Well no matter how had I try to put them back the leaves are starting to fall and turn colors and the mornings are getting kinda chilly. I would like to put a heater in the A so on those longer fall rides I can have a liitle heat in the coupe. Anyone run a heater and if so what did you put in that dosent take a lot of space. Burlingtons coming up and it would be nice to have a little comfort on those six hour rides.
I have used a small heater from a foreign car before... Went to the junk yard and found a ugly little Saab....it was a POS..but had a neat little heater about the size of a cigar box.and twice as thick. It was almost self contained. 3 or 4 bolts to the firewall and the two small water hoses was about all. The fan motor was on the little box. It was 12V and I even scored the electrical switch. Off/On and High. $10 .
I put one of the cigar-box sized heaters from "Mr. 40's" in my roadster. It's worthless. It may work better in a coupe. I'm putting a jack under the seat of my roadster pick-up for a heated vest. The long-distance motorcycle guys seem to love 'em. No plumbing required either.
That's a great idea I never thought about it. I found an old heater but running the hoses looks like hell so I'm looking for all solutions Thanks, keep them coming.
Most modern heaters look terrible--any swap meet will turn up lots of 1930's ones of all sizes from the 1930's, including small round ones, that look good and are quite compact. Many of this period stand off from the firewall acouple of inches, and it's easy to cut off the water pipes, solder on 90 degree down elbows, and run the pipes out the toe boards to frame-level hoses.
Bruce I found one that is from the 30"s and I know what your saying. I just had a thought about brining in the lines under the car with some copper tubing, I think you just confirmed my idea, thanks Bruce.
Here's a heater in my AV8. It came from a 1937 Chevy. I removed the little chevy tag and gave it to a guy who was restoring a '37 chevy. I had it recored for about $90 and wired in a reistor for the 6V motor. When I have the side curtains installed, I can drive around in comfort down to about 30 degrees. Any colder and I have to wear gloves and keep my jacket zipped up.
So are you saying to run some water hoses or pipes from the front of the engine down and underneath the block? As not to be seen.
Two years ago I installed a trans. cooler,plumbed for block water . I put a small fan behind it. Didn't work well, leaked,and made my car smell like cat piss.Last year I got a 12v. seat heater pad from JC Whitney,it kept my ass warm,then I got the idea to wear it under a jacket,as a vest. It worked a little better,but couldnt keep up with cold air leaking from windows, rust holes etc. A few weeks ago a friend gave me a Southwind gasoline heater in almost mint shape. Dispite the naysayers,I think I will try it The instructions say it will heat up to 400 deg. in a few miniutes. I suppose I can use it even with the windows open for ventilation,and still have heat. Period correct,efficent, and slightly dangerous(like me!)Sparky
A gas heater, maybe at todays prices it will too expensive to run..........I didn't think of that one I had one in a VW 30 years ago scared the shit out of me when it went papoof, never turned it on again. But hey ya never know.
My low tech heater with ram air. 1- left over tranny cooler 1- cake pan turned into a plenum 1- piece of heater riser pipe and a mandrel bend scoop in the gas cap hole. It works good if you're moving, keeps the passenger really warm, in turn she keeps me warm.
I have an original Hadees heater in my A....I have to solder up a crack on the bottom of it then I'll let yah know how it works.......Well I guess after I completlly get my car on the road
If it's got hood, just cut a hole in the firewall and mount a closable vent door over it. Lots of hot air that way. Fix all exhaust leaks first though! Early banger cars sometimes had this setup with a ducted shroud over the exhaust manifold, like aircooled VW heaters were.
Small period looking heaters are available from an Austin mini or a Series 2 Land Rover. These are small self contained units with integral controls that fit under the dash See picture of Mini unit below.
I did exactly what Bruce discribed. The mounting bracket allowed the tubing to be shortened without spacing it from the firewall. I just let the copper tube extend below the toe board enough to connect standard "traditional" heater hose. The heater can be removed for sevice later and you'll need some flex between the frame and the motor anyway. There are lots of cool looking art deco heaters that I find attractive additions to the cockpit. This 30's aftermarket manifold heater was in the sport coupe when I got it. Flip the lever at the bottom with your toe to open the damper and warm air flows into the cabin. The hood rotates to dirrect the air flow. oh yeah. Rumbleseat from the hot rod forum put snaps on his heater and an army blanket. The blanket snaps on the heater and is laid over his lap in his 34 roadster forcing the warm air to exit around the drivers body. Cool idea??
BTT I thought of trying an aftermarket electric heater, like a backseat heater, inside of an original 30's-40's case. Most of these seem to plug into a cigarette lighter, so it shouldn't be hard to hardwire it into a car.
i have thought of this too. i think i will make a heater tube frome the rad. pass the exhaust into the firewall with a valve. much like the A heaters.
Maybe an underseat heater from some sort of 4WD like a Toyota troop carrier style of thing. maybe able to mount it under the seat and all! Michael
Are there any heaters that dont rely on hot water, ie; fully electrical? Is that what you're referring to when you say that Mini heater is "self-contained"?
The Mini heater needs to be plumbed into the engine - it uses water. Those electrical heaters are no good - they need much more power than even an alternator can kick out. I use a shroud over the exhaust manifold to heat the cockpit of one of my cars - no moving parts and all the heat you could ever want.
I got one of those little electric cigarette lighter heaters from (gasp!) Walmart. I'm gonna try the damn thing...if it doesn't work right, I guess i'm not getting heat....
I saw some bigger backseat/jeep heaters, about 8" square, the prices are a little steep, over $100, I've seen them go for $50 on epay though. I wonder if they're any good.
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