Hot water heat?

D

David R.

Senior Member
Any one done hot water heater on an A or AA as opposed to manifold type? If so, could you share some particulars? Where would you mount it, run hoses etc.,.?
 

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Oh, I misunderstood that. I thought he meant a preheater for the cooling water in the cold engine block.
 
Manifold heaters can't be used on a RHD car but it still gets cold here. I'd be interested in a hot water system at reasonable cost. I say reasonable cost because we get a lot of hot air coming in around the pedals. The hot engine pipe is between the clutch and brake pedals (as is the accelerator) and there are always gaps. I still haven't seen a decent fitting mat for there. The hot air is nice during winter but makes driving an A an unpleasant experience during the summer.
 
If someone can tell me how to post photos I can show you my installation of hot water heat I installed last year and very happy with it. By the way I use a Mac so if photo loading instructions are different let me know.
 
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The heater box is a 1937 Harrison adapted to a newer aftermarket heater.

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I recall the upper and lower hose T’s came from Snyder’s and were already powder coated.
 
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Vendors sell hot water heater installation kits (Bert's A-9426-K) $65 set. Used this for water hose hookup.

Found a F-150 heater core and Studebaker 6v blower--- connected the two with three inch flex alum tubing. Put the blower in the upper driver side firewall area and the heater core (with homemade plenum) on the passenger side kick panel. Connected the two with 3 inch aluminum flex tub routed between the gas tank and firewall. Not pretty but works well.

Hopefully, you will already have a hole in the firewall --- I would have done a floor heater had there not already been a hole in the passenger side of the firewall. Rigged a cheap switch for the blower.

My heater is crude but the car is definitely a driver but it is comfortable in cold weather. And I don't have to worry about carbon monoxide.
 
peyton said:
vendors sell hot water heater installation kits (bert's a-9426-k) $65 set. Used this for water hose hookup.

Found a f-150 heater core and studebaker 6v blower--- connected the two with three inch flex alum tubing. Put the blower in the upper driver side firewall area and the heater core (with homemade plenum) on the passenger side kick panel. Connected the two with 3 inch aluminum flex tub routed between the gas tank and firewall. Not pretty but works well.

Hopefully, you will already have a hole in the firewall --- i would have done a floor heater had there not already been a hole in the passenger side of the firewall. Rigged a cheap switch for the blower.

My heater is crude but the car is definitely a driver but it is comfortable in cold weather. And i don't have to worry about carbon monoxide.
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pictures?
 
Russ, thanks for the pictures. Looks like heater unit is central under gas tank, hoses come through firewall on driver's side? How did you connect the two? How do you control water valve? What kind of head and what is that finned tank for? Interested to hear how your modifications affect performance. Neat looking project.
 
Pictures
 

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Russ, what is the gizmo in the heater return line, just below the 90° elbow? I suspect it is a control valve of some sort/
TIA, Ken
 
It's not perfect --- have to route hoses to firewall connections to get hot water to the heater core but we don't need heat often in Florida. However, when traveling to the Florida panhandle during the winter it helped to have some heat other than that from the engine.

Not to mention a great bypass system for engine cooling --- water circulation in the engine when the thermostat is completely closed.
 
David R. said:
Russ, thanks for the pictures. Looks like heater unit is central under gas tank, hoses come through firewall on driver's side? How did you connect the two? How do you control water valve? What kind of head and what is that finned tank for? Interested to hear how your modifications affect performance. Neat looking project.
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Finned tank is a remote oil filter.
 
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katy said:
Russ, what is the gizmo in the heater return line, just below the 90° elbow? I suspect it is a control valve of some sort/
TIA, Ken
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Yes. It is the heater control valve. It is vacuum controlled.
 
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Here's a heater I put under the front seat in my Sport Coupe. My son welded up the box and we cut down a later pickup heater core to fit. The air comes out at about 175°F. The outlets are air vents from a British sports car. There is a third outlet on the box which dumps some warm air under the seat as a seat heater. The picture by the transmission shows the heater contol valve to change the temperature. It us from an old Chrysler vehicle.
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