And on the 8th day God created heat for Speedsters

That's great (insert first name here please; if I'm forced to keep on calling you majorkahuna we will never truly have a relationship). Glad to hear the oil cooler thermostat was the ticket. Just call me Al (come on; you know the tune...)

That sounds promising.  Do you have any photos of your frame bypass?  I'm wondering if you cut the plastic flex pipe that runs from the frame to the front of the car.

 

About the oil cooler bypass, you have an external oil cooler plus the stock doghouse cooler, right? 

I've done a good number of frame bypass's by routing the heat box hose directly into the frame horns . The heat exits into the cabin just behind the driver's/ passenger's hee. A few owners have done this with great results..

What's a hee? Would that be a knee maybe?

Kahuna, that is good news. Glad you have good heat.

heel the L feel off ...breakfast was ready~

 

Sorry I was not more specific about the job. I have an external oil cooler which means I carry almost an extra quart of oil. The cooler is always functioning but the fan does not come on until I exceed normal operating temp. The oil circulating in the cooler makes it impossible for the engine to reach operating temperature when the outside air is under 40f. For the temp needle to even move requires 20 minutes of driving. After 30 to 40 minute the heat coming into the cabin is barely luke warm. The bypass valve prevents 90% of the oil from exiting to the external cooler until the engine reaches 180f. Now the engine reaches full operating temp in 10 minutes. 

The heater hose bypass came from Kirk. The hose connects to heater boxes and then is routed to bypass the frame and connects directly to the hose running under the running boards to the front of the car. The hose is pushed up into the area above the trailing arms and secured with plastic ties. If you look into the wheel wells you can see the hose coming down to connect with ducts going forward. The air volume increase is astounding it. At idle and can feel the air blowing on me from the passenger footwell. At 3500 rpm the volume of air is at least 3x what it was. With the hose bypassing the frame the constriction is removed. Also the frame acts as a heat sink and removes most of the heat from the air. I was always puzzled by I can't touch the heater boxes and yet I get cold air in the cabin. As I mentioned in the previous post the air is now so hot I cannot put my hand next to the vent for more than 10 seconds. I had to new VW's in the 60's and they had great heat. This is a hot blast from the past.

 

The only downside to this is the engine noise from the fan is increased significantly. BFD to me. I have heat. Praise the Lowered. 

 

German heat channels have internal pieces in place to quiet the noise, similar to a bike muffler baffle.(cheap on eBay)  It could be done with a narrow motorcycle baffle in the PVC pipe. Easy to do, cut pipe insert baffle and secure with silicone or screw into place and reconnect the pipe.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Long-Baffles-for-1-1-2-Motorcycle-Harley-Honda-Yamaha-Etc-Exhaust-Pipes-/121236190834?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c3a3d7672&vxp=mtr

 

Is the sensor for the fan before or after the cooler? Most people put it after the cooler, so the fan only comes on when the cooler (by itself) isn't enough. If it's before, then the fan is running whenever there's oil going through the cooler.

 

And yes; Praise The Lowered.

The fan on the cooler only comes on when the engine temp exceeds normal operating temp. My guess would be about 230f.
"Always look on the bright side of life"

Warmest Regards,


Noel H. Farmer
Worlds Greatest Authority

I suspect your sensor activates the cooler fan way before your engine oil temps hit 230.  Probably just above 180.

the fan comes on when the temp needle passes 1 o’clock for what it’s worth.

"Always look on the bright side of life"

Warmest Regards,


Noel H. Farmer
Worlds Greatest Authority

This link shows photos of how the heat is rerouted directly to the front vents, which is what Kirk is now doing, at least on some of his cars and maybe all of them.

 

https://www.speedsterowners.com...094#2135445019604094

 

Most of you guys already know this, but there may be a few that don't know that there are some significant differences between the heat exchangers that are out there.  Some of them, don't even have heating fins inside, just a j-tube!  If that is what you have, you are never going to be happy with your heat.

 

The YouTube video below shows the increased airflow at the vent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The test saga part 2....This AM it was 24f at 7 am. I live at 6500ft at Lake Tahoe. I headed out to the store and it took about 8 minutes for the temp needle to begin to move. At that point I opened the heating valve and had lukewarm air. After another 5 minutes the gauge had moved off the thick marking indicator . There was now warm air. I took a circuitous route to the store to maximize the time for the test. At 20 minutes the needle was past 11 o'clock and the heat was very good, but not hot. This was all stop and go driving. i suspect with sustained highway speeds it would have reached 12 o'clock which is where it is during normal Summer driving. Prior to the mods the needle would have never moved at all on this drive and I would have had no heat. 

I did not realize that those of you without the external cooler have not experienced this. For reference the first mod I made 4 years ago was to add the missing flaps and thermostat. They had little impact on engine temp I now know because of the external cooler. 

Findings...install the flaps and a working thermostat, if you have an external oil cooler, get the oil flow control valve. Install the frame bypass ducting to the heater tubes. 

 

Even in my severe climate an auxiliary gas heater is not needed. During those few periods in which the temps drop below 0 at night, the gas heater would be a nice addition as it eliminates engine warm up time. 

After much trial & error on my JPS Coupe, I also bypassed the frame and wrapped the PVC pipes that carry the heat forward in insulation and added German heater boxes. This improved the heat quite a bit, to the point we could drive it in all but the coldest (this year) winter weather here in Pennsylvania.

Troy:

 

Thanks for posting that old link. I had lost track of that whole fix.

Thanks for the update!  I had been skeptical about whether the frame bypass mod would really be worthwhile for a colder climate.  Now I know that it is.

FYI. Alan's (Dr. Clock) mod, is a little more involved, but will probably get you even better heat in the cabin, because it is a shorter distance from the heat exchangers to the vents.

The mods I've done to some do make the tunnel (once warm) act as radiating heat to the point where the E' Brake gets quite warm to the touch.

If that's the case, I would expect that the grease on the shift rod and bushing inside of the tunnel, as well as the grease in the cup at the bottom of the shift lever shaft would thin out with the heat and evaporate over a winter season.  Not a big deal, just remember to re-grease everything every Spring (but you must remove the shift lever assembly to get grease in there).  

I've had it with the heat thing. I think it's highly over-rated. I don't drive my car with the top up unless it's raining. If it's cold and raining...I'm driving the wrong car. I have a pair of very nice heater boxes that I'm removing and may sell. Plenty of heat with the top up and side curtains in, but that ain't me. I'm leaning toward the Corey Drake method of helmet and goggles and warm clothes. (Gortex)

 

I hear you Al. I never really worried about heat until this year. Normally my car is covered and buried under 8 feet of snow from Oct to May. Now that winter has been cancelled at Lake Tahoe this year I wanted to drive it. No snow does not equate to warm weather, just no storms coming our way. In the Summer it almost never goes above 80F here, but at night it can drop into the 30’s in July and Aug. I do not want to put the top up in the evening so I want some heat even in Summer.


"Always look on the bright side of life"

Warmest Regards,


Noel H. Farmer
Worlds Greatest Authority

May the heat be with you , Brother. Best of luck and stay warm. I would have driven my car today if it were not in re-hab. 50 degrees, dry and sunny. The previous owner of my car told me that he took it from Oregon to Tahoe. Look around for some DNA. (red and tired)