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1936 Dodge Heater Removal


Guest Atari1977

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Guest Atari1977

I want to remove an old Arvin heater in my 1936 Dodge D2 and have a question regarding the hoses leading from it, pictures below, and replace it with a Motorola 301 radio that I've restored. While the heater is what was installed in the car when it was purchased, it's never used and there really isn't enough room under the dash to have both a radio and a heater. So I'm planning on removing the heater and using the existing holes in the firewall to mount the radio(which requires a little modification of the radio case instead of the car.

 

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The furthest hose on the left is what is leading from the heater. Unbolting it looks simple enough, but since I'm replacing it with a radio, is there anything I need to do to cap the end connected to the engine itself?

Edited by Atari1977 (see edit history)
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Both hoses are connected to the heater at the firewall.  They transfer the engine coolest in and out of a small radiator inside the heater - this provides the heat.  You will have to disconnect both hoses at the firewall - drain the coolant so it's level is below the hose attachments or you'll have antifreeze everywhere.  Also be aware the heater will be full of antifreeze, so be careful when you remove it.  Then you'll have to make a bypass hose that goes between the two outlets/inlets on the motor, or block off these two ports.

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This thread title got my attention since I also have a 36 D2.  Taylormade has described the heater hose situation so I'm not replying to address that.  I would like to know more about your D2.  I checked your profile and saw that you started posting about it in 2013 and that the car was your grandfather's.  But I didn't see any overall pics or mention of the body style, color, etc.  Love to hear about that if you don't mind.

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Most of the radios for that car, as I can find, were mounted behind the dash above the steering column. The antenna, which is also the roof section, was connected to the radio by a special shielded wire that ran up the left "A" pillar to the roof and the was attached to the roof panel.  You'll notice that the roof panel is not only insulated from the body by the rubber gasket but also by  plastic type washers under the nuts and washers that secure the roof panel.The radios sat on a bracket shelf bolted to the firewall. The speaker, which most likely would have been encased in a round cardboard cover was mounted at the center of the firewall out of the way of the brake handle and shift lever. I would just plug the hole in the block from the one hose and cap or replace the outlet tube from the water pump if the tube is set up for a heater fitting, but personally I would keep the heater. I have a Motorola "60" radio for my car but am not sure what kind of reception one might get as it seems that most AM stations out there today aren't that great and don't have much broadcast power.

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Guest Atari1977
3 hours ago, jpage said:

Most of the radios for that car, as I can find, were mounted behind the dash above the steering column. The antenna, which is also the roof section, was connected to the radio by a special shielded wire that ran up the left "A" pillar to the roof and the was attached to the roof panel.  You'll notice that the roof panel is not only insulated from the body by the rubber gasket but also by  plastic type washers under the nuts and washers that secure the roof panel.The radios sat on a bracket shelf bolted to the firewall. The speaker, which most likely would have been encased in a round cardboard cover was mounted at the center of the firewall out of the way of the brake handle and shift lever. I would just plug the hole in the block from the one hose and cap or replace the outlet tube from the water pump if the tube is set up for a heater fitting, but personally I would keep the heater. I have a Motorola "60" radio for my car but am not sure what kind of reception one might get as it seems that most AM stations out there today aren't that great and don't have much broadcast power.

 

I'm aware of the AM reception not being good, so that's why with this radio I actually added a modification that allows me to plug in a phone and play whatever through it. I've done it before with other radios I've restored, basically a 3.5mm jack is connected to the volume control pot via an isolation transformer. I've really only done it for other people's radios, I like to keep the ones I collect original, but I'm alright doing it on this one in the name of practicality.

 

The radio I got is actually an all in one unit from around 1941, so not the exact time frame but I figure it's at least in the same period. Plus its paint job matches the rest of the car. Though with the description Taylormade gave me of how the heater is connected, I might see about putting it somewhere else.

Edited by Atari1977 (see edit history)
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Guest Atari1977
3 hours ago, Pete in PA said:

This thread title got my attention since I also have a 36 D2.  Taylormade has described the heater hose situation so I'm not replying to address that.  I would like to know more about your D2.  I checked your profile and saw that you started posting about it in 2013 and that the car was your grandfather's.  But I didn't see any overall pics or mention of the body style, color, etc.  Love to hear about that if you don't mind.

My Grandfather is still around, however I've more or less taken possession of the car and am storing it/maintaining it. Here's some pictures of it https://imgur.com/a/WpSHO. It was purchased by my great-great-grandfather originally in Minnesota and it's been kept largely in original since then. The only major part that has been swapped out is the gas tank, there's a plastic one under it now, and my grandfather added a manual choke to the car since the auto choke never really worked all that well.

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Guest Atari1977
12 hours ago, Taylormade said:

Both hoses are connected to the heater at the firewall.  They transfer the engine coolest in and out of a small radiator inside the heater - this provides the heat.  You will have to disconnect both hoses at the firewall - drain the coolant so it's level is below the hose attachments or you'll have antifreeze everywhere.  Also be aware the heater will be full of antifreeze, so be careful when you remove it.  Then you'll have to make a bypass hose that goes between the two outlets/inlets on the motor, or block off these two ports.

Thank you for your description, I wasn't aware that there was coolant running through that heater. I think that helps explain why the compartment gets hot even when the heater's fan isn't actually running. It looks like I can just reroute the longer hose to the other port on the engine.

Edited by Atari1977 (see edit history)
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Guest Atari1977
3 minutes ago, Taylormade said:

Most cars had a shut off valve on the hose so that the hot water to the heater could be shut off during summer months.

Right, I do see that valve now on the engine block itself. 

 

X0IHJush.jpg

Edited by Atari1977 (see edit history)
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In 1934 there were 2 radio versions offered with the one piece radio/speaker being large in size and only able to fit above the steering column.

However the deluxe model featured a separate radio and speaker box with the radio mounted behind the glove box above the heater.

 

The heater in 1934 was admittedly smaller in size than yours so although a tight fit it did as I have that in my car however it is  out at the moment to provide easier access to firewall and dash from below.

 

http://www.plymouthbulletin.com/DVD-Plus/Issue313s.pdf

 I copied the text from page 22 of Issue 313 of the "Plymouth Bulletin" as follows:

 

Two models were available. The DeLuxe model was a three-piece unit, as shown in the picture. The speaker box was mounted above the steering column.
The rectangular tube box was mounted on the firewall, as high as possible.
According to the catalog, this still allowed enough room to install a heater.

 

blob.thumb.png.0fcc3d50426802334d119a562dc377c6.png

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Guest Atari1977
26 minutes ago, PlymouthPE said:

In 1934 there were 2 radio versions offered with the one piece radio/speaker being large in size and only able to fit above the steering column.

However the deluxe model featured a separate radio and speaker box with the radio mounted behind the glove box above the heater.

 

The heater in 1934 was admittedly smaller in size than yours so although a tight fit it did as I have that in my car however it is  out at the moment to provide easier access to firewall and dash from below.

 

http://www.plymouthbulletin.com/DVD-Plus/Issue313s.pdf

 I copied the text from page 22 of Issue 313 of the "Plymouth Bulletin" as follows:

 

Two models were available. The DeLuxe model was a three-piece unit, as shown in the picture. The speaker box was mounted above the steering column.
The rectangular tube box was mounted on the firewall, as high as possible.
According to the catalog, this still allowed enough room to install a heater.

 

blob.thumb.png.0fcc3d50426802334d119a562dc377c6.png

Looking at it again, I think there would be enough room to get this radio in behind the steering column. However, I don't want to drill more holes in the firewall and would rather modify the radio to fit the existing holes than the car itself. I'll still keep the heater obviously and if I want to reinstall it it shouldn't be and issue.

Edited by Atari1977 (see edit history)
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I may be entirely wrong about this, but I have a recollection of some vintage car that I had having small depressions like dimples in the firewall that were visible, when you looked hard for them, on the engine side of the firewall. The dimples were there to help the dealership mechanics properly locate and drill radio mounting holes which corresponded with the holes in the factory approved radio. You might take a look.

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