Replacement electrical heat available? Options

[roundboy914]

Well, here is is, November, and I just got my car and new engine back from the shop. Now for my problem. Even though it is Chicago, the snow does not usually start flying for another month or so, and I would like to have my 914 out and about. The Triad headers obviously do not allow for any heat. I was wondering if anyone has tried/heard of/seen an electrical passanger heat system that can help. I am not looking for desert type heat or anything, just something to take the edge off.

[ss6]

I haven't heard of any electrically warmed seats available for a 914, but a friend of mine is a motorcycle fanatic, and tells me there are heated socks, pants, vests, etc available that plug into the motorcycle's electrical system.

Might be worth looking into, especially if you are doing late season DE's (our region requires the windows to be down at all times.

[Mark Henry]

Electric heaters are too big of a draw and will kill your alt.

It's all been tried before by the bug guys, nothing works, at least not for long.

[SirAndy]

go to your local VW shop and get a Bus-Heater.
they burn gas, but man, they heat! comes with a timer and thermostat control.

i had one in my VW bug in germany, and it was the single best winter upgrade
i ever made. i had to leave at around 7am every morning (car was parked outside)
and i would set the timer to 6:30 and when i got to the car it was a schnuggely 80 deg
and all the windows were defrosted. while driving, just turn it down. (unless you want
that sauna feeling) ...

if you feel comfortable routing some fuel-lines yourself,
installation is fairly easy too.
Andy

[BarberDave]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)
A friend of mine found a electric heater at a swap. I think he said from a VW . He has it in his 911, claims it works great. Me I just got my heater working , what a joy to ride along and when it gets nippy ,reach down pull the lever and wala HEAT. This is after 3 yrs of freezing. One of the little joy's of life. Dave (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_flagge6.gif)

[SirAndy]

Me I just got my heater working , what a joy to ride along and when it gets nippy ,reach down pull the lever and wala HEAT. This is after 3 yrs of freezing.   One of the little joy's of life.

the stock heater actually works pretty well, IF all the parts are in good working order.
SS heat exchangers help a lot.

but he got headers, if i'm not mistaken.

the gasoline bus-heaters work great!
Andy

[ss6]

Andy, can you still get those gas heaters? Any idea where to shoehorn one into a teener?

[BarberDave]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)
In the late 50's early 60's if you didn't have a gas heater in your bug up here you froze your ass of. But if you had a gas heater you could drive almost all winter with the windows down. Dave (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

ss6 they stilll have to be available??????????

[SirAndy]

well, it's been more than 10 years since i last used one, but i bought it brand new back then.
in germany, they're called VW-Bus-Heaters. they were mostly used to heat up the space in a bus, cause with the normal heater system, you would never get that thing warmed up.
i bought it straight from a VW-shop back then.
i'm sure they still sell them.

now, location in a teener is a different story.
they're boxy, probably 30cm x 15cm x 10cm with a big round warm air outlet and slots to suck in air.
they get pretty hot (well, they burn GAS after all). in the bug, i had mine under the back-seat and the air would come out near the floor, between the seats. the control was mounted in the dashboard.

maybe in the front trunk? and run a high-temp hose to the inside?
maybe even into the stock heater system?
passenger foot area? use it as a "dog-bone" foot rest during the summer and have it as a heater in the winter??? i think that would be most efficient right there ...

Andy

[redshift]

you guys are scaring the crap out of me

gas heater?


m

[Brad Roberts]

Charles from LN engineering had a gas heater in his Type3 when he attend the Indy fun run.

It works fine and is safe.


B

[krk]

I used a gas heater in my bug for amost 10years in Canada. 5 winters in Saskatchewan! They work great, and iirc were quite eash on gas as well. (for some reason, 1/3 gal per hour stick in my brain, but it was quite a while ago.....)

kim.

[Mark Henry]

I've live in Canada, I only drive air-cooled VW's (and the teen) and I will never use a gas heater.

I'm not saying that they can't be made safe with proper maintenance but they’re not for me.

I've personally seen about a dozen bugs that have gone up in flame, including one first hand, because I was in it. My dad's 67 went up in smoke in the Oshawa Sears parking lot on new years eve in the early seventies.

A new gas heater is available from Espar but be prepared to shell out $1000+. Also if you mount it in the trunk you will have to cut a 4-inch hole into the cab. Plus a couple inch hole in the fender for an exhaust.

You could keep a stock engine with exchangers and swap it out when it gets cold or wear extra sweaters.

One thing I've always wondered is would it really be that hard to clamshell a header? Most guys have a mig welder and it doesn't have to be pretty. If I go headers this is what I will most likely do.

Below is one system for small aircraft, it's hinged to allow for inspection of the exhaust pipe.

[tracks914]

Here is the one (gasoline heater) I just took out of my car. It's made by dpi and I was told they were a dealer option. It looks the same as the AC units and looked pretty good in the car. I'm not sure what to do with it.

[tracks914]

Here's another.

[tracks914]

and another.

[nealnorlack]

Hi,
I don't know if they would work or not but you can find electrical heaters from RV supply places. Maybe they would work with an upgraded alternator? I might try a small one but I am in So. California and won't need a whole lotta heat. Some of them plug into the cigarette lighter.
Cheers, Elliot

[Jeffs9146]

I had a gas heater in my VW Thing and it worked like a champ!!

Jeff

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

A well maintained gas heater is perfectly safe and pumps out a BUNCH of BTUs to keep you warm. I know several T3 owners that have them and after a few minutes with the heater on they are rolling down their windows to cool down.

All the BN2 and BN3 units, as well as SouthWinds, I've seen mount in the front trunk and dump into the driver's side foot well...well, below and behind the dash. Also, you have to cut a hole for the exhaust pipe. These are normally plumbed out to the fender well.

The VW Type 4 (411/412) gas heaters were nicer in the fact that they were located above the transmission and thus did not take up trunk space. Also, they were plumbed in the stock heater system -- very nice! I would think putting in a Type 4 gas heater would be a MUCH easier and, personally, a better install for a 914. It would be easier to plumb into the stock system, whether it be with or without heat exchangers and it could be mounted in the rear of the car, under the trunk area, thus not consuming any trunk space that the BN's would normally consume (they cannot be mounted outside the car).

[reverie]

roundboy914,

I don't know about electric heaters, but here is the website for the only good guy in the U.S.
who sells and repairs VW auxiliary gas heaters. He gets consistently good reviews:
http://hometown.aol.com/arkmirvis/heaterman.html

Be advised, there is a guy in Colorado who has a very bad reputation.

I suggest a new or refurbished heater with everything, plus a 3- or 4-position dashboard
switch to have an "off" position and 2 or 3 fan settings. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)