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

I'd use MG air plenums and the small hose they use. Midgets have a pair of tiny vents that are only like 3/8' wide and maybe 3" long. Might even use the Smith's heater box and external fan

 

Here in Sweden it can get very cold in spring and fall so a heater for defroster and myself was installed,
in summer the air vents open for fresh air but they let in all the smell from a warm engine.
So a couple of years ago I installed a Vintage Air heat, defroster and AC. It was tricky to fit it in that small car.

 

... No heat ... no air ... no power anything ... the working cowl vent is all I need in the summer ...

 

No heat or air. When it’s hot I always have the windows down and crack the windshield open.
It was upper 40’s a couple weeks ago, but engine heat and the sun made the 80 mile drive pleasant. Put away now that the DOT hosed the salt brine down.

 

Named after a prison Buddy

 

Original heater in my 49 merc and no heater in my 31 model A tudor.

 

I will be installing heat and defrost in the sedan when it comes back from the upholstery shop. When I lived in the Northeast I never needed either, because it was in the garage during winter months. Now being in the south with year round driving it’s needed. More pinstriping by East Coast Artie. Snowman ⛄️

 

Weren't some late 1930's cars equipped with a gasoline-fed heater? I recall reading about them, instant scorching heat. I imagine it could be a safety issue and that was likely the end of them.

 

Yes, the venerable South Wind gas heater. A fave for VW owners too.

 

I had a friend back in the early 70's who had an old Corvair with a gas-fired heater in it. Standard Corvair heaters were rather lack-luster.

 

1960 Corvairs came with a gas heater. 1961 and later had a hot air heater from the exhaust. Maybe he just had the early one...

 

A friend had a '60 Corvair in high school. He'd come out on a cold winter morning, turn the key to ACC, turn on the gas heater, and go back inside to finish his breakfast. By the time he came back out, the snow was melting off of the roof.

 

Whenever you find a Stromberg 97 at a swap meet with a small hole drilled in the top of it, that's why.

 

Still around as well as diesel ones.

Ben

 

I bought my 40 tudor as a beater/driver and it came with Vintage air with vents in the ash trays. Everything was pretty crude so I pulled the VA and filled in the radio and ash tray holes. I found an original heater and had to change the plumbing to exit the firewall near the passenger side. There were no air conditioners or automatic transmissions in the hot rod world of my youth. Sorry there isnt a better picture of the heater. Its painted the same gold and maroon as the dash.

 

I live in So Cal and just have a cowl vent.

 

Nope. I'm lazy.

 

As someone stated earlier, I didn't want to add heater hoses to my flathead for aesthetics. I built this unit with defrost out of a heater I purchased off our classifieds and a ceramic heater meant for truck cabs, golf carts, boats and the like. I have used it a few times and it works well. Not as hot as a water heater but good enough to chase the cold away. I added seat heaters as well which I use constantly during this time of year. The one change I would make is a small computer fan to blow the heat to the defrosters.

 

Gas heater were used up to the mid sixties, I have an original '65 Porsche 911 unit and one from a '54 Panhard, I will never use those for 2 reasons : way too dangerous and cost of gasoline. Plus the Porsche one is worth a small fortune like everything porsche.
In the late 40's early 50's Panhard had a pretty neat aluminum clamshell casting that you fixed around your exhaust just ahead of the front bench, you needed to cut a hole in the floor and the air flowing under the car got heated by the exhaust pipe and exited in the car, not very efficient but worked ok, just avoid any snow or puddle if you don't want to fill the car with steam...

 

Gas heaters are still in common use in light aircraft. They're pretty ferocious, too- it gets kinda chilly up in the air.

Janitrol make most of them. They aren't cheap but they are compact and a lot of smaller planes are 12V so they can be used in a car.

Phil

 

Every hot rod or street rod I have ever bought or built got a heater. Most of my life was spent in the northeast so that’s logical. After moving here to Williamsburg I just stayed with it as the wife always asked if my car had a heater, she would go with me to wherever …..

 

years ago I sold quite a few car heaters on ebay. The more obscure they were, the higher the bids went.

 

I have the original heater for my coupe. Maybe it will get installed this winter; I really need the defrost in the spring and fall. The local radiator shop can get/rebuild the cores and NAPA has a replacement 12V. motor to fit my original heater.
This is a possibility for the '41 pickup, but I'd have to rig something for the defroster hoses.

 

If you want heat be space is tight, a small transmission cooler with a fan out of a computer zip tied to it will work. point it so the fan blows the direction you want the warm air to go. Hook the cooler to your motor's cooling system. Keep in mind the smaller the diameter, the less liquid can pass through, which will limit the amount of heat it can put out. Some heat is a lot better then no heat. Such a "heater" can be installed in a car pretty much anyplace it fits, even under the seats works for heat. A couple short pieces of hose connected with copper tubing (you can use soft line, or hard line) can get the coolant to the heater where ever it needs to go. The small fan out of your old computer is 12 volts and moves a lot of air, but its a pretty small foot print of air it pushes, a small shroud that directs the air through most of the cooler surface improves things, if you have room.

 

A 12v hair dryer strategically place will keep the fog off a small portion on the inside of the windshield ,albeit some what noisy it is efficient.

 

Drive it to much not to have heat. This was last year. no snow yet.

 

not yet but looking for a heater !!

 

Nope...hell, I don't even have door glass.

 

At least it's warm in Nebraska!

 

I have a Ha Dees in both my 33 and 36 and the water valve is plumbed in just behind the heater core and operated with a cable in the dash.