Eberspacher BN-2 install in the Hoopty

Awwww......It's so CUTE!   Looks like a little fire extinguisher!

It's also slightly more accessible than mine.  Nice job with the mounting location, and I'm surprised (maybe shouldn't be) to see the rubber safety cover on the glow plug - I never had one on mine but it makes sense, even if it is just regular 12 volts.  I see an Engineering Change coming for mine.  

Let us know if you need some help with the plenum - just send a dimensioned drawing and tell us what the material is (aluminum or steel) and we'll have at it.  Cutting holes in thin-ish Aluminum is not a problem up here in the Frozen Tundra.   Keeping it warm in the shop is a little harder.

Nice work, Cory!

Mad skills Cory, I'm truly impressed!

Nice metal work; I dig it! Especially the cheque pattern to match the valve covers. Question: this thing has its own tiny gas tank? Why?

What’s next?  A/C and power windows?

Just kidding, of course.  I bow to your amazing skills, Oh Hoopty Pilot.

edsnova posted:

Nice metal work; I dig it! Especially the cheque pattern to match the valve covers. Question: this thing has its own tiny gas tank? Why?

I intend to use canned, ethanol-free gas, Ed. At three ounces an hour, it’ll last a while. Plus, I really don’t want to tie this to my primary fuel source. It needs to be modular.

Gordon Nichols posted:

Awwww......It's so CUTE!   Looks like a little fire extinguisher!

It's also slightly more accessible than mine.  Nice job with the mounting location, and I'm surprised (maybe shouldn't be) to see the rubber safety cover on the glow plug - I never had one on mine but it makes sense, even if it is just regular 12 volts.  I see an Engineering Change coming for mine.  

Let us know if you need some help with the plenum - just send a dimensioned drawing and tell us what the material is (aluminum or steel) and we'll have at it.  Cutting holes in thin-ish Aluminum is not a problem up here in the Frozen Tundra.   Keeping it warm in the shop is a little harder.

Nice work, Cory!

Gordon, thanks. The rubber piece came from Danny. I’ll let you know on fabrication, too. I think I may have a plan — but won’t be in the garage again for a day or two.

Mad skills Cory.  Might come in handy on the mountain tops in Sept.

Been watching and offering pot-shots on FB.  The Man has a vision, and lots of help from those who have gone down the road before him.  It will be grand.  As in Touring, The GT Hoopty -- BWAAAHAHAHA, ooops, sorry, that just slipped out.

Very cool, Cory!

Nice to have you back here.

Uh.......Cory,  do you have a top ?  Your clamshell body would make that really tough.

Very clean work as usual.

Terry Nuckels posted:

Very cool, Cory!

Nice to have you back here.

Thanks, Terry!

Al Gallo posted:

Uh.......Cory,  do you have a top ?  Your clamshell body would make that really tough.

Very clean work as usual.

Thank you, Al!

there is a top in progress. Hideous and banal, but it’s a WIP. It’ll stand off of the roll bars and use 356C latches, on a Y-shaped frame profile ... and it’s ugly so far.

Let me establish safe heat, and we’ll move on to un-f***ing that.

The top, as it hangs on hooks, upside-down, in the basement. No side curtains yet, and no slack adjusters. It’s next on the punchlist.

Al Gallo posted:

Uh.......Cory,  do you have a top ?  Your clamshell body would make that really tough.

Very clean work as usual.

Ha - was going to say maybe you should opt for the bigger VW Bus BN4 heater in the Hoopty!  It will heat the state of RI.

Years ago I had a '72 VW bus - went on a ski trip to PA with friends.   No gas heater so I used a Coleman propane catalytic heater in center of bus (with a cracked open window).  All was fine til at a rest stop someone threw their down filled parka on the heater.  Drove next 2 hours with windows down due to smell of singed duck down feathers.

Tom Marantz recently bought a VW microbus camper with a factory-installed BA6 heater underneath.  That thing is enormous!  Last I heard, he was going to totally remove it and replace it with a modern, Airtronic B4.   I'm almost tempted to see if I could get the old BA6 and heat my shop with it!

gimmee!

Wow!!  But really, wouldn't it be easier, all told, to stick in a Subbie??

Nice work, Cory!

El Frazoo posted:

Wow!!  But really, wouldn't it be easier, all told, to stick in a Subbie??

No. 

Can a microbus  get to 60mph?    I had a 1973 Westfalia and it was a rowing trip most times to get it going. 

IaM-Ray posted:

Can a microbus  get to 60mph?    I had a 1973 Westfalia and it was a rowing trip most times to get it going. 

Of course:

Gordon, the glow plug cover is a coil boot from Accel or Mallory and it's silicone.

Cory could put AN fitting T in place and simply cap it, but he's not listening to my KISS principles. Come to think of it, his fuel cell already has an extra AN bung on it.......

Anyway, these heaters really don't care what fuel they get as long as it's wet and it burns.

And yes, a BA6 could definitely heat a shop, I know of a single car garage heated with a BN-2 piped in and out of a wall in recirculate mode.

Kelly, just no on a Suby being an easier way to get heat. Did you really think that thought through? A BN-2 weighs 11 pounds. Watercooling, radiator, heater core, and associated plumbing adds a boatload more weight than a measly 11 pounds. Of course, I'll submit Cory's added complexity MAY total 20 pounds. But like he says, his IS removable.

I agree.  They're really simple, don't take a lot to make them serviceable and just keep on working.  It's a great heat alternative.  The new ones are pricey, but no more so than a pair of decent, stainless heater boxes.

hey the guy had lunch at taco bell

Thanks to all who showed interest in this project. It’s done-ish, with only cosmetics remaining. Good, predictable heat, a couple small lessons learned about this unit’s peculiarities, and we’ve tested its output on a 38° day to good effect.

Thank you, Danny. This is fantastic.

Nice ... But I can’t see the flux capacitor.

Well done, Cory.

   Flux Capacitor in stock ~

Impressive work, Cory.

Where oh where has that Wild Eyed Kid gone that I met with the suicide brakes and nerves of steel......   All these creature comforts just sort of creep up on you as you age don't they.......          Good job anyway....

Wait, wait...what all that smoke?

"Where oh where has that Wild Eyed Kid gone that I met with the suicide brakes and nerves of steel......  "

edsnova posted:

Wait, wait...what all that smoke?

It's what happens when you start the heater in the garage without running the engine. They draw quite a bit of juice when the glowplug is on, about 15 amps. So this makes the battery voltage drop and they really like about 14 volts to start. This makes the initial ignition take longer so more fuel is dumped into the heater, the low voltage delays the start, then LOTS of smoke. Some day someone will listen to the experienced person who restored this heater and used it for 8 years........

And not to mention the fireman who is trying to kill himself with carbon monoxide in his garage.