roadhunter
Elite Member
Hard to get much heat at 12 volts. If you have ever used a load tester for a battery even a full pull on a battery only makes a little bit of heat.
Used a electric heater from Harbor Freight on a old chevy blazer. Check out person warned me that they had this item returned many times- should have listened. Little fan blew and it got red wires but no heat. Was a complete waste of time,$, and effort. Old Volkswagens were cold for a reason.
I had a '73 Super Beetle in the early '90s that had the heat channels rusted out. I bought one of those little heaters from JCWhitney, and it got me through that first winter just fine until I could seal the channels. They don't put out a lot of heat, but it was enough to keep the windshield from fogging/frosting up.
I had a VW, too. The heating system proved that German engineers have a sense of humor. I think the fan in the electric heater does more to clear the windshield that the heating elements.I had a '73 Super Beetle in the early '90s that had the heat channels rusted out. I bought one of those little heaters from JCWhitney, and it got me through that first winter just fine until I could seal the channels. They don't put out a lot of heat, but it was enough to keep the windshield from fogging/frosting up.
to make it a little warmer in your super beetle, think you could have tapped into the radiater, used a cheep heater core and used a little fan?
Actually the heat was off the exhaust pipe, which had a shield around it to make a crude heat exchanger. The fan was the same fan that blew air over the cylinders. I used to drive in 3rd gear so the fan was blowing harder to get a couple more BTUs into the cabin. :laughing: The old ones used spare tire air pressure for the windshield washer. Eventually the washer quit working when the spare tire was flat. :confused2:Those were air-cooled engines. No radiators. They had forced air heat, which ran it past the engine block and into the cabin via channels along the sides behind the running boards. You only got heat if you were moving, and then only if the channels hadn't rusted out.
And yeah, Travelover, I had two of them in my younger days; a '73 and a '74. Between the heater design and the windshield washer "design," it definitely showed a seriously messed up sense of humor.
VWs had these, too, as an option. I had one in a Karmann Ghia. When it was really cold, often it would not light the first try so when it finally lit it went BAMMM!, then shot flames. Of course it was mounted right next to the gas tank. :laughing:......My uncle had a Corvair station wagon the had a gasoline heater, talk about instant heat, had a little exhaust pipe that came out of the front right fender. It's a wonder we're still alive.
to make it a little warmer in your super beetle, think you could have tapped into the radiater, used a cheep heater core and used a little fan?