MTFCA Forum

I bought the coupe in 1954 from a farmer in North Dakota when I was a junior in high school. My dad and uncle helped get it running. I ran it off and on until I left for college. It was then stored at various locations in North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa for the next 61 years until my grandson and I started to restore it in 2020. It was stored several old barns and other locations.

Here are some photos of it in storage. I will add a couple more, in a few minutes, in the next post.

Note the two boxes in the second photo and the close ups of them in the last two photos. They are car heaters of some kind. I don't remember where they came from. Does anyone know what cars they could have been used in? I don't know what to do with them. Obviously, I can't use them in my T!!!!!!!!!

I forgot to include the "now" photo.

Very nice. Looks great!

Bruce,

In those boxes are South Wind gasoline heaters manufactured by the Stewart Warner Corporation. If they are complete, they have the fitting that connects them to the gas supply. These are usually missing.

The artwork on the box states that they can reach operating temperature in 90 seconds, and they are NOT KIDDING! Those things get hot fast. They'll almost drive you out of the car from the heat in the dead of winter, but your gas consumption goes through the roof.

They started appearing in auto parts stores like Western Auto and Pep Boys in the late 30s and were very popular. They are valuable to the right people but really aren't "period correct" for Model T Fords, even the later Improved Cars. But, if you really need a heater in your T and can't find the right one, a South Wind will do.

Hope my info helps. Good luck and Happy New Year.

Mike.

While you did a fantastic job on your coupe, I must maintain that, with all due respect, I and many others believe that it was the best and only all original Rip Van Winkle 1927 coupe with the original Channel Green factory applied paint, in existence and would have preferred it be kept original, as it is only original once. I said as much before you started your restoration, but you made your decision and it is done now and all we can do is celebrate the fact that it is still a Model T and not a rat rod as many T’s have ended up.

Model T heaters used the heat from the exhaust to heat the cab by means of a vent in the floorboards under the feet of the passenger. Heat was controlled by a sliding door over the grates of the vent.

Regarding your heater, the decorative design appears to be art deco from the mid to late 1930’s and would probably be period correct for any vintage car from the 1930’s through the 1950’s before heaters were factory installed. While it would be an interesting accessory to display, I, personally would never hook it up or use one because gasoline fumes inside the cab is very dangerous and could cause a very serious fire were the heater to develop a leak or rupture in an accident. Also, due to its’ age, any rubber gaskets designed to stop leaks could be dried out by now preventing them from doing their job.

If you plan to sell it on eBay, or in the MTFCA classifieds, protect and preserve the box. In most cases, the box can be worth as much as the item. JimPatrick

The really good thing here is that you kept the T out of the weather all these years!
Some pretty decent T’s and other old cars weren’t so lucky.

My 24 Coupe I inherited from my Grandfather was stored after I got it in 1959 and wound up here on the farm in the late 60’s stored mostly out of the weather.

You have a very nice 27 and congratulations in saving it! And it started by keeping out of the weather.

Jim, In regard to your first paragraph, the paint on the coupe was not the original factory paint. I had it repainted soon after I purchased it in 1954. I don't remember why I had done it at that time.

Bruce

Here in Minnesota, those gasoline heaters show up at swap meets on a regular basis. However, I have never seen any NOS in the box.

South Wind heaters do not leave gas fumes in the car. They work by vac which pulls the burnt gas back into the intake. Without vac they will not work because there would be nothing to pull the raw gas in. The fume thing is an old wives tale.