Heat

petew

petew

Senior Member
Am in the process of buying a 30 coupe and one of the mods I would like to make is to get some heat into it .
I am familiar with the exhaust manifold heaters and have owned several old VW's that had "stale air" heat . I imagine that as with the VW if there are no exhaust leaks then the heater will do it's job just fine .
Problem is I don't really want to cut a hole in the firewall .
As for hot water heat that is an option but not a lot of floor space on the A and since the cooling system is not pressurized I wonder how well that would work.
So since the car is already 12 volt and has an alternator I was considering putting electric seat heaters in and hiding the controls.
Has anyone tried this approach ?

Pete
 
I have electric heating seat pads in my Victoria, front & back. Power is via a 12-volt GM alternator. Each seat pad has its own heat control. Cost installed was less than $100.
 

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I have a coolant heater in my '31 and love it. The heater box and fan is mounted on the left side above the clutch pedal and the hoses run through the firewall on the left side. The hot water supply is taken between the water pump and the radiator, and return is to the water return gooseneck at the engine. Once the heated water gets past the thermostat it does a great job heating the driver position - too much most of the time even with the fan on low. If the heater box and fan was mounted central rather than on the left it would do a great job for the passenger as well, but even as it is my co-pilot is very satisfied.

Living in California, I likely would not have installed this but the car came with it and there's no value in removing it. Now I love it. My concern with manifold heaters is the possibility of introducing exhaust gases into the cabin.

JayJay
 
A well fitting original Autolite manifold heater will not introduce carbon Monoxide or any exhaust into cabin. The air entry to it is just behind the fan, so you are getting warmed air from the rad. core plus the augmented heat from manifold as long as the fan is turning which I hope it is while we're driving or idling. "If" you have a very worn engine that smokes beyond belief, use a oil filler pipe vent tube attachment.
 
JayJay said:
I have a coolant heater in my '31 and love it. The heater box and fan is mounted on the left side above the clutch pedal and the hoses run through the firewall on the left side. The hot water supply is taken between the water pump and the radiator, and return is to the water return gooseneck at the engine. Once the heated water gets past the thermostat it does a great job heating the driver position - too much most of the time even with the fan on low. If the heater box and fan was mounted central rather than on the left it would do a great job for the passenger as well, but even as it is my co-pilot is very satisfied.

Living in California, I likely would not have installed this but the car came with it and there's no value in removing it. Now I love it. My concern with manifold heaters is the possibility of introducing exhaust gases into the cabin.

JayJay
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What brand is the heater ? And do you have any pictures of the installation both cabin and engine compartment ?
 
Forgot to add that a buddy of mine has A/C in his Model A and the installer used a cross-brace from cowl lamp to cowl lamp to mount the blower unit under the tank with no holes drilled into the firewall. The hoses run straight down thru the floorboards and into the engine compartment. I would think you could engineer something similar for the heater.
 
petew said:
What brand is the heater ? And do you have any pictures of the installation both cabin and engine compartment ?
Click to expand...
The heater is a "HaDees", which was a common aftermarket item in the day. I'll get some pictures of it tomorrow when I go to my shop.


JayJay
 
I have the coolant heater sold by Snyders. It is mounted on the passenger side and heats the entire inside of my Fordor. The car is well insulated, an important part of the equation. The hot coolant is taken before the thermostat and returns to the engine's coolant intake on the generator side of the engine. The heater gets first call on any hot coolant before the thermostat opens. Two holes have to be put in the firewall. Since the coolant comes from before the thermostat the pressure from the water pump pushes the coolant through the heater.

The car came with 12 volt heated blankets that can be placed on the seat or worn over the person just like any blanket. There is no temperature control on the blankets. Since they came with the car I don't have a source but they are probably made for modern cars.
 
Aftermarket hot water heaters were very common in the 30s and 40s. They can be readily found today on Ebay. A few years ago I restored this Hadees heater for my '48 Willy's jeep. NAPA sells new 6 and 12 volt motors, which work very well. I put a 6 volt one in this heater. It keeps me nice and toasty. Hadees had a rather risqué logo that was used on some of their heaters. The moto was "Hotter N Hell".
 

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A few Hadees ads.
 

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mcgarrett said:
Forgot to add that a buddy of mine has A/C in his Model A and the installer used a cross-brace from cowl lamp to cowl lamp to mount the blower unit under the tank with no holes drilled into the firewall. The hoses run straight down thru the floorboards and into the engine compartment. I would think you could engineer something similar for the heater.
Click to expand...

I like that idea . I also like the idea of the old heaters from the day but have some concerns about adapting in a 60, 70, or 80 year old heater that has a core of similar age.
The way my luck goes it would piss all over the floor the first time I drove it !
That small heater from Snyders is small , probably do the trick nicely .
 
Just looked at the Snyders install kit , it has a nice scoop like piece of bent tubing that helps the coolant to find its way to the heater. Pretty slick.
 
petew said:
I like that idea . I also like the idea of the old heaters from the day but have some concerns about adapting in a 60, 70, or 80 year old heater that has a core of similar age.
The way my luck goes it would piss all over the floor the first time I drove it !
That small heater from Snyders is small , probably do the trick nicely .
Click to expand...
A heater core is nothing different from a radiator. Cores can be repaired or replaced, although admittedly finding anyone who can work on old brass radiators is getting more and more difficult. My heater has a core tagged by a radiator shop in Woodland, CA, a small farming town about 30 miles from Sacramento. I sincerely doubt it was the original. (The guy who "restored" the car in the mid-80's was from Woodland.)

JayJay
 
ndnchf said:
Aftermarket hot water heaters were very common in the 30s and 40s. They can be readily found today on Ebay. A few years ago I restored this Hadees heater for my '48 Willy's jeep. NAPA sells new 6 and 12 volt motors, which work very well. I put a 6 volt one in this heater. It keeps me nice and toasty. Hadees had a rather risqué logo that was used on some of their heaters. The moto was "Hotter than Hell".
Click to expand...

My heater doesn't have the plaque that ndnchf shows, regrettably. Wish it did, that's so politically incorrect that it's laughable.

JayJay
 
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