V8 and liquid cooled guys..., Want to install a heater??? Here's mine Options

[Mike Bellis]

It gets cold here in Northern California often in the moorning. So I decided to build a liquid heater. First, I spent some time measuring the inside of the fresh air box. I figured I could fit a core 11x6 maximum. my son and I spent several hours at the local Pick and Pull junk yard. I settled on a Transmission cooler from a late model Ford Truck. Cooler measures 10x6.



I quick placement and I realize I need to cut! The water dam for the fan must be cut down. Make sure not to cut all of it so that it will still keep some water off the motor.



The finish cut to the dam. Ready for the lid? Not yet.

[ruby914]

I missed this discussion last year when I was looking for a good heating solution.
Biggest thing I would like is defrost.
I came up with a pick your part heater core from, I think, a Kia.
I remember it fit well in the fresh air box and took a photo before aborting the idea and made a heat exchange box for the core in the engine compartment.
I used one 914 blower that pushed the hot air through the longs. The coolant lines came directly from the Subaru ports.
The heater lever opened a coolant valve from a Honda at the same time it opened the flapper boxes.

I was not happy with this setup. My windshield is not fully defrosted by the time I get home from work. Sure it is only 2 miles but the type IV did the job fine.
For 1 I don't feel a single 914 blower has the capacity I need.
I am not sure now but isn't some of the type IV cooling fan air directed to the 914 heat exchangers? If so I am missing a big fan.
I also feel the 914 heat exchange system would generate a lot of hot air faster than heating coolant first. On top of all this I am pushing the hot air a long way through cool long tubes.

I am thinking about going back to the fresh air box idea but I was not sure how to get good hot coolant flow to the core.
I now think a smaller fitting to the hot radiator line, larger to the cool line would create a vacuum? Or better if I could send the larger core line back to the hot to be cooled more by the radiator?
Mark and Bruce may be able to answer some of my questions on this method. Is there any function lost by putting the core in the fresh air box? I think of the fresh air fan mostly for the dash vents, not so much for the defrost vents, do the vents de vert for defrosting well? I was also worried about having the fan motor down stream of the heat exchange.

JRust has the same as I, I wonder if he is getting fast hot air with his system.
I'm thinking if I did that off by Turbo down tube I would get some hot air fast.
Again I find it easier to suck the hot air through the 914 blower and don't think it would hold up to the heat. So I am tossed between the fresh air box or Turbo down tube...