1929 Roosevelt heater question

[Guest 29 roosevelt]

I have a 1929 roosevelt sedan that has a tube through the passanger side firewall that has a closeable slide by the front passsenger's feet and this approxiamtely 3" diameter tube goes about 8 inches into the engine compartment.

Question is, am I missing a radiator sheild to direct the heat into this tube?

Is this stock equipment? Does it heat well?

Thanks,

Mark

[Guest kaycee]

:)Hi Mark,

This type heater was used on a lot of 20's cars. There is usually a long rectangular 'box' bolted around the exhaust manifold that goes to a 'tube' which carries exhaust heat into the car. ( Note I said exhaust heat, not exhaust). Some cars had a grille in the floorboard over the muffler which did the same thing. It was'nt the best or certainly safest system and that's why there were a lot of aftermarket hot water heaters sold. My '27 Marmon Little 8 has a hot water heater in it, and I got the car from the original owner who no doubt needed it in our Illinois winters. My '28 Pontiac has the manifold heater type like your car.

I do'nt know when hot water heaters were first factory installed , but a lot of makers offered them in the early 30's as an option, and my old 20's Chilton manufactuers and supplier manual lists quite a few suppliers of hot water heaters. 'Hope I helped.

kaycee

[Guest 29 roosevelt]

Kaycee,

Thanks for the reply. I don't have the "box". I will either have to duplicate the box if I had an example or go buy and adapt the hot water heater. Do you have a picture of the routing of your hot water heater?

The marmon little 8 is a nice sized, good looking, quality car. Roosevelt not to bad either.

If you have any comments on restoration techniques like the type of paint you used that would be helpful.

Mark

[Guest kaycee]

Hi Mark,

My car is just in the process of restoration, so I have'nt painted it yet. It's a 2dr sedan, and although I have to rejoin the Marmon Club, the last I checked it was the only 2dr. left out of about 30-35 Little eights left. My car is partially disassembled, but I'll get the name off the hot water heater and routing of the hoses. Remember, the Little 8 's had an overhead valve engine versus the flathead in your car which would affect hose hookups.

If you measure your exhaust manifold you should be able to fabricate a box to fit it, or contact someone with a Roosevelt to get an idea or possibly the parts you need. Leave a message on the Marmon Club site,and possibly someone has a parts car or the parts you need. I'll also check my 20's Chilton

suppliers manual to see some of the manufacturers of hot water heaters at that time. They show up on e-Bay at times too, so that's another option.

kaycee