I found a nice Arvin heater (6 volt 2 blade fan). It needed a better fan. An open roadster really needs a heater!
Very nice fabrication on the mounts, and it sure has the right look. Awful nice to have that heat source in a roadster
The original heater core was in good shape, I just re-routed the lines to keep them inside in order to keep the firewall clean.
About 15 years ago I turned a 1935 International pickup cab into a roadster P/U. I robbed a 53 Ford F100 of a bunch of parts including the in-cab heater. I had the core checked out and built a mount a lot like what you put together along with all of the in-cab fittings for the coolant from the engine. I never got around to fabricating a soft top for the truck but we would still head out on the cold winter days for a ride. I had installed seat heaters into the bench seat when I built it. When cranked up they felt like heaven. The trick that really worked well was to take expandable 2-1/2"plastic defroster tubing and anchor it to the defroster outlets on the heater. We would bundle up in warm coats, hats and gloves then stretch a blanket across our laps anchoring it down between the seat and the door. I'd crank up the engine, put the heater fan on high and extend the "tail" of the heater hose under the blanket. In short order the heated tent over our legs and lap would be toasty warm. There was many a day in the late fall and early winter here in the Northwest that we ventured out on a winter adventure. It was much like riding the Harley, you could experience all of the wonderful smells as you ripped along. At least two to three times we ran into snow flurries. Just don't stop and you'd be ok. I had made a cool vinyl cab cover that extended up over the windshield and back down behind the rear of the cab. This was anchored with straps and soft bound alum. tabs that you could tuck under the back of the body. If the rain came poring down we'd find a warm coffee house or restaurant, install the cab cover and wait out the worst of it while having a warm cup of coffee.
I run that same fan in my Willys Coupe! Had to solder a hole in the heat exchanger, run stop leak occasionally and a 1-ohm 10W resistor on the power lead to convert to 12V but it really cranks out the heat.
I found a similar heater in a '39 Chevy, tank was split. My buddy soldered it for me. I put a 12 volt fan in it and installed it in my '37 Chevy. On high it will run you out (2-speed switch).
Looking for similar for my phaeton. It does get cold and some heat wouldn't hurt in the comfort area. Love the look and installation
The Jalopy Journal
