How Warm Is Your Heater???

[55 Fargo]

Hi all, it is freekin cold here near Winnipeg Manitoba, about -8 to -10 range as I write this.

I had to do some cleaning inside the garage, heater was set on low so only about 35 in there. If I have work to do, I turn on both heaters, and even at this low outside temp I can get it up to 65 in the shop, heavily insulated.

Anyways, I start the 47, put here and my other drivers outside, took me about 20 minues to sweep the floors, and to clean a few things up, on the bench.

My engine temp was showing about 155, I have a 160 t/stat, heater blowing warm air, but not hot. I am sure a 180 stat would make a difference.

My car has no interior panels or headliner, no insulation, so it is even colder.

Iam sure it would be warmer with insulation and material in the car.

I am only running 1 heater, now I know it will not get as warm as a modern car, but I am sure it isn't too bad either.

So any of you guys ever run the cars at cold temps, whats the heat inside like, not that I would want to drive my car at temps below 30, and with no snow on the ground .

In this part of Canada, years ago we would install frost shields in the back window, and the sdie windows too. These are not necessary in vehilce for the last several years, even at -25, my windows in my modern drivers are clear beacus of the well designed vents,heaters......................Fred

[Norm's Coupe]

The heater in my coupe will run you out of the car on high. I have the dual heater system in it. Warms up fast. Now, that is when the outside temperature is in the 20's. Have never driven the car when it's colder outside so don't know beyond that. Usually when I run the car during winter in the garage or driveway, I don't turn the heater on. Just start the car to let it run awhile, and go back in the house so don't need heat in the car.

[RobertKB]

My three flatties all have pretty good heaters. The best is in my '38 Chrylser as I had it recored when I restored the car. Next best is my '53 Plymouth with everything original. I have a spare heater core for it if the old one starts leaking. My '48 Dodge D25 is also pretty good and being a coupe it has less space to heat. I actually have two spare heaters for it as I took them out of a parts car years ago so if I ever want to go to two heaters in it I could. Doubt I will though and they will probably end up on ebay as a matched left and right pair. I don't drive my cars much in the cold but occasionally will, sometimes in very cold weather. Never frozen to death yet!

[55 Fargo]

Norm, my car in spring and fall mornings with temps at around 30, is fairly warm too.

I bet these old cars were not so warm in the old days when it was 0 or below, but I think the dual Mopar heated cars, may have been toasty even at 0, very strong heaters, my fan on mine blows like crazy..........Fred

[greg g]

Well if your car is just idling and at 155 you are still on bypass, and the heater is working as the radiator. Putting a 180 stat doesn't mean it would be any warmer in those conditions, it just means that the stat would open even later. I remember my dad would alway hang a piece of old carpet in front of the top half of his radiator.

My model 306 puts out plent of heat, but the dfroster is so marginal it makes cold weather driving an iffy proposition.

[Norm's Coupe]

Back when I was knee high to a grasshopper in the late 40's my parents had about 46 or 47 DeSoto. Don't know what kind of heater was in there, but the car was always warm on real cold days. However, I do remember the windshield always fogging up. To keep the fog down my father would open his vent wing a little. Plus, there was always a rag in the car to wipe the fog off the windshield and side windows.

[RobertKB]

Back when I was knee high to a grasshopper in the late 40's my parents had about 46 or 47 DeSoto. Don't know what kind of heater was in there' date=' but the car was always warm on real cold days. However, I do remember the windshield always fogging up. To keep the fog down my father would open his vent wing a little. Plus, there was always a rag in the car to wipe the fog off the windshield and side windows.[/quote']

I remember those days also. It got foggy inside because you were recirculating the inside air as the heater is inside the car with the fan behind the core. My '53 Plymouth is better than my older flatties as the heater is in the engine compartment as is the fan. New cars pull air from outside for heating and this has solved the problem. Who says they "don't build 'em like they used to". I say good thing.....but the oldies are way more fun!

[55 Fargo]

Greg, a 160 t/stat can begin to open partially before 160, and should. It should begin to open as low as 153 to 157. then be fully open at around 180.

This is according to most service manuals.

I also have a 1/8 hole drilled thorugh my t/stat housing allowing some flow right off the bat.

A 180 t/stat may saty closed longer, and allow the engien to heat-up more, but your right at this extreme temp it may stay the same when idling.

Last year I drove my car one day at about -4f, it was showing about 16 on the gauge on the highway, going 55 mph.

Then I had the idea like your Dads carpet, I uised to do this with cardboard, with only a hole cut out for some circulation. I did this and the engine temp rose to about 195, this was on a 0 degree day.

My rad is clean, but it's an old honeycomb, maybe not so efficient anymore.

Can hardly wait till warm weather, then I can post all of my running hot temps, which last year, weren't too bad, hit 200 once on the highway going with the wind, on an 85 degree day.........Fred

[55 Fargo]

Cars would have foggy windows here till the early 70s, in my expereince, they still frosted up, until the advent of rear window defrosters, vents to blow wram air on the side windows, the abiltiy to draw fresh air.

I am only 47 , and had cars in my youth requiring frost shields, a rag was used if it was warm enough, not that often here in the dead of winter, then you use the window scraper, that was meant for the outside...........Fred

[martybose]

I've no idea how well my heater works, because I've never turned it on. It is plumbed, but between the heat I get through the floorboards and the fact that I live in California (at just past Noon it is a sunny 61 degrees outside), I've never needed the heater!

I'll go for a ride this afternoon to get my "feel-good" fix.

Marty

[JIPJOBXX]

On a real cold day and if I'm going out in the 42 I will place a small heater in the car to get the interior heated up and also that helps with the window fog issue. Kind of cheating on the heater but it works.

[wallytoo]

took the truck to the ice-harvest day down the road, and helped transport about twenty 200-lb blocks to the ice house. temp was around 0*. heater didn't do a whole lot, although i guess it kept the windshield clear of fog/ice.

pics posted on the "truck side" of the forum.

[RobertKB]

I've no idea how well my heater works, because I've never turned it on. It is plumbed, but between the heat I get through the floorboards and the fact that I live in California (at just past Noon it is a sunny 61 degrees outside), I've never needed the heater!

I'll go for a ride this afternoon to get my "feel-good" fix.

Marty

Please, please send some of your heat our way. We have sun today but temp is still around 10F. I'm way beyond cabin fever, I think I have cabin bubonic plague.

[55 Fargo]

Please, please send some of your heat our way. We have sun today but temp is still around 10F. I'm way beyond cabin fever, I think I have cabin bubonic plague.

As we say in "corrections", do you feel like "slashing up", I know a little harsh. Police, Prison Guard humour is sometimes not understood by the civilian population.

Robert I am like you, had enough of winter, it's about time Canada buys/lease some southern soil, for us Frostbacks to bask in some warm air.

DSo yah think Arnie would lease Harper, some ocean fron property in the Mojave desert..........Fred

[greg g]

The thing that cracks me up today is to see people with modern cars rolling around with steamed up windows when its cold. I bet 90% of those cases is because they don't have a clue about the recirculate air switch on the dashboard. They drive around with the switch closed enjoying the same conditions the old model 306 created. We had a woman at the dealership bring three loaner neons back because she couldn't see out the windows. each one of the was set to defrost but with the fresh air closed. Open the switch put the AC on for a coule minutes no more codensation on the windows.

The things people could learn if they would only read.......

[55 Fargo]

The thing that cracks me up today is to see people with modern cars rolling around with steamed up windows when its cold. I bet 90% of those cases is because they don't have a clue about the recirculate air switch on the dashboard. They drive around with the switch closed enjoying the same conditions the old model 306 created. We had a woman at the dealership bring three loaner neons back because she couldn't see out the windows. each one of the was set to defrost but with the fresh air closed. Open the switch put the AC on for a coule minutes no more codensation on the windows.

The things people could learn if they would only read.......

Greg, I have steamed up a few windows in myday, even with modern vehicles, had nothing to do with recirculation settings though. Thats why my pay cheque till this day is never what I actually earn, and not completely mine

[martybose]

Please, please send some of your heat our way. We have sun today but temp is still around 10F. I'm way beyond cabin fever, I think I have cabin bubonic plague.

I guess it must be heading your way now; it's a hour after my first posting, and the temperature has gone down 10 degrees, it clouded over, and it's sprinkling! Maybe I'll leave the 47 in the garage after all!

Marty

[Fluid drive]

There were some interesting comments about steaming up windows ! Makes you wonder if anyone is exaggerating?

No one told you that the way to see if your heater core is restricted is simply to feel the hose going in and the hose going back to the engine. If the out flow hose is hot the heater core is clear. In the days when I serviced cars (And F.D.R. was president but I voted for Alf Landon in'36) we had an accessory called a "winterfront" that attached to the grille and cut down on the airflow throught the radiator. All you had to do was watch the radimeter and open the doors in the winterfront if the engine threatened to overheat. Still a good idea to stick a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator or grille to keep that engine temperature up - cold engines do not run very efficiently.

[Normspeed]

My 53 heater works great but I don't get much driving weather below freezing. Most of that would be early morning temps. Big problem on mine is the pedal draft seals, not leaky they are gone, and I can see daylight around both doors, the gaskets have had it. Gets drafty in there! I get my best heat after a couple or more miles of actual driving. By then I'm already turning down both the fan and the temp control.

[47heaven]

Well, we don't get the same cold weather as a lot of you do in the mid-west and back east, but it can get pretty cold for us here when it gets into the 30's and 40's. My heater is a trooper...keeps me toasty warm after the car has heated up for five minutes. Still trying to understand the temp control, though. Is it supposed to get warmer or cooler when you pull it out? I can't seem to tell.

[Normspeed]

Darin, let's see, on mine it gets hot when you pull the control out. We have the same hot water control valve. Also the same summer/winter shutoff valve. I won't tell anyone it's a Furd part if you don't;)

There's a time delay in cooling down when you close the valve since the heater core is still full of hot water and will be heating the cabin air for maybe several minutes before it cools off.

[47heaven]

Darin, let's see, on mine it gets hot when you pull the control out. We have the same hot water control valve. Also the same summer/winter shutoff valve. I won't tell anyone it's a Furd part if you don't;)

There's a time delay in cooling down when you close the valve since the heater core is still full of hot water and will be heating the cabin air for maybe several minutes before it cools off.

Well, I don't even remember opening up the valve since summer, and it still gets warm. I'll have to check tomorrow. Man, it gets pretty warm as it is with the control pushed in. I'd hate to see how hot it gets when I pull it out.

[randroid]

Gents,

When I lived at 8000' in the Northern Colorado Rockies my '48 P-15 was my daily driver for about six years. When guests in the restaurant asked how my P-15 handled in the snow at -10 I told them I drove while sitting in an over-stuffed couch in front of a fireplace, and that's a pretty good analogy. I have light truck shocks and light truck tires and I added an electric block heater between the block and the heater which makes the engine at least 60 or 70 degrees above ambient. The heater already warm, it didn't take long for the oil hitting warm steel for the whole car to be toasty, and in three minutes of starting it I was ready to ride in comfort.

I have a single stock heater and it works extremely well at temps down to -10. I haven't needed to drive it in temps lower than that, but what really surprises my is how our members in Canada never mention block heaters. They're fairly inexpensive and it costs about as much to run one as it does to run a 40-watt light. A few hours before you want to drive it, plug it in and listen to the hot water percolate, then be glad your oil will be warm a lot faster than starting from scratch because your engine will last a lot longer.

The defroster on the driver's side works all the time, and the passenger's isn't even connected, but whenever I have the time for my cars it includes the prospect of re-wiring or sanding the old paint rather than finding the right size tubes (I have the elbow for it) for the passenger's defroster. I suppose I should figure it out, you know that fidgety stuff like turning features on and off, but I'm so happy with it as it is I don't feel any need to try to improve it.

Okay, my two cents.

-Randy

[55 Fargo]

Well, we don't get the same cold weather as a lot of you do in the mid-west and back east, but it can get pretty cold for us here when it gets into the 30's and 40's. My heater is a trooper...keeps me toasty warm after the car has heated up for five minutes. Still trying to understand the temp control, though. Is it supposed to get warmer or cooler when you pull it out? I can't seem to tell.

Darren ,you would surely perish in winter in Winnipeg or Fargo ND or the Twin Cities.

Winnipeg this morning-13 f, Fargo -15 f, Minneapolis around 0.

Ben Affleck and Renee Zellweggar, filmed a movie in Winnipeg last winter, they loved it here, the atmosphere, the people, both thought our cold was beyond anything human.

So Darren feel fortunate you only experience some 30s once in a while..........Fred

[55 Fargo]

Randy, in the paraire region of Canada we all have block heaters, whether they be block type, in-line or magnetic.

You would not be able to start some vehicles otherwise. My daily drivers could start at -30, if I wanted them too, but never allow this as the engine wear is horrifc at this temp.

Parts of Canada, southern Ontario, coastal BC (Vancouver), normally don't require block heaters, as winters are usually quite mild.

My 47 gets warm inside, the heater core was nice and clean, but I am runnning a 160 t/stat. My car also has no headliner, no insulation, no door panels, would this cause it to be colder in side, as well as hotter inside in summer. I am sure once alll the interior is done, and insulated, it will be warmer in there for sure. I also have a 2nd heater box, not usre if I will go to the duals, as this car really is for warmer weather driving...........Fred