1935 Ford coupe heater

B

Bullshark

Junior Member
Can someone educate me on what original heater my 1935 ford 5 window coupe was equipped with? The previous owner removed it for another car he was restoring. I would like to find a replacement, however I am clueless on what to look for. the pics below show where it was originally mounted. I see no evidence of ducting through the firewall.

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The indentation on the firewall sound pad tells me the car had a hot water heater which is not original equipment on a '35 Ford. The orginal heaters were hot air heaters that ran off of the exhaust manifold via a lot of duct work.
My '36 coupe, of which I am the second owner, having owned the car since 1952, has a '39/40 Ford hot water heater. Pix attached.
There are several styles of hot water heaters that were very common in the 1930's/40's, most of them are to large for the '30 model Fords.
In 1941 Ford started to offer hot water heaters as a standard accessory, they were generally mounted in the center portion of the firewall. Many people think that the center mounting is correct for EFV8's.. I tend to think that the passenger side of the firewall is a better location. I would assume that the heater in my car was installed by the dealer, therefore they mounted the heater per some kind of a factory directive.
 

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Interesting, Thanks for the input blucar!
I find no evidence of a hot water tap. My 35 aluminum heads have the water pump mount on the front of each head unlike what you show on your car. Not interested in cutting up the firewall to accommodate the original hot air ducting.
Was there different styles of heaters and how did they port the hot coolant back in the day?
 
Bullshark said:
Interesting, Thanks for the input blucar!
I find no evidence of a hot water tap. My 35 aluminum heads have the water pump mount on the front of each head unlike what you show on your car. Not interested in cutting up the firewall to accommodate the original hot air ducting.
Was there different styles of heaters and how did they port the hot coolant back in the day?
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You should be able to find a aftermarket heater like my Arvin.. the backside (area pressed against the firewall) will have two threaded pipes that will hold the heater in place; inside of those pipes will be the heater core pipes (a mini radiator).. easy, simple set up to connect heater hoses to your head & radiator hose.. Photos show examples of the rebuild I did to the heater in my 1947. It was real easy to do! :D
 

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Bullshark said:
Can someone educate me on what original heater my 1935 ford 5 window coupe was equipped with? The previous owner removed it for another car he was restoring. I would like to find a replacement, however I am clueless on what to look for. the pics below show where it was originally mounted. I see no evidence of ducting through the firewall.

175c5088bf11d2a.jpg


175c50889b74b3f.jpg
Click to expand...

Your car was not equipped with an original heater as others have eluded to. Only a hot air heater was available for your '35. They are fairly rare these days.
If authenticity is not actually a concern of yours, I'd suggest you search eBay for a hot water heater, Ford, 1942 - 1948. They will have an era correct appearance and those years are so common, it won't break the proverbial bank acquiring one.
 
Did you get the36 water pump you were looking for. Have what you were looking for I believe. Kerk
 
The original engine in my '36 had the water-pumps on the front of the head. The left pump had a port in it for the temp sender, the right pump had a port for the heater hot water attachment. The right hand hose for the heater was connect to a fitting that was in the right-hand lower radiator hose.
The '39-40 heaters are quite small, therefore they fit very nicely on the right side of the firewall. Most of the '41 and later style of heaters, Arvin, etc are to large for a '35-40 car/truck.

I know many street rodders that use heaters out of the earlier Japanese Couriers, Toyota's, etc., pickups. The problem with the later model heaters is they are 12v.

I have a friend that gathers up old heaters, he guts them out using the case to conceal a modern radio. The doors closed, no radio, doors open, radio.. Pretty slick.
 
if you are a swap meet kinda guy, there are usually lots of heaters around. trouble is the many brands all have they're own mount and water hole pattern where they go the fire wall. you should make a paper template to shop ebay and swap meets, might get lucky and be able to identify the model that came out of there. or, you could make it like most of the wrecks i bring home that have holes all over the place from several different brands, usually made with a chisel!
 
The all original '35 coupe I bought for $95 when I was 16 had an excellent Southwind heater, mounted on the right side. It may have been a dealer install. Look on your firewall inside and in the engine compartment for knock-outs for mounting holes.
 
The early cars do not have knock-outs in the firewall, however, in some entrances there is a slight dimple where a hole could be drilled for an accessory.. I believe the radio receiver box was one of those dimples.
Many of the comments in this thread have failed to mention that the pre-40 cars have floor shifts, therefore the location of the heater should be on the passenger side in lieu of the center where it will conflict with the gear shift.
The comments in my first posting to this topic (#2 ) made mention about the '39-40 heater in my '36 coupe. As I have stated, I believe the indentations/holes in the firewall insulation are very similar to the mounting in my car.
 
blucar said:
The early cars do not have knock-outs in the firewall, however, in some entrances there is a slight dimple where a hole could be drilled for an accessory.. I believe the radio receiver box was one of those dimples.
Many of the comments in this thread have failed to mention that the pre-40 cars have floor shifts, therefore the location of the heater should be on the passenger side in lieu of the center where it will conflict with the gear shift.
The comments in my first posting to this topic (#2 ) made mention about the '39-40 heater in my '36 coupe. As I have stated, I believe the indentations/holes in the firewall insulation are very similar to the mounting in my car.
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Well, at least in 1939, when Ford did authorize a hot water heater it was placed darn near center with no interference issues with the shift lever.
 

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blucar said:
The original engine in my '36 had the water-pumps on the front of the head. The left pump had a port in it for the temp sender, the right pump had a port for the heater hot water attachment. The right hand hose for the heater was connect to a fitting that was in the right-hand lower radiator hose.


That port on the right pump was NOT for a heater nipple nor valve. That was a later service replacement pump that was mean to to be fitted to either the left or right side of the engine. When fitted on the right side, a plug was installed in that threaded boss.
While I suppose a guy could install a nipple for a heater hose there, that was, to reiterate, not the intended reasoning for that outlet.
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Thanks for the education and wealth of information. Even though the car is very close to original, I'm not motivated to pursue the original hot air configuration with all the duct work and firewall mods that would go a long with it. As suggested I'll keep my eye out for the 39+ hot water heater that was Installed previously. In the meantime I'll keep it stored until warmer weather. :cool:
 
Making a template of the holes in your firewall is good advice when looking for another heater. When the other heater was removed is there some chance there's a photo available of the car with the heater still in it? if there is a photo it would help identify the heater.
I have an original '40 Ford hot water heater and the mounting bolt configuration and water inlet configuration is no where near matching the holes in your firewall. You can take the '40 Ford heater off your list.
 
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The small holes and mounting pattern shown in your original photo certainly looks like there was a Southwind gasoline heater mounter there. Restored heaters and mounting parts are still available from several vendors.
 
I don't think so. The big and little holes for the Southwind are orientated vertical not horizontal as these are
 
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