Grandpa, tell me bout the good ole days............

[MossRoad]

You could get gas heaters in early 60s Corvairs.

I've never ridden in a Corvair in winter, so I don't know how it worked. From what I've read, when you ordered a Corvair, you had 3 heat options...
None
Gasoline
Engine air

And I think they only had the gasoline heaters for a couple years. From other things I've read, the engine air heaters worked well in the Corvairs as long as you kept all the shrouds and such in good condition.

Personally, as a kid, my parents had many Volkswagens. 4-5 buses, a beetle, and a Karmann Ghia. From the early 60's into the 80's. They all had engine air. And we all froze in the winter! :laughing:

For that matter, I remember scraping the inside of the windows for frost from our breath. We'd have to open the wing windows in the front doors and point them towards the inside of the windshield on the buses. I recall my dad patching the long tube going from engine to front defroster many times because they rusted out. I think we may have had a 12v fan on the dashboard on a couple of them. :laughing:

But they were great in the snow with the engine over the drive wheels. :thumbsup:

 

[Oldpath05]

Thats what I remember about VW's, bad heat but great in snow, mileage was pretty good to, but then there was that cricket sound.

 

[Jstpssng]

Although nowhere near as bad as the VWs, heaters in general weren't as good as they are now. I remember on cold nights I would never turn the heater down from "high".

 

[ultrarunner]

Lots of cars had lower thermostats... as low as 160.

Remember buying and was asked if I wanted a winter thermostat and the explanation is more heat output...

 

[Oldpath05]

I wonder if John Walton ever had a thermostat or heater problems in his 29 Ford pickup.... Yeah boy the good old days right there, running water was really running water for lots of folks back then.......... The Walton Vehicles - behind the scenes with Judy Norton - YouTube

 

[JethroB]

I wonder if John Walton ever had a thermostat or heater problems in his 29 Ford pickup.... Yeah boy the good old days right there, running water was really running water for lots of folks back then.......... The Walton Vehicles - behind the scenes with Judy Norton - YouTube

Judy Norton. She sold a bunch of Playboy magazines once upon a time. IIRC she was trying to break from the Waltons image.

 

[LouNY]

A couple of friends had Corvairs and I had a VW type 181 with the gas heaters they did a decent job.
Especially as you could run the heater without the car being worked.
Always installed the warmer thermostats in every thing that was liquid cooled for the winter including tractors.

 

[Norm W]

VW got a bad rap for heat. It was hot air from the engine. If you remember your ears would "POP" when somebody closed the door fast because they were so air tight. If the hot air from the engine couldn't get into the car - NO HEAT. If you opened the wing window, just a bit, the heat would drive you right out of the car. We had a '58 and within a city block you had heat. It was a lot faster to warm up than the '49 Plymouth Deluxe ever was. If however the duct work was rusted out forget the heat. I was running a '60 VW in '76 with a exhaust hose from the local garage, hooked up to the heater box and run up under the back seat. It kept the car warm even when you could watch the road go by between your feet.

 

[Oldpath05]

Judy Norton. She sold a bunch of Playboy magazines once upon a time. IIRC she was trying to break from the Waltons image.

Yeah I was kinda surprise to read that about her, wonder if nowadays she thinking that was a mistake, maybe now she's trying to shake that playboy image.... Maybe she's probably thinking Walton's Mountain wasn't so bad, when people get in their 60s like me we start going down memory lane, trying to forget the bad and remember the good what little good there was.

 

[Oaktree]

For that matter, I remember scraping the inside of the windows for frost from our breath. We'd have to open the wing windows in the front doors and point them towards the inside of the windshield on the buses. I recall my dad patching the long tube going from engine to front defroster many times because they rusted out. I think we may have had a 12v fan on the dashboard on a couple of them. :laughing:

But they were great in the snow with the engine over the drive wheels. :thumbsup:

And when it rained you had to drive with the windows open because otherwise all the windows would fog up.

They were good in snow though...between the engine over the drive wheels and the skinny tires. Not easy to find tires that fit them today, they used an odd size as I recall...something x 15.