Heater vent question

See. page VII-4 of the 1984 CMC build manual in Resources/Library tab here.  It give NAPA part # and instructions.  

Or are you looking for the instructions DrClock uses to run heat thru the center tunnel? I know there was a thread with photos but can't find it.

https://www.speedsterowners.com...me-decide-on-heating

There are references to routing tubing from the heater boxes on the engine, bypassing the frame, to the front of the cabin. My questions are, where does the tubing attach to the front part of the cabin; what does the setup look like Where the heat enters the cabin? I don't want to use the tunnel. I am looking to get away from the original setup to something more effective. Thanks. 

I've posted about bypassing the frame many times.  According to your profile, have a Vintage so it should already have the tubing that runs under the rocker panels to the heater vents.  You just take that tubing off the frame connection at the rear and connect it to the new tubing that you route directly from the heater boxes.  Very simple and very effective.

I don't have time to search for the old posts with that explains it all and has pictures. 

Here is what was written previously and the photos.

The video shows the air flow after doing the frame bypass on Bob Eiland's car.

The frame bypass has been discussed on here many times, but here are some links and pictures. The big problem is that the air from both heat exchangers is being forced into the small square body frame. The pictures below show the black hose bypassing the frame and going directly from the heat exchanger to the tube that runs under the rocker panels and leads to the front vents. You can see the inlet behind the shock in the first picture below (just across from the circled heat exchanger outlet) and the outlet in the second picture below, that is where it get restricted.

The pictures I posted are by passing the frame. Do you see the white square metal with the round tube coming out of it? That is the frame and that tube is where the heat comes out and goes into the tubes that run up to the front of your car. Do you see the white tube directly across from the heat exchanger outlet that I circled in blue? That is where the heat goes into that square metal tube from the heat exchanger. The square metal tube goes all the way across the back of your car and the other heat exchanger connects to it on the other side. Do you see how big the heat exchanger outlet is compared to the smaller tube that the hot air is being forced into? Well that is where all the restriction is. Both sides are trying to force all that air into that smaller white frame tube. The black tubing in the pictures bypasses all of that on both sides and all of your hot air can flow unrestricted.

 3 feet/side of this stuff.  Rated to 225 degrees. http://dcthermal.com/catalog/2...igh-temperature-hose

I drive my car in the winter and I'm going to make this mod later this week when I change out my wheels to studded tires(!).  There was some discussion awhile ago about using SCEET hose (expensive, but very heat resistant and has a smooth lining for bettern air flow) as well as using 2 1/2 to 2" exhaust reducers to join the ducting to the plastic hose that runs alongside the pan to the front of the car.  It should improve the defog/defrosting capability if nothing else.   

My recollection is that Dr. Clock highly recommended moving the heater outlets to the tunnel and running the heat through it by cutting two holes in the horseshoes, then welding to accept the hoses from the heat exchangers and reinforce the holes a bit.  It seems to me that running the heat through the inside of the car should provide for less heat loss.  I just can't weld worth anything and the solution Troy talks about is basically plug and play.

The big problem is that hopped-up beetle engines take a lot longer to warm up to operating temps in sub-freezing temperatures, even with the proper flaps & thermostat setup (which most non-stock engines seem to lack).  In addition, the exhaust configuration on the replicas sacrifices a source of heat that the beetles used to use.  I believe that later models of stock beetles funnelled the air from the fan shroud through mini-preheat boxes that encircled the 2nd and 4th cylinders' exhaust pipes.  Those boxes had outlets that connected to the big heat exchangers (which transfer heat from the 1st and 3rd cylinders).  It's this inlet on the big heat exchangers to which the hoses on our replicas are usually connected. 

Keep in mind that gas heaters were a dealer item for beetles and kombis in far northern climates.  There's a reason for this.  Even the stock engines when new and in optimum shape simply did not push out a lot of heat in freezing weather, particularly when compared to most of the other cars on the market which had radiators. My parents had a VW van for a number of years when I was growing up in Wisconsin.  It didn't have a gas heater and was pretty cool - particularly in the winter.

(Not the actual van but the same paint and same olive/yellow plaid upholstery) 

On the plus side, think of a cold car as a built-in safety feature - since the car is basically not much warmer than it is outside you're always prepared if you're stranded!

Ted:

When I was a kid I went skiing in Vermont regularly with a bunch of friends and one of the Moms would drive us in her 13-window VW bus.  It had a gas heater and once she turned that beast on it would drive everyone out.  Windows down or opened, strip off the sweaters and even then it was pretty warm in there.  

It was only a few years later, when someone new joined our group and his Dad had a Bus with a gas heater, did we learn that you could turn the heat output down on a gas heater to make it more comfortable - not drive you out!

I guess I am not asking my question correctly.

I am clear on how to hook up tubing to the engine to bypass the frame and run it to the front area of the car.

I am unclear about how to make the front end of the tubing connect to the front of the cabin where my feet are placed. Do you cut a hole in the kickpanel area above the frame, near where your ankles are, or what? That is what it looks like in the video. What kind of vent it used? How and where is it attached to the tubing carrying the heat? Do pictures exist of those connections? I have seen the vent coming out of the back door edge, that is not what I want to do.

Sorry to beat this to death but I really want to see the front if someone can point me in that direction.

JBL

JBL

Yes, you cut a hole near your ankles, and that is exactly what you see in the video Troy posted. Also shown in that video is the chrome looking heat control door. You can purchase this part from Vintage - http://www.vintagespeedsters.com/parts/interior.php -

What is missing is the transition from the round hose to the wall of the kick space, and that can be handled many different ways. Look for some plastic plumbing fittings to help?  Without that, trim to the hose to match your opening and surround and bond to the body with some epoxy. It just stinks way less than regular fiberglass resin.

65tuxedo / JBL....just a thought here. You don't mention any need to bring warm air up to the windshield defrost area so there's another easy and effective option if you want to heat up the cabin area but not necessarily bring heat duct all the way to your foot well. I bring my heat from the rear just up to and then thru the bulkhead on each side of the car just about where your elbow is when your in the seat. Just about at the rear end of your door on each side. A short length for the heat to flow and it pretty much blows up to the foot well from there anyway.

Bim55 is right.  The other suggestions are just how to make the system more effective. 

@ Gordon - that reminds me of a big old apartment building I used to live in that had steam radiators.  They were pretty much constantly on full blast throughout the entire winter (sounded like a bunch of little steam locomotives sitting at a station)  and the only way we could figure out to moderate the heat was to turn some of them off or open windows.  

It was only about ten years after I'd moved that I learned there were such things as steam radiator thermostats!