Southwind & Zenith

hale1776

hale1776

Senior Member
I have read everything I can find about Southwind heaters my A had one years ago and I plan on putting a restored one in. Holes in firewall still there and I have confirmed hole pattern is the same. I have a coupe so getting the Model 780 (small one). The installation manual covers all kinds of installs on early downdraft carburetors, the gentleman in Canada who restores does not have Zenith specific instructions. So gas pick-up needs a 1/8th inch hole, non threaded, in top of float with a tiny tube dropping down for fuel. Zenith One that I recently purchased from Tazman who I found about here and is the best running carb that has been on the car in my lifetime. Has anyone here rebuilt a zenith that had a mystery hole in it and where was it located? I can run heater from auxiliary fuel tank ( Colman stove fuel tank) if needed but wish to explore all options.
 
I see lots of V8 carbs with the SW holes in them, and have discovered that there were apparently two modes of installation.
The simple one is the small hole in lid of float bowl. Only real issue here, aside from the blasted hole itself, is choosing a location where the down tube will not interfere with float movement.
There is a cleaner way used on some V8 carbs that you could emulate...these better installations used a set of fittings from V8 jet access plugs to a small vertical well beside the carb, leaving carb undamaged.
You could emulate this with an A carb by working from the lower drain plug, somewhat like the gas level testers sold in catalogs but with greatly improved construction for safety. You would drill and tap a plug for fittings to carry gas horizontally out from carb and then into a pick-up well beside carb, using all metal construction and perhaps even soldering some of the fittings to keep the assembly rigid and tight.
 
There was one for the A , small hole in the top 1/2 of carb and special fitting, my brother had/has a carb with the original fitting, small bracket, didn't interfere with servicing the carb
 
Kurt, I would love to see a picture of that. I am also wondering if I could go through lower side and go into the bowl under the float where there seems to be the most room.
 
There is also a method that uses a separate bowl so you do NOT have to drill into your carb,. Here is a picture of it, I am also installing one that i bought. NOS which is the best part. You can find these bowls at swaps or on ebay at times. Let me know how it goes.
 

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I have been collecting these heaters and have compiled literature on these through the years. My question is on the downdraft carburetors there is another plate you put under the carburetor to hook a line to get rid of the exhaust gases from the heater. I know Southwind didn't make one for the updraft carb on the Model A so It appears that you would have to make one to go between the intake and the carb.
If this is correct does anyone have a picture of this hook-up?
I can see from the picture that Mark posted how you could tee the gas line and hook the fresh fuel side up. Afordman31
 

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On downdraft there was a plate that went between carb and intake manifold providing vacuum... I have seen pictures of them.

New idea, talked to Tazman on Zenith and have decided not to drill into one....All I need is an inch of gas covered by metal which I can drill and mount the pick-up.....bonus would be no moving parts that tube could interfere with......Sediment bowl! Drill my 1/8th inch hole into it, drop little tube in, seal hole run gas line from there. Would also add the safety feature that if my heater stopped working time to empty water out of sediment bowl. If pick-up got plugged cleaning would be easy.....am I nuts is there something I haven't thought of? There usually is.
 
Heater just arrived today, having been lost in the US postal system for weeks. As I intend to hook this up and turn it on I will take pics as I go so someone else who might like to install one. Directions only go back to 1934 tons of diagrams of exactly where to drill the hole in any number of carburetors all downdraft so no help with a zenith. Life circumstances have left me with the A as my only ride for now so making the best of it, its a car and I am using it for the exact purpose it was built for.
 
Afordman31 do you have a vacuum wiper boss outlet on your downdraft manifold? I plan to use mine for the vacuum line. Right now I just found out that the fuel line is calibrated in length and to not shorten or lengthen it...28 inches is the size. Original heater in my car was on driver side original holes for heater still there....it is more than 28 inches from that point to zenith so that is out of the question. Also directions say once you drill into float bowl and insert tube to shellac the hole to make it air tight, that is another gem I hand not known before.
 
"MAYBE" setting up the South Wind to an updraft Zenith would be unsafe, with many unknowns & trying to draw up fuel from a much lower position than the heater was designed to operate from would convince me NOT to even THINK about putting one in my car!!!
Gut feeling tells me that it "might" be a recipe for an impending disaster!!
Bill W.
 
I agree with Bill. A hot water heater gives you lots of heat without burning more fuel, plus it's an extra radiator for cooling the engine and also helps stop the water pump from pumping the top tank full and out the overflow.

I just ordered 3 six foot rolls of Goodyear 5/8" heater hose on Sunday night, and it was on my doorstep yesterday. I found it on ebay and ordered it from Summit racing for less than buying it local.
 
Why not go to the hardware store and get a brass T that you can splice into the fuel line and connect the feed line there. A 1/4" X 1/4" with a 1/8" connection would work and are available with compression fittings so you could go another way if this don't work.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
I agree with Bill. A hot water heater gives you lots of heat without burning more fuel, plus it's an extra radiator for cooling the engine and also helps stop the water pump from pumping the top tank full and out the overflow.

I just ordered 3 six foot rolls of Goodyear 5/8" heater hose on Sunday night, and it was on my doorstep yesterday. I found it on ebay and ordered it from Summit racing for less than buying it local.
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I agree with Bill and Tom. It is a tough area to get out of if you have a fire. My hot water heater works very well even in the sub zero Canadian climate. Wayne
 
Many folks believe that the Southwind heater to be a fire hazard. I have one in my 1940 Ford that works very well. I have read many articles on how the heater works and they have a bi-metal band that senses the heat and if the heater was to overheat it would be snuffed out. I really don't see how they could be a fire hazard unless someone make shifted the hookups.
According to the books as I stated before Southwind did not hook them up in the Model A. My books show them used on the down draft carburetor and not on the updraft. Afordman31
 
Afordman31 said:
Many folks believe that the Southwind heater to be a fire hazard. I have one in my 1940 Ford that works very well. I have read many articles on how the heater works and they have a bi-metal band that senses the heat and if the heater was to overheat it would be snuffed out. I really don't see how they could be a fire hazard unless someone make shifted the hookups.
According to the books as I stated before Southwind did not hook them up in the Model A. My books show them used on the down draft carburetor and not on the updraft. Afordman31
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The SW is safe also because it's combustion chamber operates below atmospheric pressure. It uses manifold vacuum to draw in air & fuel, mixes them in its own little carburetor, and uses that vacuum to draw the combustion products into the engine's intake. No fumes in the car that way. If the car's engine is not running, the heater will not work.

It is described in the SW brochure as "inherently safe" and after studying the design, I'm inclined to agree. I have an old one that came with my '41 Hudson sedan, and have mulled over having it restored and putting it back in. (It's very hard to find parts; the guy in Canada seems to have cornered the market, and he only sells complete restored units or restorations of your unit).
 
Pop had a Southwest heater in his '36 Ford pickup when I was a little kid, and I remember it would about run you out of the truck it sure put out a lot of heat!! Worked great!
 
James Rogers said:
Why not go to the hardware store and get a brass T that you can splice into the fuel line and connect the feed line there. A 1/4" X 1/4" with a 1/8" connection would work and are available with compression fittings so you could go another way if this don't work.
Click to expand...
With this hookup, gas to the heater would be slightly pressurized, wonder what effect that would cause???
Bill W.
 
I don't consider the South Wind heater unsafe at all, but just think it makes more sense to run free hot water heat, rather than burn extra gas for heat. Plus I like the benefit of the added radiator for the Model A by using a heater core.
 
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