| admiral1960 | -- 01-02-2010 @ 2:36 PM |
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When I bought my 35 Deluxe sedan it had an after market heater installed. I removed it and sold it as I did not think I would really ever need a heater. I now live in central Washington where it does get down in the single digits occasionally. I would l like to find another similar to it if possible. The heater was mounted with two bolts to the firewall and had two pipes going through the firewall. The pipes were about an inch or two apart if my memory is correct and it was a light green I think. It also had anywhere from one to three little doors to direct the heat. Does this sound familiar to anyone ? Allen E Michler AW1, USNR (10 yrs) LTC, TC, USAR (29 yrs)
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| Stroker | -- 01-02-2010 @ 3:05 PM |
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From your description, it sounds like you had a Stewart-Warner Southwind gasoline heater installed. If the overall shape of the heater was rounded, like viewing a pair of Ford rear fenders, then it probably was a Southwind. As I recall, Southwinds were painted in a "hammertone" blue-green finish. These heaters are "out-there", and they make instant heat.
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| ford38v8 | -- 01-02-2010 @ 3:55 PM |
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Allen, the Southwind is a gasoline fired heater, and would certainly provide adequate heat for you. It would require a gas feed tube to be connected to your carburetor. As previously stated, very available. A second option would be a Hot Air Heater, which was a genuine Ford approved accessory. It too would provide almost instant heat, as it draws from the exterior of the exhaust manifold. Good luck in finding a complete unit. A third option, much safer than the previous two, but not nearly as efficient, is a Hot water heater. Ford offered these in 1939 and later, and would work nicely on your '35 with connections leading from the top and bottom radiator hoses. Again, this was not approved until '39, but you're cold this year, not way back when! Alan
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| admiral1960 | -- 01-02-2010 @ 5:17 PM |
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Guys, Thank you for the information. I should have mentioned it was rectangular in shape and defineitely water heated not gasoline. Allen E Michler AW1, USNR (10 yrs) LTC, TC, USAR (29 yrs)
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| trjford8 | -- 01-03-2010 @ 8:39 AM |
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Allen, from your description it sounds like you had a heater from a 42-48 Ford. I see these heaters at swap meets from time to time. The problem is finding one with a good core. Sorry I can't post a picture(I'm a little technically challenged) but you might check E-bay for Ford heaters and you will probably find a match there.
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| wmsteed | -- 01-04-2010 @ 10:31 AM |
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My '36 cpe has had a '38-39 Ford hot water heater in it since before I purchased the car, which was over 57 years ago. It works great, especially when I lived in Eastern Idaho in the early '50's. I don't currently have a pic of the heater in my file, I will take one today and post it to the forum. There are some very nice after market hot water heaters that come up on eBay and/or swap meets from time to time at very reasonable prices. I would not recommend a South Wind gas heater... they were the pits when they new, as was the Ford hot air heater. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe
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| CharlieStephens | -- 01-04-2010 @ 12:05 PM |
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Allen, Place an ad in the newsletter of your local V8 club or attend any large swap meet (Hershey is good but others are OK) and you should find one. Local ads are better than national since you can see what you are buying. Charlie Stephens
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| ford38v8 | -- 01-04-2010 @ 1:11 PM |
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Bill, I don't deny what you said, but can you explain your complaints about the Southwind and the Ford Hot Air? Alan
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| Stroker | -- 01-04-2010 @ 2:42 PM |
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All: The 35 heater dilemma is shared by all of us who own 32-38 Fords. That's a LOT of members, and I don't see an easy fix. Case in point: My 38 had a Stewart-Warner South Wind from about 1947, until I removed it in the mid 60's. It made great heat, but as installed, the igniter knob interfered with the shift lever, requiring a manual re-ignition after shifting into 3rd. I know that the only factory approved option was the exhaust heat exchanger style, but safe examples of these are not being reproduced, and probably never will be due to potential tort liability issues. General Aviation has had good luck with these, as they are universal on piston-powered light aircraft. Only difference is they get inspected every 100 hours, and they are fabricated from hi-temp stainless steel. I agree that the safest alternative is to switch to hot water, and Lord knows, flatheads make plenty of hot water. This isn't rocket science, are there any Bob Drake's or Dennis Carpenter's out there that would consider building a decent stainless heat-exchanger heater, even if it has to come from China?
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| trjford8 | -- 01-04-2010 @ 7:39 PM |
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Stroker, I think it could be done, but the limited market would make them VERY expensive. There's also the liabilty aspect if one happened to leak carbon moxide into the car. Since there's laws on the books regulating everything up to and including trans fat in your food, there's probably a law prohibiting these heaters.
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| supereal | -- 01-05-2010 @ 7:58 AM |
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C&G (800/266-0470) sells a very nice smaller "universal" heater, both 6 and 12 volt, as B-18450. It is 7" wide, 7 1/4" deep, and6 3/4" tall, so it fits about all cars. If you look at their online catalog at www.cgfordparts.com you can see a photo. Most original type hot water heaters fall far short of the "climate control" in today's vehicles, in any case, which is one reason why most of us put our cars away for the season here in the frozen part of the country.
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| trjford8 | -- 01-05-2010 @ 8:09 AM |
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Bob, I forgot about the heater from C and G. A friend used one and placed a 42-48 heater cover box over it and it looks like original Ford.
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| wmsteed | -- 01-05-2010 @ 9:49 AM |
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Personally, I always felt the Southwind gas heaters were accidents waiting for a place to happen. The same thing is true of the hot air heaters which relied on a heat exchanger within the exhaust system. These systems worked well when they were new, however within a short period of time, a lack of proper servicing rendered them useless. The VW Bug used a manifold hot air heater during it's whole life.... As a general rule, they were very good at supplying cold air to the passenger compartmnet. I have found that the two door '39 Ford, in lieu of the three door '41-48, style of heater works very well in the '30 model cars. The '39 is smaller, therefore it fits the smaller car better. There are several small hot water heaters that are available.... The street rodders like the heaters from the older mini trucks, Toyota, etc., the only problem is they are 12v. In looking through my photo file I found I did have a pic of the '39 heater in my '36.... It can be seen in the lower right corner of the pic. To head off any adverse comments about my '36... As I have said previously, the car was modified/built 57 years ago....the upholstery you see is the original from 1936...The chrome dash, left hand column shift, etc., were added shortly after I purchased the car. The "bud vase" came out of a '50 Opel I had when I was in Germany in '57-58 Bill 36 5 win delx cpe
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| ford38v8 | -- 01-05-2010 @ 9:01 PM |
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Bill, who could fault a guy with a left hand column shift? Way cool! I'll bet you found the same problem with your chrome dash as I had with my white '39 DeLuxe dash... Where's my shades? Alan
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 01-07-2010 @ 1:23 PM |
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I had a FORD hot air heater, was a new one, in the instructions, it said to remove in the hot weather, so I resold the heater, I would rather install a hot water heater, a lot for sale at the antique car flea markets, there is a few people selling nos parts for the STEWART WARNER gas heater, if used right and inspected, just like you have in you home, they worked great, just do not have any leaks, the line that ran from the carb was about 1/8 inch in diameter, not much gas going though it, a friend of mine has a old 1941 CHEVY and it would be real warm in the sedan,and he never had any problems, the heater did not have to run all the time, I have 2 NOS STEWART WARNER heaters,in the original boxs also,,,I worked for VW, believe it or not if everything was up to snuff, they did put out heat,not the like a hot water car,but did work, the later bugs in the 1970's worked the best, but when you bought one you knew what you were getting into, just my 2 cents, 37RAGTOPMAN
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| wmsteed | -- 01-08-2010 @ 10:39 AM |
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The thing I always found to be scary about the Southwind heaters was that they used internal air from the passenger compartment for combustion and relied on the poor fit of the early bodies for exhaust. Gas fired personnel heaters in buses, etc., and propane fired space heaters in RV'S have sealed combustion chambers, which the Southwind's did not have. The few friends I had in Idaho when I was a kid, that had Southwind's in their cars, when you added the smoke from our cigarettes with the gas fumes from the heater, it's a wonder any of us made it to adulthood. In response to some inquiries about the '39 Ford hot water heaters, I am posting a picture of the heater in my '36 cpe. The heater is 8-1/4" wide x 10' high, extends 6-1/2" from the fire wall. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 01-10-2010 @ 4:23 PM |
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hi What,,,I remember the EXHAUST had a exit though a pipe, that went back into the INTAKE MANIFOLD,and never exhausted to the pass compartment putting carbon monoxide in it,I think that would be deadly., this pipe was on the engine compartment side of the firewall,the heater was mounted to the firewall I might be wrong but I think you are incorrect on this, the heater took inside air and heated it,and cycled it though the car,or truck, these heaters were installed in hunderds of thousands of cars of many makes for many,many years, and were a instant heater, just my 2 cents worth,37RAGTOPMAN
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| wmsteed | -- 01-11-2010 @ 8:58 AM |
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I stand corrected on the exhaust side of a South Wind. I Yahoo'd the subject and found that the South Wind car/truck heaters did in fact have a sealed combustion chamber. The exhaust gases were extracted from the chamber via a vacuum tube into the intake manifold. Ignition for the heater was via a glow plug. I can clearly recall the fuel supply simply being a small hole drilled into the top of the float bowel of the carb, the small fuel pipe to the SW was then just stuck into the hole. The whole system relied on engine vacuum for fuel delivery and extraction of the burnt fuel gases. This could explain why they did not work well in the older cars. A couple of years ago I was visiting with a friend of mine in Idaho... he is a nut for anything old, cars, etc. He showed me a new South Wind heater, still in the original box. He had found the heater in an old house down the road from his place, which was being torn down for road improvements. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 01-11-2010 @ 12:53 PM |
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HI wmsteed I think in the heaters and why they had problems, lies in the small fuel line, this must have clogged up over the summers from lack of use, and also it was picking up fuel almost off the bottom of the carb, maybe if they used the heater, like every few weeks the problems might have been less, but the hot water is safer,not unless a hose burst, and V8 FLATHEADS FORD'S have a lot of HOT WATER,!!!!!!! My 2 cents worth,37 RAGTOPMAN
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