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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ oil cooler as a heater

Posted by: pete-stevers Sep 10 2005, 03:00 PM

just had an idea has anybody used a front mounted oil cooler to heat the passenger compartment of the car......as i am running headers i figure this might be a simple solution to running heat exchangers
if so any pics or directions

Posted by: McMark Sep 10 2005, 03:09 PM

AFAIK, nobody has done it. Lots of people have talked about it. Depending on how much heat you need to get rid of, you could remove the blower motor and install a cooler instead. It would take some custom fiberglass work to duct the air to the passenger compartment. I think with a little work, this could be a kick ass solution. Maybe someday I'll do the FG work and send it to James to make up molds.

Posted by: Travis Neff Sep 10 2005, 03:11 PM

I think you would lose a ton of heat just getting back into the cabin, and will need some serious fans. The stock exchangers get a lot hotter than an oil cooler will. The single fan does the job, but you are also getting airflow from the engine cooling fan as well.

Might work well if you put the cooler under the fresh air inlet. But you'd lose the wipers and have to redo your fresh air system to compensate, then also all you would have is heat.

Lastly, how long before your car heats up enough for the thermostat to start openening? That may take a while. And on super cold days your thermostat may hardly open up at all.

Posted by: GeorgeRud Sep 10 2005, 03:23 PM

Not wanting to ambush the thread, but how about an electric heating grid or a Webasto gas fired heater ( I think they sell them under the Blue Flame name for trucks???). I'm afraid that by the time we get the engineering done, the stainless B&B heat exchangers may be the cheapest way to go. The original factory exchangers are still available, though at $2200 per side according to Stoddard. If we could only promise SSI that there could be a market for heat exchangers as nice as his 911 ones, that would be Nirvana for converted 914s!

Posted by: Dave_Darling Sep 10 2005, 03:52 PM

Electric heaters don't heat up enough.

The gas ones are interesting--the installation would be a bit of a challenge, but it should provide plenty of instant-on heat!

The availble aftermarket 914-6 heat exchangers are, umm, not exactly of the best quality. It can take an awful lot of work to get them to actuall bolt up to everything...

--DD

Posted by: scotty b Sep 10 2005, 04:10 PM

Hey Admins...can we get this nailed??

Posted by: pete-stevers Sep 10 2005, 04:15 PM

quit pokin the admins.....they have had a rough couple of days
they paid me to say that

Posted by: TimT Sep 10 2005, 04:21 PM

We have used the 911 engine mounted oil cooler to provide heat.

We fabbed up some shrouds, etc.. and heated a northeast car via oil cooler

sorry dont have pics..

you can do it

think outside the box

Posted by: MecGen Sep 10 2005, 04:27 PM

Hey
I looked into this a few years back. The type one boys have a kit for the Beattle that can be addapted to the 914.
But I think the common complaint is lack off heat.
Like said before for the best option for heat is still the OEM, but Who can fucking afford it ?

Keep us informed on what you dig up
Later

Posted by: pete-stevers Sep 10 2005, 04:42 PM

i knew some one had done it....i think i am going try it

Posted by: lapuwali Sep 10 2005, 06:54 PM

I've certainly thought about this, esp. when I had a /6. The plumbing to get it to feed into one of the stock heater tubes in the longs wouldn't be a huge deal, allowing you to leave the cooler in the engine bay, and minimize the risk of getting any oil spraying into the cabin if it leaks. However, one major problem is that the oil usually takes a good long time to heat up, and adding a second oil cooler will slow down the process even more.

You can duct air off the cooling fan just like the stock HE solution and have plenty of airflow.

I'd probably want a smallish electric heater to demist/defrost the windscreen, which wouldn't take too much heat to accomplish. This would allow you to get under way quicker before the real heat from the oil cooler kicks in.

Posted by: SpecialK Sep 11 2005, 01:00 AM

I did it to my baja bug (one oil cooler mounted on the rear spoiler, one mounted in a box on the back shelf with a fan........flow controlled by plumbing on/off valves), and all it did was take the chill out of the car, and keep the rear window defrosted (Colorado winters).............it didn't put out as much heat as I originally thought, but it definitely did hurt.

Posted by: DJsRepS Sep 11 2005, 04:25 PM

I have a friend in fla has an oil cooler in the front trunk and is used as a heater. Yes it has been done and yes it works.