So I am building my 34 ford truck, still a long ways from this part of the build but I like to build things in my head 1,432 times before I actually cut parts and fabricate. I have always hated heater hoses (in this case SBC). There is just no good way to run them and make them look clean, especially in this type vehicle with a somewhat open engine bay. So I had a thought, what about using a transmission cooler for a heater core. Lines would run right from trans to dash (not very long and could be hidden). I would run a 2nd cooler external to make sure trans stayed cool. I am really only needing something to defrost the window and take the chill off. Granted I won't be driving it in the middle of winter with 10ft of snow on the ground, but I do plan to drive it whenever i feel like it, raining, cold or not so running no heater/defrost isn't the best idea. My only downside I can see is a bit longer to warm up, and maybe not AS much heat output. But the cab is small anyways, and with some insulation I don't see this being a major issue. Am I missing something, anybody ever done this?
Sounds like a good idea to me. Should be no problem to stuff a small tranny cooler in one of those art deco looking heater boxes, then throw a pc fan on it.
The problems I see are you need to be able to shut flow off when it's 200 degrees outside,also in cool weather the trans may not operate at more than 100 degrees anyway.Will that be enough to do you any good. How about a 12 volt electric coil in the the defroster ducts?
Thought of the hot day situation. Its no different than a heater core, most heater cores still have not water traveling through them even with AC going. (ford did have shutoff valves in some cars). I was thinking of some slots in the dash, simple duct and fan to blow across window. nothing fancy, i really want it to look like it didn't exist at all. Thought of the cold also, and might do some testing being a light truck, the trans may be fine without a 2nd cooler outside, which would help some with heat in winter. Thinking about my 63 nova PG, it never had any cooler from the factory.
If your running a secondary cooler, couldn't you just put an inline valve to stop the flow into the interior core? I like the idea, look for an old Stewart Warner Southwind heater for the cover, they look cool (I mean HOT).
You could get the defroster from a Loweys coupe ('53 to '64 Stude) they use 3/8 hoses and have a built in fan and ducting. Small and efficient, the coupe had a seperate heater under the pass seat. Drop your hoses down low along the chassis or along your oil pan rail past the firewall and up through the floor board inside the cab. They are not hard to find used or you can buy them new from a Stude restorers catalog. Saves a whole lot of unessary fabrication.
I had a VW bug (baja) at one time. Tried the plug in 12v heater. We still had to carry an ice scrapper for the INSIDE, forget anything about being warm. I do plan for this truck to be driven, so I want some heat and I don't want to see my breathe. I really thing it could work, fabing duct work, etc is easy for me and what I enjoy.
I agree. You cant run the tranny cooler inline with another cooler, because you would need to shut it off at some point durring warm months, and if you T off of your line, you wont get the flow you will need to warm up anything.
Another idea is a normal heater with somewhat hidden hoses. I've drilled/tapped the intake manifold on a SBC in the back along side the distributor area where the water jacket in the head dead ends to that area of the bottom of the intake manifold (that short hose would go straight back through the firewall, virtually un-noticed), and maybe another coming from a nipple soldered low on the radiator tank, and that hose run along the frame rail
agreed with it's bad idea (unless you get complicated) you need to keep the trans cooler cooling even more in the summer, so you'd need a way of keeping the fan on but directing the air OUT of the cab when it's warm out. so i guess you could retool the airbox and have doors blowing trans heat OUT.
I think you need to check the tranny's pump for output pressure, eh? I do not know for a certainty, but I've heard that they work at very high pressures. I'd hate to have hot tranny fluid inside the car ifn some fitting or hose popped loose. Can anyone confirm this, or state otherwise? Gary
Do not think that is the case.............trans cooler lines have been connected, stock, with neoprene hoses and hose clamps.......I think the cooler is more like the by-pass oil filters vs full flow filters in that it does not get full pump pressure output through the cooler lines. using steel line and pressure style flex hoses to accommodate movement should yield a safe and leak free system. Ray
Don't use a Tee -- use a valve that you can switch flow to the outside cooler in hot weather and to the inside cooler (heater) in cold weather. Put the valve in the trans output line then to each cooler (like a SPDT switch) then tee the outputs of the coolers back into the trans. edited to add: if you can't find that kind of valve, use two on/off valves, one in each cooler input line, just be sure one (not both) is always open. (But I would prefer nicely routed hidden hot water lines......)
Had a further thought aout this, 're lack of sufficient heat.......if you ran the trans cooler in the lower radiator tank and routed the cooler 'out' line through the cooler/heater core, with the switch valve, and back to the trans, you would have trans fluid at engine coolant temp for your 'heater core'........and could route return line direct to trans when interior heat isn't needed/wanted. Ray
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