I had a factory gas heater in my Corvair Greenbriar. I loved it... warm air out of the vents before the tubes in the radio heated up and allowed the tunes to be heard. My only concern is that the truck was only 10 years old then and in constant use. It may be hard to find an expert to service it today. I don't know enough about them to be confident about working on one. I've seen plenty of nice South wind heaters over the years but always used a hot water heater. You may get some panic replies but mine worked fine.
I remember a friend had one in a old Corvair and I don't recall him ever complaining about how it worked as it was almost instantaneous heat,,but that was a long time ago. I know Stewart Warner is/was involved with the company but I doubt they have parts or instructions as to how make them work safety. HRP
Try Volkswagen bus people that work on (T1-T4 types) you'll freeze your *** off in one! trust me on this !!!!! I'm looking for one also! they can be kinda spendy for a good SAFE one,there's a guy in Denver that rebuilds em,if your still looking give a yell & i'll find his contact info.---chuck
Pros you have heat.... Con... well depends if you don't know what you are doing when you rebuild it... just hope you are parked outside so just your car burn down, not your car and your house. Have have it rebuilt by the pros. The SW 24 v from WWII deuce and a half work great. Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
There's a guy in Canada who restores amd sell South Wind heaters. The look very cool and work well. Some guys cry about the safety of them but there were millions sold back in the day and I never heard of a problem with 'em .... plus I understand that they still use 'em in airplanes and boats. Try "South Wind heater Canada" and you should be able to find his web page.
They come stock in all vw 411 and 412's , that's all the heat they have. Troll thesamba in the cl***ifieds, I see them on there all the time. I have never even tried to fire mine up, someday I will get back on that project.
I have a Southwind Jr Model heater in the cab of my truck. It will heatup the cab in about 3 minutes-very efficient. This setup involves plumbing to the vehicle carb and a vacuum source somewhere on the engine. Attached are photos of the heater and its parts. Photo 1 shows the heater in the cab (before restoration). Photo 2 shows all the components that come with a NOS heater. Photo 3 shows the Jet Tube ***y mounted on the carb. Photo 4 shows the Heater carb and Exhaust vacuum connection protruding thru the firewall (after restoration). How it works. The Jet Tube picks up fuel from the vehicle carb which sends it to the heater carb which p***es the fuel over a preheated glow plug causing flame ignition in a combustion chamber from which the exhaust g***es are ****ed through a vacuum line which goes to a plate under the carb or a pipe in the intake manifold. Its a simple and efficient system that works well and IMO is no more dangerous than the primary fuel system in any vehicle if its properly installed and in working order. Should you decide to go this route try to find a NOS Southwind heater in the box with all its components. Parts are hard to come by. The model 781 is larger and better suited to a sedan size vehicle. There is also ducting available to direct heated air for windshield defrosting. Fuel economy will suffer some, but I haven't noticed anything significant (less than 1 MPG).
I've had a few V dubs with gas heaters. Heat like crazy,hard on fuel milage. I never trusted them thou. Flames shooting out in the fender well. Also it's a very humid heat and steam your windows up.
Pro....not needed with water cooled engine. I had one on a VW bus, and worried a lot about the safety aspect.
School buses I rode as a youngster in the 1950's and early 1960's had them. I never heard of any issues. Jon.
A friend of mine had one in a VW Beatle in about 1968. When he used the heater, he got the same gas mileage as an Olds 98, but he was warm.
Look at Webasto heaters, they seem to be the leader in they industry and still build and sell them new.
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