early defroster??

[nearchoclatetown]

Just bought some old car stuff yesterday. In the pile there are a few pieces of rectangular glass about 9X18 with 4 suction cups and a metal edge around the parimeter. They have 4 pieces of ni-chrome wire across the glass and a place to hook up a 2 prong wire plug. Are these old window defrosters?? Thanks

[Charles2]

Yes they are, I have a couple of them myself but don't use them here in the desert.

[Guest]

Boy, Choc, are you a young guy.

Before WWII the school bus I rode, a 1937 Mack with a Superior Body, had only one of those units attached on the driver's side to keep the ice off of the windshield. In order to be sure the cups didn't pop loose from the glass, our driver used to put a bit of Vaseline on the cups. Many years later I used the same trick with one of those units on the windshield of my '31 Chevy roadster on a winter trip from Baltimore to northern Virginia.

Apparently they were standard issue for WWII trucks for use in Europe, Alaska and other cold climates. At least 40 years ago I bought several WWII surplus units in olive drab metal boxes, and I think I sold the last one at Hershey 2 years ago.

hvs

[Rick Hoover]

I believe those and dash mounted fans were standard issue with every old Mack. Or, least they should have been. Anyone that drove one, knows what I mean.

Rick

[nearchoclatetown]

HVS, I'm just a young pup. Back in the day, driving aircooled Vdubs we just carried a windshield scraper for the inside.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

My Grandad gave me one of these defrosters...siad he used it on his '36 Chevy...

So, does anyone have the power cord that goes with these relics ?

[Twitch]

What you are describing reminds me of old aftermarket defrosters from the 70s.

[Ron Green]

These must be the modern upgrades that followed the metal canisters of which you would take a piece of coal or wood out of the home fire, put it in the container then carry them in your car. The 20's Caddy's had up to four of these.

[Guest]

Choc ~ Those electric hot wire defrosters did more than remove inside frost, they heated the glass enough to melt ice on the outside as well.

I own a '74 VW Thing which has to be the coldest VW built. In the late '70s I installed a blower in the defroster line in front of the rear seat to force what warm air there was up to the outlets below the windshield. The blower kit was a J.C. Whitney product. When my son used the car in the winter in Golden, Colorado, while in college, he said it was better than nothing, but not much better.

hvs