’s going to be after 10am and before the dew point in the evening.

 

Perspective, Right!

I spent the first 35 yrs of my life in Northern Minnesota / North Dakota / Wisconsin. A heater was mandatory, even life saving in certain cases. Since summer normally consisted of a warm weekend in July, so in order to drive the hot rod more than twice a year, heaters get installed. Air Conditioners, not so much...

 

Yes, both cars. A/C also. Kansas weather is from one extreme to the other; sometimes on the same day.

.bjb

 

So far, no. I don't like to get out when its cold.

 

Yes....

 

Living in Iowa (cold and snowy) having a heater was a necessity. When I built the 38 Chevy in the 70's I had a mini salvage yard and pirated the heater out of a Fiat, it worked great. It did have a leak though so when I changed a few things and had the engine out and the front clip off I took a early 50's heater out of a Pontiac, it looked better and heats great. The Studebaker has a complete original heating system with separate defrost and below floor heater core.

Laugh at me if you must, I wish both cars had operational heated seats.

 

Just put a Vintage Air heat & cool unit in my '49, don't know if the AC works great yet....too damn cold here...But the heater works great.

 

The heat I have in my 31 comes directly off the flattie and up through the firewall and cutouts for the pedals in the floor. Makes it nice and toasty both winter and summer!

 

I have used a electric blanket that U plug into a cigarette lighter, get it at a truck stop. Most of the time I sat on it like a heated seat. With the small confines of the coupe there is no room for a heater but the car does have a/c that is hidden. After a mile or so down the road it's comfy in the coupe even on a cold day.............

 

YUP !! Heat and A/C in the sedan delivery

 

No heater and I drive it in the winter in the PNW...the little cab of the pickup heats up decent once the truck has been running for a bit.

 

I don't always need heat while hot rodding, but when I do it goes in here.

 

Yes, on my A roadster mounted a heater on the firewall, it had a flow control valve and fan built-in(think 70's To***a), and a couple of pieces of Velcro on the bottom of dash. Blanket stuck to it, and kept heat on our laps, or as high as blanket needed to go. My 47 coupe has heat/air, and use heater more than the AC.

 

My 47 came with defrost vents in the dash, although I don't plan on driving it any later that late fall I know the wife would appreciate a few creature comforts.

 

Only when the wife rides along, I get plenty of heat then.

 

Yup, anything short of a good heater and defroster is asking to leave the car at home a good many days here. Driving in April and May along with October and November would be pretty uncomfortable.

Any vehicle here except an open car / roadster has to have a defroster minimum to get a safety anyway so it's kind of out of our hands. There are a few around without, but mostly old builds that predate safetys, but they don't get driven if the weather is cold.

 

Yes heat and Kool via vintage air' gets pretty warm here in southern Ontario in summer and plenty cold in winter, my 52 GMC in avatar.

 

'50 ford shoebox--magic air works great. don't drive it when it's too hot out...

 

No heat or AC in my roadster. AC only in my coupe.

 

https://www.1aauto.com/seat-bottom-and-back-heater-kit-pair/i/dmimk00001

 

Heater? Yup.
I have to remember to occasionally twist the heater valve to stop it all jamming up from disuse.

 

Every time the subject of heaters come up, I ask how would you direct defrost ducts on a Model A with that gas tank there? Don't have a Model A; just curious as to how you would pull it off.

 

Original heater on my 53 Mainline, one of the "options" the original buyer sprung for and was more expensive than the overdrive. Undecided on my Buicks.

 

Only heat I have is when the Sun shines on me...

 

The only heat I have is from the engine warming up the firewall/floorboards!

 

Early stages but that's the plan

 

AC & heat in the Buick and 54 pickup, only heat in the roadster. Need to get a top for the roadster to help with the heat above your ankles.

 

Same here, I live outside Houston and its like 80 right now---what you mean heater?? BUT we freeze our ass off with the humidity and northers that come in pretty regular, more regular now than in the past. Used to be a sign of toughness to be w/out the heater, i'm way beyond that now-going to reinstall one in my elco next week. No more thermal underware.