Stewart Warner, Southwind gas heater info?

I've got one and I'd like to know how to hook it up.
Anybody have info on them or know where I could find some?

Thanks, Mike

 

i don't know anything about them , except i've been told they where dangerous....lot's of cars got burned up. a freind in college had a `67 VW with a gas heater...it would ignite sometime with this giant BANG...always scrared that crap out of me

 

<font color="green">We love the subs!!!

Frickin Sponge Monkeys, can't believe it took this long for that to show up

Sponge Monkeys OR.... What to do when you have smoked ALL your CRACK.

Those heaters are cool but I don't believe I would use it, wonder if you could fit a core in it? </font>

 

I thought about the core idea too, but it would hafta' be pretty small.
There was a '32 roadster at "The Roundup" that had one. That is what got me thinking about it.


Rashy,I've got that moon video link saved. That shit is twisted!! My wife really likes the kittens.

 

I still have mine in my 37 but only for a conversation piece. I don't trust anything that will bring gas into the passenger compartment. Why even bother when we only drive these cars in temperate weather conditions.
If you insist in making your self into a torch, there's a guy on either Fordbarn or Msn's Flathead Forum that works with these. Also try the Early Ford V8 club forum.

 

I had a similar factory gas heater in my 1960 Corvair Greenbriar window van. It literally would blow warm air before the tubes in the radio got warm enough to hear the tunes.

I've read where you need to drill a hole in the carb to run one. I don't know if that's for a return line or if it just sucks gas from the float bowl. You might ask on the Early Ford barn

 

[ QUOTE ]
I still have mine in my 37 but only for a conversation piece. I don't trust anything that will bring gas into the passenger compartment. Why even bother when we only drive these cars in temperate weather conditions.
If you insist in making your self into a torch, there's a guy on either Fordbarn or Msn's Flathead Forum that works with these. Also try the Early Ford V8 club forum.

[/ QUOTE ] Maybe YOU only drive in temperate weather. So dont say 'we', cuz old cars are all I drive! I have never owned a new car and dont want to. Old cars are my Passion and my life. I wont use a Southwind, cuz there are much better choices and a good heater is mighty nice sometimes. Some of my old cars dont have heaters.

 

They are great heaters, have been using them since the 50s, still have one in my 40 that I put in it in 75 when I built the car. Still works GREAT! If you dont find install info, PM me and I will provide the info. Do you have all the parts to make the hook up? ie: the small tube that goes in the carb and the tube that goes in the intake for the heater exhaust.

 

There used to be a gentleman named Bob Dale, lived in Kansas City, was a member of the Early Ford V8 club that had a lot of parts, he looked at mine did some tinkering and ok,d it. I'm sure E F V8 club can help you . What year are you installing it in? They make one model that was special for 40 Fords, has a stainless stip down the middle that looks like a 40 hood latch nose piece, I have been fortunate over the years to collect 3 of them. Last one off of e bay. Good Luck Davey

 

Davey, I'm putting it in my '39 Ford P/U. I don't have any of the other pieces. I know what the tube that come out of the carb looks like because I threw one away that on a "94" I rebuilt awhile back . Come to think of it there is a piece on the front of it that like a '40 Ford nose strip.
I'll look for the piece at the Pate swap meet thats comin' up.

 

In my 39 pickup, I used a 3 speed fan motor outa something and used plumbers tape to strap it to a heater core outa whatever I had. It throws out a lotta heat......now if I had a rubber seal around the windshield and plugged alla them holes in the firewall, some of that heat might do me some good. I can feel it at redlights

 

You don't need no stinking heater in texas. Put on a long sleeve shirt.

 

This is Texas, I don't own a long sleeve shirt.

 

[ QUOTE ]
In my 39 pickup, I used a 3 speed fan motor outa something and used plumbers tape to strap it to a heater core outa whatever I had. It throws out a lotta heat......now if I had a rubber seal around the windshield and plugged alla them holes in the firewall, some of that heat might do me some good. I can feel it at redlights

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that is southern engineering !!!!

 

Here is a link to my Southwing heater manual
Link to Southwind Heater Manual

You can find parts on Egay, and there is ads in Hemmings.
I would say properly installed they will work well.

 

THANK YOU MR 42 !! !! !!

 

This guy fixes 'em with NOS parts!
http://www.bramclassauto.com/SouthWind.php

~Jason

 

Try skinnedknuckles.com
a magazine for old car guys
they have an advertiser that services these heaters

SOUTHWIND HEATERS ZERO TO 60 degrees in 60 seconds
WHEN YOU SMELL THE FLOORMAT BURNING
IT IS TIME TO TURN IT DOWN

 

Are these things REALLY that hot?

What are the drawbacks to having one? Well, besides burning to death...

~Jason

 

They were apparently very popular back in the day because they got the interior toasty warm very quickly, long before a hot water heat could heat up. I'm still a little leary.

 

Anybody got any horror stories?

~Jason

 

I've got a really nice one with the plate that goes under the carb, but there's no frickin' way I'd hook this thing up in my car! I'm thinking of hiding a modern stereo in it.

 

I have one and use it frequently.Follow the directions and you will have years of great service.Never does raw fuel enter the inside of the vehicle like a "fire hose"
With the two fixed orifices in the vacuum line,vapor is all that reaches the unit.
Its like drinking a soda with a straw when it has a hole in the side.

 

First, get a fire extinguisher, then check your medical insurance coverage, then......................................................

 

An earlier post mentioned possibly fitting a 'heater core' inside your southwind.

Obviously size is the issue here (new problem I'm sure!) have a look at SUV's etc, a lot of them use a very small heater core mounted under the centre console which would normally send warm air to the rear passengers.
I used one out of a mid '90s Toyota Surf (4runner?) in my wifes '55 Ranchwagon - its compact enough to fit behind the glove compartment !
If you were to pull the core out of it I'm picking it would go dam close to fitting inside your southwind housing.

 

If any one needs new,used , carb adapters,parts or instlation info
Get with me
Jim 6786876866 [email protected]
MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

I have a NOS in OEM box as a conversation piece as well as I already have hidden AC. Also have some NOS defroster with spare parts, instructions and installation and service booklets somewhere. As stated they drew vapor from the carburetor into a combustion chamber in the heater where it was ignited creating almost instantaneous heat.

 

Apparently they were also used in a lot of small airplanes. I'm still a little leery.

 

I think every school bus I rode in the 1950's and early 1960's had one. I have never seen or heard of problems. When Bill Cannon did the huge article in "Skinned Knuckles" magazine about Southwind, I asked my Dad about them, and he had never heard or seen one with problems.

However, when then were installed, there were professional installers that were trained in their installation/operation. DIY'ers might not dot all the "i's" and cross all the "t's".

I would be more concerned with the volatility of modern gasoline than I would be the design of the Southwind heater.

Jon.