I am building my modified to drive cross-country, literally. I intend on driving it to Indy and to Columbus when it's done. That being said I am adding some modern amenities like a 700r4 ****** for the overdrive, a '60s inline six for ease of parts replacement on the road, and '70s English lever shocks like the ones on old MGs (fairly modern but still old looking). Now I am considering a heater to make better use of the split tonneau I intend to run. Of course it would be an old style firewall model heated via the engine cooling system. So, suggestions on which heater to go with? I know there is a new, fairly small one being produced that is basically an 8" cube, I'd hide that one as much as possible, but I like the older look for obvious reasons. Also, what about routing the lines? Is there anything wrong with running hard lines along the frame to make them less obvious? Photos? Suggestions?
if you're driving to the Indy & Columbus shows, why do you need a heater? it's hot here in June & July
Well I hope to drive it to more than just those two shows. The Bay Area gets pretty cold (for California).
Literally? wow, you might travel lateraly or maybe even litorally! I think the set up on my MG TD is very similar to what you describe (a small cube) but I think that the MG B set up may work better and it still fits up under the dash. If memory serves it is about 15" wide, 5" deep and 8" high at max, it has both a blower and the core inside of a lidded container. here is a pic of one...
You could just picture me, in my lime green speedo, lounging by the pool. That gets everybody hot... You could wire in a couple of cigarette lighters, under the dash, and use get one of those electric vests. You know, the motorcycle guy ones. It would keep everything clean of heater stuff, you just need an alt with umph...
??? That MG setup sounds like a possibility. The Pick A PArt in Oakland had a few MGs when I was there a couple months ago. Maybe I'll dig around to see what they look like.
I've used copper hard lines from the home improvement store with short lengths of heater hose on both ends. So far, I've used old heaters like Hadees that I've bought at swap meets. If you use a simple heater like that, be sure to put a shut off valve in the heater hose to keep heat out when you don't want it. A friend of mine recently used a little box heater intended for small aircraft. I don't know where to get them though, nor does he. His works great.
don't forget the electrified ****** inverters and matching heated chaps for added pleasure, i mean comfort, on those long lonely trips.
You probably aren't worried about defrosting the windshield so the complexity of the MG unit isn't needed. Take a look at the rear seat heater that was used in suburbans in the late 80's. They ran tubes all the way back to the rear of the 'burb. That heater worked good when the engine was warm. Was not huge either. Try explaining to my wife why heat isn't instant in a car......Don't bother.
I tried to pretend I was hard core and didn't need a heater in the roadster. I finally gave in a bought an old Ha-Dees water heater. I hadn't thought about it, but after reading the above I believe I'll plumb it with copper lines along the rails. Cool idea.
How about a cheesy car electric heater unit hideen in an old heater case? I guess heating the seats might work too.
The trick to making a heater work in a roadster is the car blanket or full length poncho/parka strategically supported around the heater outlet so the most of the heat "blows up your skirt" so to speak. All a heater really needs to be is a heater core out of about any car, the in and out water hoses and a 12v fan to blow the air under the dash through it, maybe like the one in last year's PC sittin' in the corner of your office?
I run a small heater in my rodster pickup, not sure what its out of. Its about 8 to 10 inches square,fits up under the dash, and I ran polished aluminum tubes along the frame rails with heater hose ends. It works good around town and better than nothing out on the road. If you can keep most of your bod under the tonneau cover it should work fine. you will need something to keep the ears warm though. Mick
Hey Kirk, Here in Pa there are a fair amount of hot rods with heaters and then there are the guys *****in' about the cold. Copper hard lines painted black mounted to the frame with 90 degree elbows towards the engine then black rubber heater hose to engine. I saw one car that the guy ran the copper lines all the way up the frame to the lower radiator hose and followed the lower hose to the engine with the heater hoses tucked in close to the lower hose. In the back the hard lines went back alittle past the firewall and into the interior through the floor not through the firewall. He had a regular manual ball valve with the handle takin off on the lines under the floor. It was a real nice job. I didn't have a camera with me and he was no were around to talk to. Rv's and camper's have small electric units but, I don't know what they are like. I'm leanin' towards the Vintage Air Bi Level type heat/defrost with a manual ball valve and the switches hidden under the dash. Thanks for askin' I be learnin' on your question also. Have fun,Smokey
We're gonna have to get together sometime, Mr. Biscuit. If you know what I mean... I mean not in "that" way...
one suggestion if you are going to run copper lines in the frame, make sure that you give atleast one or two turns around a bit of pipe to allow for some harmonic absorption and stretching (copper doesn't perform to well under either of those 2 stresses and has a tendancy to crack and fail at the most inopportune moment.) Also insulate the lines from the frame as much as possible (rubber holders).
KIRK! modifieddriver had a couple SWEEET compact under dash heaters for sale a little while ago. Check with him to see if he either has any of these or any more. He's always moving something... maybe not heaters after these so you might wanna act fast. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160256 Vance
What about the heater out of a stepdown hudson. Your dimension requirements sound about right for what I remember the size being.
Sears sells a small heater, new, around $100 for the kit. It fits under the dash of most cars and almost dissapears. Try looking in their catalog or online; a friend put on in his '40 just before Christmas.
Don't have one in the 29 yet but I've been known to lift the door over the master cyl. to keep the feet warmer.
The aircraft heater mentioned by bobw is exactly the way I intended to go. Sleeve the exhaust, either at the header, or even under the car out of sight. Pipe it in to the car, control it with a damper style flap inside the duct pipe. No fan required, ram air will do the job, no water leaks either, small and compact. If you need to use a flexible connector, you can go with aircraft "****" tubing, which is a silicone reinforced rubber hose (expensive), or make your own out of a large light coil spring. With fibergl*** cloth and silicone from a tube. Spread the silicone on the cloth like you were doing bondo, and laminate two layers of cloth. Wrap it around the spring, glue the overlap down using silicone, and you have a custom "****" hose, the size, length, and color you choose. I can do a tech on this if anybody cares, I need to build this for my own anyway.
I run a Harrison heater from a '37 Chevy in my roadster. Got the heater free and had it re-cored for $85. Originally I ran a voltage drop, but now it's wired direct to 12 V. I have a three speed switch and I run it on low and mid. Works great.
7"x7"x7" hot rod heater. Two speed motor plenty of btu's. Two hot water outlets out the back. Retail109 dollars. Works awesome.
I went to Ebay and hunted for heaters. First one was a Stewart Warner unit from the '30s and turned out to be Gasoline fired. Looked nice and is now part of my antique collection. Second was an early 50s Ford unit. Big...to big. Go with the modern small unit that has a new core, 12 volts and works fine. Then go to the OLD junkyards and Ebay looking for something old that you can take the guts out of and put it around the effecient unit.
The seat will be heated in my new roadster. And I plan to run a small water fed heater with a blower as well. I'm starting to loose some of the hard in my core
For a roadster... I'd make a two pronged attack. First, I'd look at the seat heaters idea. A friend of mine works for an Infinity dealer and he was telling me about these 'in seat' heaters that supposedly both heat AND cool. They're in leather seats. This would be nice in both the hot and cold climates. Second, I think dusty knuckles is on the right track. On the colder legs of a trip the plug in vest/jackets/pants that motorcycle guys have would really keep you toasty. Here's a great primer on electric bike wear. http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/accessoriesandgear/electric_clothing/
See, I wasn't entirely messing with you. My Grampa had his bike with a hack wired up for the electric duds. I can remember keepin' warm in that sidecar, all wrapped up in a vest. This was in Ohio, where it's actually cold, too. Now, picture me in that lime green speedo, again. You're getting warmer, aren't you?
Indy GG last year was a good example of June heater weather. After standing around most of the day on Saturday with rain, wind and cool temps I was happy to have my heater.....but then again my old bod is a bit tenderer than it used to be....LOL. Charlie
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