Been fiddling with this old aftermarket RedHead heater for a while. It had a big cast blower housing that did defrost too with a dual-sided 6V motor. The problem is, most of these heaters stick out from the firewall too much for me - I don't need a lot of airflow, really, just enough to take the chill off. So I set about fiddling with it. I don't have any pics of the heater in its original state, but the core was leaking a little and the local radiator shop said it had to be custom made (couldn't repair) and it would be $155, so that was out. A hunt was on for a suitale core. One of the eBay sellers who does a lot of heater cores has dimensions, so armed with a ruler and my trusty eBay account, I ordered one up. First one that arrived, it became obvious to me their dimensions didn't include the tanks! Doh! So another one was ordered - I think it was a Ford Fiesta or Tempo. The outlets came straight out the end and while I could've cut holes in the housing, I moved the outlets to come out the back of the heater: Then, I derusted & freed up the internal louvers and painted the housing with a textured finish (I wanted wrinkle, but couldn't find any - this will do just fine): I had to gently persuade the edges and corners of the core to go into the housing with light taps & pressure checks, but I got it. I filled the gaps around the edges with rigid foam (and I like the pink color ;D ). Then I made up some brackets to mount a backing plate to and the mounting studs - simple 3/4" square tubing scraps I had lying about and here's where we are: I got a small 4" pancake fan. It's a Spal and moves a decent amount of air for its size. I trimmed it a little bit where I needed to - I could've used the next size - 5.2" - but this was $10 cheaper. ;D Next, I made a plate out of some scrap aluminum I had - wallowed out some holes and made it all fit: Here's what it looks like: I'm going to use electrical tape to cover the gap between the flat backing plate and the housing. This thing is small & compact - approx 8" wide x 7" tall x 6" deep. I'll likely trim the studs and use coupling nuts on the inside and bolts on the outside to get some spacing away from the inside of the firewall for air to get in. The same principles apply to almost any aftermarket firewall heater, so start looking around.
Thanks, I'm at that stage for my GMC I was going to convert to 12 volt or use a volt a drop. I like yours better
Nice work! We hold radiators into dirt track cars with spray foam insulation instead of rigid mounts that destroy em in wrecks. It works amazingly well in that application, and might be another option for something like this.
I actually thought about trying that - lining the housing with plastic & spraying it in, but this is easier to work with for me. Great idea though...especially if brackets would be cumbersome to make.
Knob moves the louvers - from closed to wide open. No, those are "holes" I cut out of the old heater tank & soldered on.
Found 'em on eBay...I'll see if I can dig up the seller. EDIT: Here's a listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190291773616 Also has 5.2" fans
Nice tech article. I'll have to see if I can do the same. Where I live, I need defrost more than heat. Here's a few I've had. I kept the 2nd from the right. I'll see if your tech will work for this one. I'm like you, I don't like the large distance standoff of the heater from the firewall.
Great tech. I've been thinking about doing something like this for my roadster. Any pics of it installed in the car yet?
Don't you mean "very warm"? For a even cheaper solution I've done the very same thing, but used a 12 volt computer fan. It works great and is super easy to do.
Nice ! I did exactly the same thing with my Firestone heater, but decided I had to flake mine haha. Stay nice and warm now ya hear? Rat
Very nice work! Did a similar job with this Sears Allstate model replacing motor with a 12 V, this model has defrosting.
I have several pages of NAPA PN's for heater motors that I can't seem to get converted and post. Measurements for hundreds of motors. I emailed em to 8flat, maybe he can get them posted?
Hey! I like this! Been thinking about doing this with one of my South Winds! Two thumbs up! Now, the other part is going through the firewall. For those of you running something like this, what are you doing to pass thru the fire wall without using some crazy billet hunk of crap?
I looked into those - most of them don't seem to have enough airflow - especially when blowing through a core, but if you found some that worked for you - great! They are cheap. Send 'em to me (PM me & I'll get my email to you) - I can't promise a timeline, but I will get 'em posted somehow. I had half-heartedly looked for a 12V equivalent, but really wanted the space...
Having finally used it in anger, I can report that my heater works very well. I wired it through a variable switch I found on eBay for a few bucks. I can't keep it on - even on low - for very long in the cab of the truck - and it blows warm enough air fairly quickly too.
As far as the standoff from the firewall, couldn't I make a little metal box, have the fan on the visible side and have the core standoff from the firewall side about a half inch with openings around the firewall side edges? I got hold of a rectangular core from a'84 Toyota pickup off Craigslist. Guy bought it new and never used it, sold it to me cheap. I was even wondering about using the little 12v fan that I plug into the cig lighter to fan us on hot days. Move enough air, ya think? Given the shape I was hoping to find a side by side tandem fan setup like you might see for computers.
On an early Ford application, you could solder 90 degree elbows to cut down pipes and make the water hookups straight down...bracket them carefully to heater plate to avoid stress on the soldered joints. That way pipes would exit through the front edge of the wooden toe board, keeping a lot of junk off of the firewall and also dropping the heater hoses way down to keep them inconspicuous in the engine compartment. Might require a bleeder fitting at top to burp air out on first fillup.
Go to NAPA online. You will find hundreds of core sizes and configurations to meet you needs. Build the heater that you want.
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