Hot Rods South Wind heaters

Just bought another old Ford. This one came with a South Wind heater. It looks OEM. How do this work ? Are they safe to use ?

 

You need the line kit that siphons fuel (gasoline) from the engine and burns it in the heater itself. Apparently they are safe when set up correctly as they were used in some Corvairs as well as small aircraft! Doesn't sound too safe to me, but it seems they were used extensively over the years and people say that they would heat up the interior far quicker than waiting for a hot water heater to do so. Seems I remember someone in Canada that repairs them and may have those line kits.

 

You can find the heaters for a reasonable price at swap meets and flea markets, but they almost never have the siphon line kit to make them functional. This one I picked up at Carlisle one year for $10, brought it home , cleaned it up and painted it with Silver Hammertone. It didn't have the line kit and truth be told, I would be a bit reluctant to ever try to use one. This one is just a conversation piece. I did hook the blower motor up to power and it worked great.

 

Mine is still hooked up, just want to know how to start is and or adjust it.

 

Canadian fellow in the text; not sure how recent though.

 

I have a South Wind in my 32 3-window coupe that the PO and builder converted to electric. Have not used it but he says it does work.

 

A friend of mine had a gas heater in his V W Beetle. When he used it, it got the same gas mileage as an Olds 98

 

Back in the '50's my uncle had a '37 Chevy coupe with one of these. Must have worked OK.

 

I have the gasoline heater option in my ‘62 Corvair. Fuel is fed from a ‘T’ in the pressure line from the fuel pump.

It also has an exhaust pipe under the pass side to eliminate dangerous gases from the cabin.

Works like a Lenox Pulse furnace.

One has heat within two city blocks after start up.

 

We had a ‘61 VW with a gas heater that I drove to college. Our mechanic fixed it. It did put a lot more heat than the normal VW heater!

 

Go online, there are several parts suppliers for the heater along with instruction manuals. My 32 came with one, never used it.
Paul in CT

 

Still would like to know how to turn it on or start it. Mine is all hooked up.

 

This might help

 

I've NOS one with floor and defrost kits however it won't be operating, only for aesthetics. I've seen parts available via E-Bay as well as operating and repair manuals. Here's a conversion using an OEM body.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/ins...y9Yw8gLYAbC0XQd_wtDELV8cwF0TKKdk0-4VgD-pupkDk

 

Thanks AngleDrive. That was great. Leaves no questions. Thanks again Terry

 

Very informative video, thanks! I have the the heater but not the tubing from the carb. Perhaps one day I'll find the missing parts and have a go at getting it to work...