Heater

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2005: Heater
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By alan ky on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 08:34 am:

my 26 tudor has a coleman kunkel hot air heater in it that catches fan air blowing it into a heat exchanger does anyone else have one like it? it works pretty good as i drove it to work yesterday and at 34 degrees it put out some decent heat


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Niekamp on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 09:47 pm:

Hi Alan,

Do you or can you post or email me a picture of this heater?

Thanks,

John Niekamp


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Scherzer on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 10:30 pm:

I have one like this. It put the heated air up through the floor boards saving on having to cut a hole in the firewall. Originally made of cast iron and clamps around the exhaust pipe. I have plans to reproduce it this next year but it will be cast in aluminum. Bob

image\[T heater]t heater


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ken Kopsky on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 11:13 pm:

Don't need heat down here but if you come up with a design that cools, I'd buy one. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rance Pederson on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 12:34 am:

I could've used one of those last Monday. It was 28 degrees and a bit brisk cruisin.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Byron Hight on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 02:06 am:

You get that cast aluminum one done, and you can count on a sale from me. E-mail me when you have it done (wacoykc@hotmail.com), or I'll be happy to reproduce it here in my area if I can get a pattern to copy. Regards: Byron (26 touring & 5 speedsters)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By alan ky on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 04:53 am:

heater hear is the only one i have for now taken before i brought the car home


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Scherzer on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 07:34 am:

Alan yours looks like the same one as I have shown only mine didn't have the piece of flex pipe or the funnel showing. This arrangement aids not only in forcing in air but heated air from the radiator.

The part of your heater I would like to see is the floor register that controls the heater air entering the interior and also the dimensions of the floor board cut out.

Byron this isn't too hard a casting only needing the cores made up for the inlet and outlet openings before casting could begin. My problem is the timing and true demand for accessories like this used on T's. I have several other early T accessories done but often find no market or very little which will never return the time and material spent in getting the project off the ground.

I kind of rely of you T people to voice your opinions to help me decide if a parts needs to be reproduced or not. My reproduced KRW gap gauges and crank locator's have done well over the years along with a couple others sold by the vendors but complex projects like the Allen coil tester project is at a stand still having a very good start selling all 10 made up the first year and then 6 of the second batch of 20 made up then selling only two last year and none this year at Hershey. This year my T hood ornaments carried my sales at Hershey but I don't plan to over do in making a lot more but just some new and different one.

Right now I have the fatman steering wheel project on the table which is more complex since I need to have the wood wheel problem solved to fit to my castings first. At Hershey I got some good input on sources that reproduced wooden rims or to purchase the special made cutter to make the 1"deep finger joints for making the rims myself but now after checking if I can't make up the cutter and have to buy completed wheels or have to buy a cutter I better get out the K-Y since direct purchase of the cutter or wooden rim will increase the price to a point that exceeds the average T customer want to buy one when complete.

However, with winter coming on I might cast up a couple of this heater to see how they cast and then determine if it's worth doing more. Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 07:46 am:

Alan -- That's a nifty home-brewed heater! I'll bet it worked well.

Bob -- You might take a tip from this one and incorporate a funnel shape (maybe a bit smaller than that one) into the front of your heater. Otherwise, what will push the air back into the passenger compartment? Factory-made heaters I've seen on Model A's have this feature, and the engine's fan pushes the air through. Of course, they surrounded the exhaust manifold, rather than the pipe. My guess is that your prototype had a tube of some sort connected to the inlet hole and a funnel-type piece at the front end, up near the fan. I agree that not having to cut a hole in the firewall is a great feature of your design.

Mike.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 07:50 am:

Bob -- Looks like we were typing at the same time. Sorry.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By alan ky on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 10:44 am:

i will try to get some pics of the floor outlet in the next day or so i now have the funnel mounted in the center of the engine to clear the dist.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth Harbuck on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 11:09 am:

Bob,

Although it is not as hot here as where Ken is located, like him I have no need for heat.

However, if you were going to reproduce a heater, why don't you consider casting the aluminum directly onto a headpipe? VW did it this way and it was durable to say the least!

Thank you for your talent and efforts in reproduction of components for our hobby. In your next life, I hope you are compensated accordingly.
I thank ALL of you for your contributions.

Sincerely,

Seth


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Wetherbee on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 12:42 pm:

Here is a heater from e-bay a while back, after not winning the bid i saved the picture so i could pick up any loose parts at fleas and marry one together. At the time it brought BIG T-BAY $$$$


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Wetherbee on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 12:47 pm:

PS: It is a Kunkel heater very much like Alan's, not some home brewed contraption as was suggested.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By alan ky on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 02:39 pm:

thats the same as mine mark i do not have the heat exchanger for the rear but the rear vent is still in the floor what did the new one bring on t-bay?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Scherzer on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 07:51 pm:

Alan, I stand corrected on the design you have after looking at Marks picture. From the angle of your picture I was looking at just the front part which looked the same as mine but with yours they used a combination of castings and flex pipe for the heat exchanger. The nice part of this design is heat was delivered to the rear seat area as well as the front. If it was used in a coupe or roadster you would just drop the center casting and move up the rear casting and use just one section of the flex pipe for the heat exchanger.

Mark, Thanks for picture I now see the heat register or control vent and how it was constructed. Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By alan ky on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 08:04 pm:

i too thought it was a jury rigged heater until i saw it as i had only saw pictures of it . dern thing like to run me out of the car on the way home from work this evening as i had the vent open and it was 60 degrees here


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker on Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 11:21 pm:

Bob -- There's a different style of Kunkel floor vent listed by Larry Gresh on ebay today.

I didn't intend to demean anyone's equpment, but the funnel and flex pipe sure looked like something that an ingenious T owner would piece together. I expect that a lot of that sort of thing went on "back in the day".

Mike.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth Harbuck on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 07:26 am:

Mike,

A lot of that sort of thing goes on today, even when the T owner is not very ingenious.

But that's OK as long as it's a Speedster!

Seth
Speedster/Pickup


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Wetherbee on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 12:20 pm:

As I recall it went a little over 100 dollars, but it was last year anyway, if not closer to two. I have a 26 Fordor with a hole in the firewall that must have been for a manifold style, and had kept an eye out for something to fill the hole until it could be welded over properly. Typically the heaters bring fairly good prices for aftermarket items.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Scherzer on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 04:21 pm:

Thanks Mike for the tip on the e-bay floor vent. It was the style I had first thought that I would use with the heater I posted. Glad to see they made it as a casting rather than a sheet metal stamping. It will probably go too high to use as a pattern but the picture helps with a design in making a pattern plus I will still need to make a transition pattern that connects the round part of the heater to the rectangular part of the vent. A sheet metal strap clamp would then join the heater to the vent allowing for a fudge factor with exhaust pipes being at different heights to the floor boards so the vent would then fit flush to the top of the board.

Actually this Kunkel heater is better both as a heater as will as a casting. If the designers of my heater had made the parting joint 90* to where they have it now no cores would be required in reproducing the casting. Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 09:13 am:

Anyone think this would work at all? Say something if you already tried it - before I cut the hole!
x


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Michael Pawelek on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 09:36 am:

Tim, I have a little experience using a cast manifold heater on my Model A and it is woafully under whelming in heat out put and air movement. Your unit might need to cover the exhaust manifold for more heat exchange and the intake near the fan might need to be larger in diameter to catch more air.
....Michael Pawelek
PS- This is going to sound crazy but you can get a lot of heat from the engine compartment just by removing the top front floor board under the dash. I was adjusting bands on my T last Winter and left the top board off for test drives and was impressed by the heat from the right side of the engine and exhaust pipe. Maybe you could make a top floor board just for Winter use with an adjustable vent opening near the manifold and exhaust pipe. A standard house hold AC/Heating vent could be used in the board and you would not be cutting holes in the firewall. Might be worth a try as long as know you have a good seal at the exhaust pipe so no fumes get into the interior compartment....Michael


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 10:11 am:

Exhaust fumes are exactly why I was thinking this way. I've replaced the gaskets on this twice in 100 miles. This time I used high temp RTV and the copper o rings, hopefully it will last longer. The Model A heater I've used would cook you out of the car. It was on a roadster so maybe because it's a small room? I might try cutting holes in a spare floorboard just to see. It sounds like a good idea! I was not too keen on cutting holes in the firewall anyway.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By EDWARD R LEVY on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 11:14 am:

Bob. like Seth I want to offer you my thanks for your efforts at making Repro items for the hobby. To be totally frank before I read your post I had not any idea of the problems & risks involved in designing & making these various items(much less for a profit or even to break even)We all owe you & others who have made these efforts a deep sense of gratitude & thanks. Keep up the good work !! (I suspect that my ignorance of the risks stems from not having ever been in business for myself)
Edward R. Levy


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth Harbuck on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 11:36 am:

Edward,

Now that you have an appreciation for all that is involved, use your infectious personality to convince others and the model T hobby will have a longer and happier life.

And, don't ever think that you can't try your hand at it. As you well know, it starts with a plan that you know will change as you get smarter.

Your state is known as "the land of opportunity" isn't it?

Cheers to all those with guts!
Seth


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff Hood on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 12:37 pm:

Tim,

You'll need manifold heat unless you have a thermostat in your waterneck. My '15 Touring's floorboard has a cutout that fits around the back of the cylinder head. There is a sheetmetal piece that covers this area that was missing when I got the car last summer and the heat from the engine compartment nearly drove us out of the car in July. I got the sheetmetal piece in place and it helped tremendously. A few weeks ago I was meeting a tour group early in the morning, and I thought I would remove the piece so that I could have a little heat. All I got was lukewarm air! With no thermostat, the radiator never warmed up in the cold air.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Allen Isham on Sunday, February 04, 2007 - 11:56 pm:

Fifty five years ago I built a box from sheet metal and bent it up to go around the manifold and ducked it thru the top floor board, put a slight funnel on the front. Boy I had more heat than I knew what to do with. I had to keep the windows part way down to keep heat down.This worked for Norther Illinois.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 01:50 pm:

Here's what I decided to do:

I took something I got at auction and filled it in a little to fit the tiny pipe on the T. I cut a hole in the floor that leaves a 1/8" gap around the heater so I don't set the car on fire (maybe). It puts out a little heat. I think it would do allot better if the car didn't leak so much. That's next on the list. Wrapping the exhaust would help too I think. We were ok yesterday when it was 28 degrees out, coming home after the wind picked up and the temp dropped roughly 10 degrees was a little chilly.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry Van on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 12:15 pm:

I just remove the top floor board. Lots of heat and very little trouble. Try it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry Van on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 12:17 pm:

.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 12:43 pm:

Then the rug falls down. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Warren Mortensen on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 01:35 pm:

Ahhhh, the smell of burning wool....


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Richard E. Armour on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 04:06 pm:

Expanding on the idea from Allen I. above about making a sheet metal box around the manifold, why not start with a manifold cooker? Just add a funnel inlet on the front and a piece of flexible exhaust pipe to the rear routed through the floorboard...Rick A.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 06:21 pm:

Great idea, but I don't think it would work on my vaporizer.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry Van on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 03:13 pm:

"Then the rug falls down"

RUG! You must have one of those high brow T's.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By VRay on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 04:28 pm:

I have a heater that is an exhaust manifold with ribs that sheet metal goes around. The reason I have not done anything with it is the threaded ex pipe connection threads are all but gone. If I could figure out how to repair that I would have a heater that was made as an accessory during the T times. Now if the price of the heater that is looking to be made is reasonable, I would buy it instead. Welding on cast iron and recutting the threads does not seem to ever going to happen. Let me know if you plan on producing heaters.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By VRay on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 04:33 pm:

I have a heater that is an exhaust manifold with ribs that sheet metal goes around. The reason I have not done anything with it is the threaded ex pipe connection threads are all but gone. If I could figure out how to repair that I would have a heater that was made as an accessory during the T times. Now if the price of the heater that is looking to be made is reasonable, I would buy it instead. Welding on cast iron and recutting the threads does not seem to ever going to happen. Let me know if you plan on producing heaters.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Earl on Friday, February 09, 2007 - 01:51 pm:

Use a Model A heater manifold with a model A exhause or adapt a model T exhaust. The catalogue houses sell the adaptor plate to use this exhaust manifold.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Scherzer on Sunday, February 11, 2007 - 06:04 pm:

I have my heater project almost completed. I have finished the vent similar to this one by Kunkel. The transition piece that goes between the heater and vent was the hardest pattern to produce. Getting the correct height of this piece so I had the correct distance from the heater to the top of the floor board vent was the main problem. I still have to make the funnel and purchase the stainless steel flex pipe and it will be pretty much completed. I will post a picture when all completed. Bob


Image\ {T heater}t heatert heatert heater


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration