Anyone have any experience with aftermarket rear window defoggers? I found this kit, and am thinking about ordering one. I know, it's not period and would distract from the look, but short of finding an original Chrysler rear window blower unit and completely re-plumbing my car, this is the best option I can think of.
Not sure what kind of car you are trying to retrofit, but late 60's GM's used a drop in blower unit which recirculated cabin air and blew it up against the window. Worked pretty good at the time. I THINK they fit in one of the speaker cut0outs.
What I have used in my wagon is a 12V heatblower, the kind that you can buy cheap with a suckion cup, and just ran the 12v descreatly. That way I didnt have them lines across my back glass and could hide it when show time hits.
I had the same thought, the Chev ones looked almost like a speaker grille and took care of steamed up windows OK, but they won't melt ice off like the new ones.
my first new car was a '73 plymouth sebring. it had a blower mounted under the package tray similar to what algoma mentioned. i don't recall that it put out hot air, just recirculated cabin air, but it worked pretty well after the car warmed up. maybe a trip to your local bone yard that keeps older cars in stock could net you one of these. gm and mopar are mentioned herein and ford probably had something similar in the days before the "wires in the glass" defrosters.
i had a 68 New yorker with a factory rear seat heater, it had two heater hoses that split via a "Y" adapter under the hood, ran along the pass side frame and up into the trunk. A seperate control on the dash . The heater core w blower fan unit was on the floor pan on the hump over the rear axle under the rear parcel / package tray. it had two vents under the rear seat at floor level and one to the rear glass that directed the air. Even though NY's came stock w/ 440's, this one had its OG 440 pulled, I had a good 383 so in it went. 10-15 minutes of warm up ona cold Manitoba day and the front and rear glass, started out covered in ice and snow, was dry and warm to the touch. I'm sure you could rig something up like that witha smaller in car heater box from a smaller car or a universal deal....
I'd have to dig deep in the garage, but I think I have a NOS 66/67 chevy defroster. If interested, pm me.
GM had the package tray blowers well into the 80's. I had an OT Malibu that I installed one in. The blower came from some similar Pontiac. The one I had recirculated cabin air and worked pretty good.
i did installations on the ones that you stick the grids to the glass back in the day...........junk with a capital J. If you dont follow the instructions to the letter on grid layout they can get the glass real hot........and pop
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