Technical How well do the original heaters in a 56 F100 work?

The stock heater kept my '54 panel warm and I added the stock defrost registers. I guess it's what look you want as the stock heat ducting/case are very distinctive and the aftermarket is mostly hidden. Also my '56 Chevy panel also runs a stockish Sears heater that I tapped into for defrost (works okay). If you have the low end heater it's super easy to fix, it's just a core, plenum and some cables

 

I have a 1959 F100 with the stock fresh air heater and it heats the cab quite well, there isn't all that much space to heat. The only issue I have had is the LARGE defroster flexible tubes are something like 3 (don't remember the size exactly) inches and are hard to find, mine were rotted and unusable. Found some that fit at a semi truck dealer parts department.

 

Our winters are mild and short, but this will be the replacement for my OT daily, so I figure it's a worthy cause. Having AC is a worthier cause though in OK. We do have summer....for about 9 months.

 

Root, I just finished hooking up the AC lines in mine, I used I think this same unit. It fits up pretty high on the firewall so all you see is the bottom of the Evap case in mine. I didn’t have a good place to put the controls since my dash has a chrome waterfall like center, so I used the under dash control and vent combo, it has two knobs on each side of the vent, all black. Also used black rectangular vents on each end of the dash. It has defrost, the hoses hooked right up to my factory defrost vents. None of the hoses are visible unless you get low under the dash. With a 195* thermostat in my 302, it puts out plenty of heat, and the AC is cold, 37* vent temp this week on a 80* day! I’m happy with it, not too loud, moves a lot of air. Plus no wasted knee room!

 

I should add that the stock Ford setup (and probably most other brand stock setups) have a door to block off either heater or defrost to send all heated air to the selected function. My Sears setup in my current '56 Chevy panel does not and suffers for it (little air flow out the defrost registers even with heater doors closed).

 

Didn't read all of this thread, but, dad had a 54 F-1 & the heater could run you out of the cab, vary toasty in northern Ohio.

 

1956 Ford heaters were excellent for all their production vehicles.

 

All depends if you’re trying to heat the cab before fixing the rusted floorboards and pedal seals, or after.

I don’t recall the recirculating (standard) heater as being particularly effective in any of these old trucks. The deluxe heater that drew outside air was better, and in the sixties sometime a “High Output” heater, presumably with a bigger core, became a popular option in some regions.

 

Here’s a shot of the firewall and the unit I have. I think mine is supposed to take outside air and mix with the inside cabin air. Look like it just got the Krylon overhaul in the past. It will need to be blasted and seals and gaskets replaced. No motor in any of the boxes. View attachment 5659324

 

If there is no fan or no blower motor to move the air, it won't work worth a ****. A squirrel cage moves more air then a fan can, but likely, the 56 had a fan.

Never been to OK in the winter, but up here in nw IL, I use defrost more often then I use heat, seeing the road is more important then being warm, to me. Generally, you get either good heat, or good defrost, but seldom both. If the defrost runs long enough, the cab gets warm enough. Seeing sooner is better then being warm sooner. Keep in mind, it takes about 10 minutes for the motor to reach the thermostat temp (longer if its cold, less if its not as cold). The motor temp has to warm up before the heat/defrost can start warming up the cab, don't matter how much the heater can kick **** when its warm, until the coolant running through it gets warm. It takes more time to warm the coolant up to thermostat temp if the heater fan is running on high speed.

On my Dodge truck (I know, could be a lot different), the defroster ducts are small, and in my opinion, there just isn't enough openings. Both sides of the windshield clear from a small port at the center of each side (often the p***enger side clears faster then the driver's side). The center and the outer edges usually clear last. Moving the air faster, or adding more defrosted ducts could help a lot.

If your truck is going to have AC, get the add on heat/defrost and make sure the defroster air runs through the AC unit. The AC dries that air, and warm dry air will clear the windshield much faster.

Like someone else mentioned, insulation in the cab, and good door, gl*** seals, and other cab seals are a great investment.

 

As the photo above indicates the squirrel cage fan fits in the interior portion of the heater box and the fan motor fits thru the firewall and can be seen in the engine compartment. There are floor vents and defroster vents. As also stated you could use inside air recirculated, a blend, or outside air thru the heater. As a side note with the heater water valve shut off you select air flow from the outside p***enger side louvers to the defroster vent. The floor was handled by the cowl vent. Like I said Fords had excellent heaters in that era.

 

Dad had an early 55 Chevy 3100, I'd have to drive five or six miles before it got any heat to speak of. My guess though was the thermostat wasn't operating properly to warm the motor (an earlier poster said his old pickup heated just fine), I used an aftermarket heater out of a 50 Pontiac for my 38, swapped in a 12 volt fan and got the leak fixed twice and he will cook you out. I'd be surprised if that Ford unit won't do the same as long as the core isn't plugged.

 

This is a Vintage Air Gen II mini heat/air/defrost in my PU.
I used an under dash Merc AC unit as my distribution vents, and mounted the evap up high so it wasn't ugly.

Looks vintage, works modern. Just the way I like it.

 

The 56 Ford heater worked good , but the 1959 Ford heater worked great! I can’t tell you how many times I was warmed by the heater in that 1959 Ford in the back ground of this picture, feeding cows in the winter as a kid!





Bones

 

Can't speak to the '56 ford pickup but the '56 chev ,at idle , at-20°f put out enough to keep us toasty in the back seat in high school. .....parked

 

@gene-koning i am mainly trying to decide if I need to spend the money on the unit I have . It’s missing pieces, like the fan etc. I don’t wanna spend $300 fixing everything, when I could buy one for the same money that is a lot more bang for my buck.

 

Tough call there, but I like to consider how easy it is to work with OEM things versus how much work it is to install an aftermarket piece that may or may not just bolt in.

 

Root, I’ve got about $1200 in my total system. That’s all new stuff, Vintage Air Compact unit with heat, AC and defrost, new condenser, new lines, new compressor. I bought most of the stuff off eBay, with a few pieces from Summit. I paid $160 for one of those hydraulic crimpers so I could make my own lines, My local guy could have done most of them but his machine can’t crimp anything over a 90 degree fitting, and he would charge by the fitting. I figured for twice the cost I’d end up with a tool I could use again. I know you’re a good fabricator, so mounting and running the lines will be easy for you. I just think having everything in one system makes more sense than having two different systems to fit in.
Your call, just telling you what worked for me.

 

....but you had lots of warm clothes on.....

 

Here is all you need to update that stock heater to 12V. Courtesy of myself and my pal Lane Anderson who wrote the original article

 

Roothawg, I believe you just answered your own question. You Good money after bad. You did mention how much you like summer heat. LOL.

 

I have owned a few first gen F 100s. They all seemed to have enough heat in them.

 

Your idea of "parking" in high school must be far different than mine , usually we at least had our pants down .....

 

TMI.

 

I live in the south.
I could get away without it.
My current beaters doesn’t have heat. Just remove the trans cover. Plenty of heat that way
But I have a vintage Goodyear accessory heater I plan to use on my 49.
And maybe an old Sears under dash AC

 

The heater you have Roothawg, is the optional outside air one. Yep the heater motor goes on the motor side of firewall. My heater just takes air from inside and heats it and puts it right back.

 

Been there.