Heat in a Type 4 speedster

Old rotted out Beetle, on a late night return from a NYS bar to NJ, we lit a can of Sterno and held it be the windshield ....and we think MacGyver was good ~

@WNGD posted:

Didn't anyone else drive with a credit card in hand to use as a mobile windshield defroster? Scrape the inside frost off as you drive

You had a credit card?

Lucky.

.

When she is not along with me, my wife puts down my Speedster outings as ‘just driving around aimlessly’.

When we go out together, we are ‘enjoying a pleasant afternoon’.

I think having some form of heat will significantly affect how much you end up just driving around aimlessly and how many pleasant afternoons you will enjoy.

This is an open car. As the factory pointed out, the top is for ‘emergencies’. No amount of heat will make it a four-season car as we understand that term today. But having some heat, even in a mild climate, can extend the useful driving season, or even the hours of the day you can be driving in comfort in the off-season.

If you’re investing a lot of time and capital in the planning and building of this car, why not make the most of your investments?

.

@Stan Galat posted:

You had a credit card?

Lucky.

In retrospect, it may have been a plastic library card

If my one experience with gas heaters is any indication, small air leaks wouldn’t be much of a problem. We drove a friend of my brother’s Conv D in January with the top down. (Until my tennis shoe just about caught fire from sitting in front of the vent)

All you need is a cigarette lighter

@WNGD posted:

All you need is a cigarette lighter

This might work for an ant.

we call them fart blowers,,point them towards the passenger:}

@Gordon Nichols posted:

@Robert M wrote: "On really cold days it can be a while before you get mediocre heat."  

With the regular heater boxes, that's true.

I included that in my original thought but someone how it didn't make it to the post I wrote.

That was the point I wanted to make. Phil is building a bad a$$ (the way I wrote that is true in more than one way) car and to skimp on not including a gas/electric heater would be a mistake. On really cold days those heater boxes aren't going to cut it.

This is just to close the loop.  Sometimes I really envy you guys in CA.  All this car talent and expertise so close by.  When my engine is ready to be dyno'd I'm going to make a trip to Cali and meet all of these fantastic people.  I'll probably swing by and see Greg Leach and thank him for building me such an awesome Spyder.

So...a guy named Tiger Vasquez who owns A1 Performance in Sant Anna CA is going to make a custom exhaust for me similar to the one in the picture.  Pat Downs will use it to dyno the engine.  It will be shipped to Carey in Bremen where he will add heater boxes.  Then it will be ceramic coated flat black.

@550 Phil posted:

This is just to close the loop.  Sometimes I really envy you guys in CA.  All this car talent and expertise so close by.  When my engine is ready to be dyno'd I'm going to make a trip to Cali and meet all of these fantastic people.  I'll probably swing by and see Greg Leach and thank him for building me such an awesome Spyder.

So...a guy named Tiger Vasquez who owns A1 Performance in Sant Anna CA is going to make a custom exhaust for me similar to the one in the picture.  Pat Downs will use it to dyno the engine.  It will be shipped to Carey in Bremen where he will add heater boxes.  Then it will be ceramic coated flat black.

Make sure you let me know when you're coming to visit. We'll all meet at Pat's shop for the dyno and then have some lunch or dinner.

@Robert M posted:

Make sure you let me know when you're coming to visit. We'll all meet at Pat's shop for the dyno and then have some lunch or dinner.

Sounds great. There are a few in front of me. Pat said it would probably be close to October.

@550 Phil posted:

Sounds great. There are a few in front of me. Pat said it would probably be close to October.

That gives you something to anticipate. I know my anticipation of a 2.6L T4 would be as a kid at Christmas.

I abandoned the idea of installing a heater on the exhaust system of my T4.

I didn't know the specifity of the 912E, very interesting.