can a heater be fitted to 1925 dodge

[brian1925tourer]

i was wondering if anybody has fitted a fan heater to there dodge. also if there were any problems with over heating due to taking water from system and also where was the water taken from and returned.

[Guest elmo39]

I'm not a purist and am not against fitting something to you car to make it safer or more comfortable , but cant see the need to fit a heater to a 25 dodge . i might be getting older but my memory has'nt failed completely yet , in the early sixty's i had the use of a 24 Dodge for every day use summer and winter , for about 3 years and if i remember it right all i spent on it in those 3 years was for petrol and oil and i think one set of brake linings , i was a teenager and drove it to the limit even with two wheel brakes , but back to the heating i found all the heat i needed came through the floor boards even without the side curtains. This car belonged to my father and was a tourer cut into a pickup unfortunately when he died it was buried in a land fill without my knowledge . i've never forgiven my brother in law for that

[brian1925tourer]

please go dig it up, we all need the parts. just for the record, my dodge is practiclly unmodified. the body including mudguards the chassis are all from 1925. no recent replica panels on my car. i have fitted turning lights to let other people know what i'm doing. the engine has recently had first rebore new pistons fitted crank had first grind, new bearings. not immaculate but good older resto. about 45yrs ago.really just needed paint. but still a nice car. given to me free from father in law. full road reg too. just need heater for woman who feels the cold.

[Guest elmo39]

I wished i could, i know exactly where it is buried, but un fortunately it is on local county owned land and has been buried for about 38-9 years and there would be a lot less left than the 57 Plymouth that was dug up in Arizona recently , at least that was buried in a suppossedly sealed container , the poor old dodge was pushed into a hole and fill pushed over it . i actually courted my wife in the 24 ,one reason no heater was needed was as i said plus i always carried a rug and i was younger and found that snuggeling up helped a lot . boy those days are gone . i did manage to find the wood spoked wheels off it but they were kept for nostalgic reason and werent looked after they are now in my garden as ornaments slowly rotting away

[nearchoclatetown]

Elmo, there is no reason you couldn't hook up a heater from about the late 30's or 40's to your DB. You may have to fabricate special hose connections to splice into the top and bottom hoses. The heater would NOT overheat the engine as it would be taking away heat from it, not adding to it. The 30's style heater I'm talking about mounted under the dash and had it's own fan. The fan would be the problem as it would most likely be 6 volt. Or look through some hotrod sites for brand new ones that are made the same way, they would be 12 volt. The 6 -12 problem could be corrected with a voltage drop. BTW, my '24 Fisher coupe has a factory manifold heater that works pretty good. It takes heat from the exhaust and ducts it up through the floor to the passenger side floor, ala VW. I don't remember if the Fisher coupe parts car being advertised here shows the heater or not.It would require cutting about a 3 X 6 slot in the floor for the grille.

[wenthur]

I bought a old coal heater on ebay that the brick inside is heated in the oven then installed in the box that acts as a foot rest for my wife. She put a blanket on her legs to keep heat in. She loves it. We tried it out last night. The people on this chat room kept me from putting kerosene on the brick and lighting it on fire.I had never seen a sleigh heater before. Friday night is Christmas parade and have fitted signs in the running boards. Hope to give you a picture over the weekend. I also have bought a heater with a 6volt fan I am going to drop voltage to and install later for more days of driving. My "24 needs new top. but getting estimates of $1,600 to $1,800. Is this good or are there premade ones out there?

[Rusty_OToole]

They work pretty good don't they?

You can often buy these heaters cheap at antique stores and country junk stores. If the "brick" is missing any brick, especially a fire brick, will work. So will a slab of stone. The most expensive ones had soapstone, it was supposed to hold the most heat.

Here is a picture of an old time lap robe also called a car rug in England, this one is kind of pricey at $135 but if you see one at a swap meet you will know what one looks like.

http://www.davidmorgan.com/product_info.php?products_id=544&ad_code=PG_F003R

The real old fashioned robe is the buffalo robe. I don't think they were available after 1900 or so but my grandparents had some old ones they used in the Model T days.

Buffalo robes are available for around $800 a full hide but this would make at least 4 lap robes. You might see what the hide sellers would want for a lap robe, there seem to be lots of them on the net.

http://www.braintan.com/hides/buffalo.htm

[Rusty_OToole]

They used to do the same trick with a hot brick wrapped in flannel.

You would dress up to suit the weather the same as if you were going to walk. Cars had enough head room to wear a hat back then, now you know why ha ha.

The sleigh heater or brick plus lap robe kept your feet warm. Your hat gloves and overcoat did the rest.

Most journeys back then were no more than half an hour or an hour.

[Rusty_OToole]

Would also like to point out, that a modern type hot water heater won't work very well on the typical open touring or roadster of the 20s. The heat will just blow away.

The hot brick heater + lap robe will actually work better. Even in an open car it will keep your feet warm and you will be surprisingly cosy, as long as you are dressed for the weather.

[Rusty_OToole]

If you have never seen a sleigh heater here is what one looks like. This one burns charcoal.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Antique-Lehman-Foot-W...7QQcmdZViewItem

[wenthur]

Rusty, you said that it "burns charcoal". Did you really mean burn or is the charcoal heated in oven as the brick units? Ehen I looked up the web page you gave they also had a copper one. Would look great polished, Mine is painted black with carpet and a handle. I really like it, but copper would look real cool.

[Rusty_OToole]

According to the ad you put hot coals out of the wood stove in it. Looking at the drawer, it does not seem to have room for a brick. Also it has an adjustable draft, or one of them does (I saw 2 or 3 on Ebay).

It sounds a little chancy to me too. I would look into the matter carefully before putting burning charcoal in one.

[Jan Arnett]

Can you do it. Yes. I know of five ways to heat a 1920 car. The simpliest is to use the brick or bricket method. Then there are heaters which used a liquid fuel which I don't recommend. Also mentioned is the style which fits over the exhaust pipe and has a register in the floor. A style not mentioned is a unit that fits over the exhaust manifold and you have a pipe leading from it through the firewall with a door to allow the heat in. I have one like this on my 1924 Star. It works by forced air from the fan. The more modern style can be used as mentioned. I put one on a 1923 Dodge. The procedure has been mentioned earlier. What I did was take exhause pipe the size of of the radiator inlet and outlets. I used a southwind heater that mounts under the dash and the heater inlets determined the size of hose. I then cut heater tube outlets of a juked car of the proper size and brazed these onto the exhaust pipe making "T". I put a bleed valve in the heater hose to blead the air. I changed out the heater motor on the southwest heater to a 12 volt moter from JC Whitney. Hope this helps

[brian1925tourer]

everybody , thank you for your replies, thoughts and ideas. i have never heard of the box heater so will ask at my next club meeting. i'll see what i can come up with. i am in melbourne australia so if there is any aussies on board send me a post. regards

[Guest elmo39]

Brian i have never said you can't hook up a heater in a 25 i think some of the replys mixed me up with you . all i said was i couldn't see the need for a heater / i still stand by that, i think it would be far more interesting to snuggle /cuddle up regardless of age (us not the car) than turn on a heater . by the way i only live across the ditch

[dwollam]

I'll add another twist. For the Christmas parade last year, We drove our '22 Screenside with lights all over it and a Honda generator in the back to run them. I plugged in a small continuous running 110 volt electric heater, set it on the floorboard, and the wife and I spread a blanket over our laps and carefully over the heater. Kept us nice and toasty!

I was dressed as Santa, got a 3rd place award!

I guess you could use a really long extension cord and plug in at home but you couldn't drive very far!

Anyway, a heater in an open car really does help even if just keeping the lower part of you warm. Coats can do the rest.

Dave