Heater options

[martinclan56]

I am currently re-making the front bulkhead of DRL152K and, as that is where it may be mounted, I am thinking about heater options. I wondered what others have done and I have a few questions.

Is it worth the effort fitting windscreen demisters? I will only occasionally be using a hood.
Is it worth trying to get fresh air in, or is a simple recirculating heater the better (and simpler!) option.
And where is the best place to mount the heater? I was going to put it on top the bulkhead, as per the manual, but if I use one of the smaller aftermarket jobbies (T7 design is favourite) it's probably small enough to sit under the dashboard on top of the transmission tunnel.

Cheers, Robin

[listerjp2]

Re: Heater options

I have a T7 and I put mine on the transmission tunnel.

Regards

Adrian

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Heater options

I changed the heater on the Roadster that's currently on sale here for one of T7 designs [4.3 kilowatt with grill] .To be honest I found that there was only marginal improvement over the original that Geoff Grumble put together using what I assumed to be the original Marina matrix housed in a custom alloy hosing of his design/manufacture and powered by twin 12v computer fans!

[duncan]

Re: Heater options

My Marlin is not quite finished yet - but I'm not fitting a heater!

I have been driving my "Device" for eight years now without a heater - so in the name of simplicity....

[martinclan56]

Re: Heater options

OK. Thanks for the suggestions 😀
One question remains in my mind however. Is it worth the effort of fitting windscreen demister vents?
Cheers Robin

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Heater options

Easier to do so now!

[kahawi]

Re: Heater options

On a return journey from Castle Combe, supposed to be a jolly club day out, we managed a flat tyre. Although I’ve had all the wheels off numerous times at home in the garage, I’d never done this on the road, beside a fast dual carriageway at night in the pouring rain. Needless to say the jack wouldn’t fit under the now lowered car, the jack handle didn’t work against the kerb (six inches deep in mud) the locking wheel nuts had all to be shuffled round, due to the spare wheel requiring a different thread depth.

In short, by the time we’d finished we were very glad to have the hood up, the heater going full blast and the windscreen vents working very hard to demist the steam coming off us both, as we dried out. Although we seldom use the heater, it’s well worth having on the rare occasion when you really need it.

[christopher.bogue2011]

Re: Heater options

I used the old style heater from a Mini, mounted underneath the dash and we'll set back and suspended slightly above the transmission tunnel but I suppose you could mount it into a wooden consul which can then be covered in coloured vinyl. I modified the heater slightly by swapping over the two large vents and turned one into a fresh air vent with a scoop cut into the engine side panel. I also made my own windscreen vents out of stainless as the Mini heater came with all the pipes and attachments.
I agree, that having a heater is a good thing and the demisters do work. The only down side with the setup that I have is that I have no way of shutting off the heat, even in the summer. I suppose it just needs some sort of valve fitting.