Its cold in my 1925. Can I add heat?

[Guest]

My 1925 Chandler sedan has no heater. What can I do to get the coach warm withou doing major modification and making the car modified.Any sugestions? Thanks BRRRRRRRRR

[novaman]

heated garage or battery operated socks. Sorry, couldn't resist.

[ply33]

It won't help the driver much, but you could have a lap robe for the passengers.

[RoadsterRich]

I seem to recall a small heater for early cars that was powered by I think kerosene? It was maybe 18" long, if you looked at it from the end it was oval shaped, maybe 5" at its thickest and 10" at its widest. Had some sort of cloth like material covering it. Worked on the same basic principle as the little lighter fluid hand warmers I think, though not certain. Wouldn't this work and retain authenticity? Of course I guess ventilation would be an issue. Well that was from memory, think my father had one in the old Auburn. There is probably a name for them and lots of folks here who know more about them than I, just a thought from a naive newbie...<P>Rich<BR><A HREF=http://www.1930Chrysler77.com>http://www.1930Chrysler77.com</A><BR>Member AACA, WPCC

[Guest]

North Wind Gasoline heater or after market hotwater heaters. are awailable and I have both in stock.

[ply33]

Hey pre16:<P>I have an after market Hadees hot water type heater in my car. The fan motor is a bit anemic despite my best efforts to clean up the insides and commutator.<P>Do you have a source for 6v DC motors for that or similar application?

[Guest]

pre16 -<BR>I'm not familiar with the North Wind gasoline auto heaters. Do you mean South Wind? The direction of the wind affects the temperature! <P>Capo22 -<BR>The way I've solved the cold weather problem in my '23 open car is to wear thermal underwear, lots of layered clothing, two pairs of socks, gloves and a warm hat. Of course I could make a set of side curtains from the patterns, but that would mean that I would have to install the drafty things on cold days. The standard heating device on these early cars was draped over the robe rail attached to the back of the front seat.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

The best thing you can do is to make the cabin as draft-free as possible: shift boots, draft seals on the clutch & brake pedals where they go through the floor, etc.<BR>My un-restored '41 De Soto is a little less than air-tight these days, and while driving it in 20 F weather last week, I noticed every bitter draft wafting into the cabin!<BR>Particularly from the missing clutch pedal draft seal! The car has a decent heater for it's day, but any draft at all negates its efforts!<P>I've seen a variety of manifold-mounted hot-air -thru-the- firewall types and floor registers that wrap around the exhaust pipe; but either of these are probably minimally effective and bring the risk of carbon monoxide exposure from exhaust fumes (remember air-cooled VWs?).<P>Some of the more luxury marques during the '40's & early '50s had heaters that mounted under the front seat and would help circulate air to the back of the car; perhaps one of those could be retro-fitted<BR>under the front seat of your Chandler w/o intruding upon the visual aesthetic?<P>The other question is how hot does the coolant get in the cold weather? If you can't get it to at least 160 F, a hot water heater isn't going to feel like it's doing much.<P>The old charcoal "coach" foot warmers from the horse'n'buggy days turn up at antiques shops. <BR>I'd be a little leary of gasoline heaters, Southwind or otherwise; old cars have enough potential for fire as it is!<BR>(Bad enough for a common Ford or Chevy to go up in flames, let alone a rarer car like a Chandler!)<P>Perhaps a camping heater (propane) placed inside the coach before heading out would help, but, again, the flammability issue with a car made from natural (read: flammable) materials...<P>I'm nuts enough to drive my De Soto in the winter, except when there's salt on the road, but how much are you driving this gem in the cold months?<P>Good luck to you!

[29 Chandler]

Don't if its too late to add my two cents or not. Our 29 Chandler had a floor register mounted in front of the front seat. It took hot air off the exhaust pipe. The car spent it whole life in South Dakota where it probaly got a lot of use. I would love to know if it was original to the car.They look like they are. I could send pictures if they help you.