Name that part (1946 Chevy)

I have a friend rebuilding a 1946 Fleetmaster. When pulling the seats tonight we came across this under the p***enger seat. What is it and how does it work. We didn't try to free it up but the fan is tight not spun by hand. Probably rusted up. Anyway if someone can id it can you tell me if it's worth getting out to p*** onto someone else or just trash it? Also it's hard to tell but the inside looks like a radiator. I was figuring it was some sort of seat heater.

Thanks for any info you can offer.

 

Yes you are correct. Its a under the seat heater.

 

Well that's cool, is it electric? We hope to get it out tomorrow to see how it works I'm just curious now.

 

I have a similar unit out of a Packard. It is water operated. Mine has two small cores on either side of the fan to heat the air. The fan is strictly for circulating the warmed air.

 

look under the car, see if there's more to it.

 

. Yep, there's a small harness that should go to one of the switches on the lower driver's side of your dash board. Usually Heater hoses loop the round heater core to your other heater / defroster core on the firewall. The fan blade has a set screw, and the steel shell comes out in 2 pieces if I recall. Motor drops out through the bottom of the floor.

These were a cool option and they work really well to keep your rear p***enger's feet nice & toasty in the wintertime. If its good, you could always sell it for a few bucks to a restorer since the big round heater core on these is $$ to replace.

 

Don't forget it's 6 volt!

 

The hoses drop out through the floor and run forward to the engine. The fan motor may or may not stick out through the floor too, can't tell thickness of unit from your pics.
Lots of GM cars used these unit as factory accessories and they were also available from gas stations, Sears, Monkey Wards, Western Auto, White's Auto, etc.