Gonna drive every day

[Gino]

Hi, I live in the north east. Is there a good or preferred way to have heat in the cab of my pickup? I'm thinking about a 12 volt battery in a box in the bed and a ceramic heater? Appreciate the help Gino

[BrianM]

I'd suggest you find an Otwell Health Heater, which replaces the exhaust manifold. I'm very pleased with mine, especially since I live up near Lake Superior!

[CarlG]

I put a hot water heater in mine. Wife loves it!

[QGolden]

If it will fit in the cab, a Southwind Heater will do the job. But I don't know if it will fit.

[mass A man]

Get an old Autolite manifold heater and do the install. You may already have "the hole" cut thru your firewall. Many do.

[Tom Wesenberg]

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I don't like to cut extra holes in the metal, so I would run a water heater through the wood floor boards.

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

I don't like to cut extra holes in the metal, so I would run a water heater through the wood floor boards.

That's what I did.

[mccsix]

I have used a small coleman catalytic heater and it will definitely keep you warm and with the volume of air leaks in the A, no O2 concerns.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by mccsix

I have used a small coleman catalytic heater and it will definitely keep you warm and with the volume of air leaks in the A, no O2 concerns.

Interesting!
Any pictures of it, and is it safe to use inside a small shop about 10' x 20'?

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Gino

Hi, I live in the north east. Is there a good or preferred way to have heat in the cab of my pickup? I'm thinking about a 12 volt battery in a box in the bed and a ceramic heater? Appreciate the help Gino

Resistance heat from a 12 volt battery will drain the battery very quickly, so it isn't really practical.

[PeteCruz2715]

Do you happen to have a photo of that "hole". I have a hole in the firewall of my '28 roadster and have always wondered what it was for. I looks factory and has always baffled me.

[Charlie Stephens]

Using electricity to generate heat always requires a lot of current. I would go with the hot water heater.

Charlie Stephens

[mass A man]

PeteCruz, I don't have a photo yet of my manifold heater door hole, but it is a very LARGE one in the firewall, just above and in-line with your exhaust manifold. About 2-1/4" diam. Up here in the Northeast, I can count on one hand, how many A's I've seen that DON'T have that heater door hole. That's restored ones, "woods finds" and everything car in between. I like the idea of a water heater, but the "A" has such limited room up front for the heater core and a real pain to remove the floorboards sometimes if all the floor screws are in place.

[Rusty Homestead Fl]

Here's one off Google

[SeaSlugs]

yea hole is about the size of 2 1/4 exhaust tubing could slide thru it...

[SeaSlugs]

see the baseball sized hole in the lower firewall section?

(yes its whats left of my cab....)

[Gino]

Ok, I like the idea of a hot water heater. If anyone can give me some info on the brand of heater and how to do it I'd be grateful, thanks Gino

[Logan]

My vote is water heater. If you choose the exhaust manifold heater you'll smell like the engine compartment. Hot water heaters aren't hard to install. Just a little piping and mounting the box inside.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Gino

Ok, I like the idea of a hot water heater. If anyone can give me some info on the brand of heater and how to do it I'd be grateful, thanks Gino

If I install a heater it will be a water heater. I will go to the junk yard and find one to use, then make my own sheetmetal box for it. I will duct the heat to a floor grate. This way I won't loose any interior space.

I've also been thinking about just wrapping the muffler and using that heat through a floor grate. That would be even easier as I won't have to run hoses and change the water fittings.

[QGolden]

Do you have 12v or 6? If you have 12 there are a number of heater for closed cab farm tractors etc. Here are a couple of options.



http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...d=350655925187

[QGolden]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...d=230712981905

Ths one looks like it would fit.

[kingbee]

I played around with this problem for a while. I tried a manifold heater, but just couldn't get enough air to flow through it to warm the car. I then looked at restored water heaters, and mocked up a cardboard box of the heater sizes posted in ads, but there just wasn't a decent place to put it in an A.

Then I purchased unit made by Vintage Air that I thought I could mount high up on the inside of the firewall, but that didn't work because the A/C evaporator was in the way.

I ended up mounting it under the seat, air blowing forward. I had to cut an opening in the seat riser for a heat outlet, but it isn't seen. Once I got water flow issues worked out, and a thermostat on the engine, the heat output is tremendous. Exactly perfect for my needs.



I also knew that using inside air in really cold weather would fog up the windows from the occupants breath, no matter how warm it is inside. SO, I left the manifold heater in place to bring in just enough dry outside air to eliminate that problem.

I noticed that there were cold drafts all over (Town Sedan) I fully weatherstripped the 4 doors, sealed real good around the pedals & steering column and the lower cowl areas that are open to the engine compartment. WOW, snug as a bug in a rug!

[kingbee]

One other note, it's a 12 volt unit. Knowing what I know now, I would convert to 12v in order to have this.
Adequate heat makes driving an A in cold weather an entirely different experience.....

[QGolden]

Originally Posted by kingbee

One other note, it's a 12 volt unit. Knowing what I know now, I would convert to 12v in order to have this.
Adequate heat makes driving an A in cold weather an entirely different experience.....

So technically you could say that you have heated seats!

[Don Cape Cod]

I have a new H/W heater, the 7" X 7" and the water pipe with pickup to force HW to the heater. Having a fit trying to figure best way to mount & plumb this guy given gas valve and choke rod. Help??

[burner31]

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I have found that a few of these can keep you warm, some can be quite expensive though...and loud too, but hey, at least you're warm.

[jhowes]

Rusty Homestead, That's a nice heater for Fla. My question is how to hook the heater output to the feedthrough in the firewall. The ones that I have seen just leave the space between the manifold heater and the firewall. Some heat must be lost between the two which is some cases looks like a gap of 3/8" or so . Jack

[Railcarmover]

If your handy and concerned about size try a power steering cooler.use a flapper and a duct to operate it with forced air or rig a computer cooling fan..

[old31]

Originally Posted by burner31

I have found that a few of these can keep you warm, some can be quite expensive though...and loud too, but hey, at least you're warm.

x2

[Badpuppy]

Originally Posted by burner31

I have found that a few of these can keep you warm, some can be quite expensive though...and loud too, but hey, at least you're warm.

Yeah, there's no way to fix the constant rattle, and they drain your wallet fast.

[nick c]

I like railcar's oil cooler idea, I would come off the engine water outlet with 3/8" steel brake line and go just above manifold then under cab, fasten 3/8" ball valve under floor board with the handle inside the floor board then a steel return line to water inlet side of engine, unit will set under seat.

[Marvin/TN]

Not sure but if I kept a couple of those around my wife just might generate a lot of heat, plus she would have my guts for garters