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Which heater looks right ?


Boody

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I have a 1952 Dodge panel truck that some one took all the heating system out . These two heaters were in with other parts in the back of the truck. I might need heat being in Rhode Island but not sure if either one belongs. Don't have any heater controls in dash also. I know you guys have more knowledge than any encyclopedia. 

                 Thanks Dave

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The mopar truck heater is one option but I think most of them were aftermarket parts anyway. I have one in my truck that is unknown as to the manufacturer but looks at home In the truck. There is an on/off switch that mounts to the lower edge of the dash but yours may also have a cable control for defrosting/venting.

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The top one would probably need to be turner the other way to have the demist outlets face left. Probably just need  wire an on\off switch and open or close small doors to direct heat. My truck has a valve on the head that you open or close at the begining of the hot or cold season.

 

Both heaters could probably be adapted see which one is in the best shape and go from there.

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No electrical expert here, seems like you would need 2 wires for a single speed motor, a ground and a hot wire. Since these trucks are positive ground from the factory, you need to keep that in mind when wiring the motor up.

Pretty sure if connected backwards, simply reverses the direction of the motor.

My thinking here, the heater in the bottom photo with one wire may be a better choice because of defroster vents, but probably needs a new motor. 

You can find these motors everywhere, you need to get the physical dimensions to match up, the shaft size and fan attachment and   of course 6 or 12 volts.

And you can probably find what you need in a 3 wire so you have a 2 speed fan.

 

The real issue may be the heater core. Basically you need to disassemble the heater to see what you have, you can clean & test the heater core. If it is bad, you may need to go to a local radiator shop and see if they can match up the heater core or possibly use the tanks and fab up a new one?

My point here, the condition and availability of the existing heater cores may be the deciding factor on which heater you use.

Should be able to get a heater core for less then $200. (Thats double what I think)  Are you willing to pay $500 to have a custom core made?

 

And any heater was installed after the factory, so either heater is correct, I like the simplicity of the top one with the bakelite handles, cleaned up and painted it would look sharp, and because of the square body it may be easier to find a usable heater core.

And you may get lucky, both heaters will have good used cores in them. My heater core needed much dirt cleaned out but shows no leaks and ready to use.

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Actually you can get a variable speed going on the fan with a single wire.  My heater has a rheostat control that changes the power to the fan motor for variable speed.

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3 wires would probably indicate a built in resistor for multi speeds. Maybe low, medium, and high? Or Maybe 2 speeds with the 3 wire being ground? The single wire is likely the power for the motor and it may be grounded through the mount. In that case you would need an external resistor/rheostat to control the speed, like what Mark states. I also have that same rheostat switch under the dash for my Arvin heater.

 

As for changing the direction of the fan motor when you switch polarity, it will depend on if it's a permanent magnet motor, or if it has electromagnet field coils. A permanent magnet motor would certain switch direction with a polarity change. But one with electromagnet field magnets, the magnetic field will also reverse when reversing the wires, so the motor would still spin the same direction.

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4 hours ago, Boody said:

Was just looking at the heater with the single wire it is only a blower there is no heater core in it maybe the two go together?

No 2 separate units, the one with the doors you open to heat the interior and probably close to force air to the defoggers

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Once played with a 1952 plymouth suburban, it had a blower close to what you show, was mounted way up front by the core support and card board duct work going back to the cowl.

Nobody ever said plymouth dev were smart.

That car also had a separate heater under the drivers seat, I assume the factory heater was not efficient and needed a booster.

 

I searched and do not have photos of the heater system on the 52 suburban, but your blower motor on second photo looks like it would fit right in.

The blower was way up front while the heater core was under the dash as we would think normal.

 

Do not fear, Dodge dev were not the same as plymouth dev.

Point is, your dodge truck never had such a heater system that required miles of cardboard tubes to blow air into the cab.

Here is a couple photos, one is the mopar model 61 heater, has doors on it while having the ductwork on the left to feed the defrosters and has a cable to open/close to direct air to the windows or to the cab/floor.

Second photo is the heater that came in my 49 dodge, may be cool to have a round heater, I sure would hate to have to replace the core in it.

 

Seems like the factory supplied the duct work for the windshield on all cars/trucks of this era, but the heaters were optional and defroster was a extra cost to be added to the heater.

So heater in #1 photo, I do not see a plenum coming off of it to feed the defrosters, and is normal.

My photo shows what a typical setup would look like, and of course the second photo round heater has no plenum for defrosters, also normal.

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I had to go back and look, yes the #1 photo does have connections for defrosters. I simply did not see them the first go around.

Since there is 2 of them, maybe is the industrial version  :)

I would think that is the heater you want to use.

FWIW, the blue heater in the above photo, was rusted just as bad or worse then yours, I soaked it in molasses for a couple weeks and it cleaned up nice.

The doors were rusted shut and not operate, was heavy pitting on the metal ... couple coats of heavy primer filled the pitting and it functions as new now.


The wiring I can not help, both of my heaters have 2 wires. I can swap them between ground and power and it controls the direction of the fan.

More wires simply means more speeds, one wire is ground, other wires is the speed the fan will run. 4 wires would be ground, low, med, high

Thats a pretty spiffy fan for a old work truck, but needed for all the surface area of the windshield.

 

I took my motor apart on a cold winter day, I was able to see which was ground and power, then I wrapped the old wires with thread and painted them.

Most people have a life and for $20 you could just buy a new motor .... I doubt you would hurt your existing motor while hooking up power and ground to it figuring out what is what.

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13 hours ago, Boody said:

The truck does have two hoses coming down from the defroster that could hook up to the back of the heater . but the four wires I'm not sure which would be power or ground or if the unit is grounded.

Your truck should be the same as mine. I just replaced the tubes to the defroster on mine and I used the old carb preheater tubes from the 70's, two for the drivers side and 1 for the passenger. My outlet had an inside diameter of 1.75" used the Dorman units, very robust and good accordian stretch and bend, cost around $10 from Rock auto for all 3.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a B2B and this is the heater that was in it.It's a MoPar Model 70 and they were usually found in cars. It does not have the fresh air hookups and simply recirculates cab air. There is a coolant shut-off valve on the back of the cylinder head and a reostat switch to control the fan. I believe, along with radios, the heaters were a dealer-stalled accessory. In the case of my truck, the dealer most-likey didn't have the correct heater (which I believe is a Model 60) in stock and instead installed one for a car. Mine is bigger than the correct truck heater and required cutting down the back of the glove box.

 

 

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I have a model 70 in my pickup. It was in it in 1973 when I bought it. Clean factory installation.

Have seen other 70's heaters in several B series trucks over the years.

 

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10 hours ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

I have a model 70 in my pickup. It was in it in 1973 when I bought it. Clean factory installation.

Have seen other 70's heaters in several B series trucks over the years.

 

 

Clean DEALER installation.  

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So I have a Model 65 heater that Mark rebuilt then sold to me. Thanks again Mark. I found all the parts to make it into a "fresh air" system. I also installed the accessory cables for a cable operated heater valve....defroster and fresh air valve. At the time I built my truck I wasn't sure how much I would use it here in sunny Southern California. It really doesn't get too cold here. But we do get fog and conditions that make the inside of the windows fog up quite frequently particularly in the evenings and early mornings. So I went ahead with it.

Now I am in my 5th year of using the old 52 as a daily driver. I will tell you that I am glad I spent the time on this set up. In fact I used it early this morning. It works amazingly well. Takes a couple minutes to start generating some heat but other than that it gets the job done. These old heaters are great. They look cool and they are totally functional. IMO if you are going to actually use your truck it ought to have one...wherever you are located.

Jeff

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On 1/21/2020 at 4:31 PM, Jim Shepard said:

I have a B2B and this is the heater that was in it.It's a MoPar Model 70 and they were usually found in cars. It does not have the fresh air hookups and simply recirculates cab air. There is a coolant shut-off valve on the back of the cylinder head and a reostat switch to control the fan. I believe, along with radios, the heaters were a dealer-stalled accessory. In the case of my truck, the dealer most-likey didn't have the correct heater (which I believe is a Model 60) in stock and instead installed one for a car. Mine is bigger than the correct truck heater and required cutting down the back of the glove box.

 

 

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When a model 70 heater is factory installed like in my truck or others the factory also installs a special shorter glove box. 

If the glove box is cut up shorter with a model 70 installed someone most likely other than the factory or dealer did the install.

Edited by Dodgeb4ya
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