Remove heat and install electric heater?

88Stangboy

88Stangboy

Banned
Dec 12, 2005
342
0
0
Greenville, SC
#1
Im just wondering if i should consider removing my heater core, box all the lines, etc. and installing an electric heater from JC Whitney? Its one that actually wires into the electric system of my car, anyone had any experience with one of these? I was just wondering how much weight i could save by doing this? Im wanting to remove all the under-dash HVAC, heater core, box, blower i mean everything except the defroster duct, im going to use that with this electric heater. I have 3G alternator, i was also wondering if that would be enough, i also have an electric fan, the heater is a 12volt. Thanks for any help....:SNSign:
 
#4
I would get with the other member here who wanted to do it (Darkwriter 77 or something close to that) and compare notes.

Good luck.
 
#5
You can search for that thread.... I think he was planning on installing the electric unit outside of the HVAC system + keeping his stock heater core.

Maybe he'll see this and jump in.

I don't think that I would install the heating element inside the HVAC either... Mount it down by your feet. That will be good enough to keep you warm.
 
#6
I posted in that thread when i came out. But it got me thinking and i was wondering about it. I wasn't planning on installing it in my HVAC unit, i was going to take all of that out; the heater core, hvac unit and the entire blower assembly. And then i was going to install the heater in its place, mybe on the firewall someplace on the passenger side. Then use my factory windshield defrost so i would still have defrost. I was mainly wondering how much weight i would save by doing this? I was estimating around 40pnds with all the hoses, the blower motor, hvac, heater core, etc. It says that it puts out 25,000btu and 250cfm. All i have is an LX notch so i would imagine it would get toasty pretty quick..
 
#8
The electronics are not what concern me. It's the fact that you will have the electric heating element jammed into a small space with no air moving past it to cool it down. This is a fire hazard....
 
#10
slim fast!!

yeah plus one on the fire hazzard... there are alot of things you can take out before these....
theres lots of heavy safety features you can take out before you do this!!
 
#11
Well what about where my back seat used to be? Nothing there but bare metal now. My car is pretty much stripped as it is. No sound deadener whats so ever, summit seats, just about everything im willing to do, this is something else i'd like. So mybe i could mount it in the floor board where my back seat was. I wouldn't have to use it to often, winter here is pretty mild, like i went out yesterday all day working in the garage with the doors open in a tank top no problem, its just those cold mornings where i'd want to knock the chill off the car. No heat is not an option. I've already went through two heater cores and im sick of it, so i've got to do something. This is the only alternative that i can see. Any suggestions?
 
#12
In the back our at the bottom of the insturment panel will do fine. You just want it in a place that has a larger volume of air to cool the unit down. These heaters are just like space heaters for the home.... Except they don't turn off when they overheat.
 
#13
Sorry, I've been slow to jump in. Work sucks. :)

The back seat area was where I was planning to do mine, although I have yet to fabricate a proper rear seat delete for it, as of yet. (If I had a hatchback, one of those rear bulkhead kits I've seen listed would be great, but alas, it's a different story on the notch...) I'd have to agree with those above, that locating it inside the dash would not only be a major pain of an install, but it'd be a serious fire hazard. I was only thinking of putting mine in as a drop-in temporary setup for the winters, after which I could simply unplug it with a quick-disconnect setup on the wiring (surely only two wires involved in the whole deal), and remove whatever bracing I'd rigged up for it.

Maybe rigging up a little platform to sit on the driveline hump, with the vents blowing heat right between the seats to the front, and use the seatbelt mounting bolts for bracket securing points...? (Once again, I have really, REALLY gotta get some welding skills...)
 
#14
All of the stuff only weighs around 30lbs. I just took mine out, but I don't drive the car at all when it's cold out. I have a B&M tranny cooler I am going to bolt to the floor where the rear seats used to be(no carpet), if I need it a little warmer. It's a lot stronger than a heater core. And then use a small fan right where the defrost vents are just to keep the windows unfogged. It would be fairly easy to just build a box around a heater core and cut an opening on each end or vents with a fan on one side to push the air through and mount it wherever. The Mojave heater they sell is pretty much just that. You don't really need to weld it together, just rivet or screw it together if you don't have a welder.
 
#15
fabricating is no prob. i have plenty of welding skills, welder, etc. I was just wondering if a 3G alt. would be sufficiant enough to power this along with an electric fan. I also have a console, anyone know about how large this heater is? diminsion wise? 30pnds is well worth taking all that out to me. Im about to go through my car and start taking out all the loose wires i dont need, painstaking i know, but the mybe 5pnds of all loose wires, connectors, wrapping, etc. is worth it to me. And plus those damn heater cores are about to make me pop a blood vessel in my eye if i have to change another one.
 
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