My gutted Old Navy truck had no heater box in it or wiring harness when I got it. The recirculating heater in the parts truck was shot. I picked up a fresh air heater which needs a little work. The blower motor in the recirculating heater only had one wire coming from it. The blower motor in the fresh air heater has two. Whassup wit dat? Enlighten me please. Next...if I replace the blower motor with a 12 volt version, how does that affect the stock, original paddle switch? You know, the one with the fuse on the back of it that says "HEAT" on the paddle switch? Do I run 12 volts to the switch because the new motor is 12 volts? Will it damage this very elusive part which is made of unobtanium? Or...do I buy a new 6 volt version of the fan motor (assuming neither of these motors work) and run a resistor BEFORE the switch and not worry about the voltage mismatch? Yes, my truck is converted to 12 volts. Andy
Heater Switches Andy ; Herin lies some AD trivia I don't know well but I'll take a stab at it : Early heaters had a one speed fan switch that said " AIR " on it , the later switch had two speeds (two positions) and said " HEAT " on it . Some of the early '47.1 series AD's used the old '41 ~ '47 heater that had two seperate blower motors on them and the (seperate but similar) defrost fan switch said " DEF " on it . Now you know why there's so many different ones on E-Pay . (plus of course , Philco made almost duplicate copies for years & years) Anyways , I don't know about the resistor's ability to handle 12 volts so maybe use a 6 volt blower motor with the resistor before the switch ? I have a battered fresh air heater I plan to rebuild , I bought the 12 volt fan motor from Grainger , it looks different (not correct looking) and only has one wire so I'll experiment running 12 volts through the original two speed switch I have , it's crumbly anyways so if it turns on fire , no biggie , I'll replace it .
Chiro, I just finished redoing my fresh air heater. I had the core fixed and bought the 12 volt motor from CP. The shaft is the same. I had to use a rat tail file to spread the holes where the motor mounts to the housing but that allowed the squirrel cage to stay centered in the housing. The motor has really long studs that would stick way into the engine compartment so I cut them off and file the sharp ends so they would look like the original. The old motor and the new both had 2 wires on mine. One is a ground that goes to a screw on the housing and the other goes to the heater switch mounted ont he dash. I also bought the 12 volt heater switch from CP. It is the round, maroon knob that says heater and has a little bulb in it so that it lights up when you turn it on. Mine has the outlet on top for the defrosters with a baffle that needs a cable like the ones for the throttle or choke. I probably could have found some cheaper duct but, since I was buying the motor and switch from CP I went ahead and ordered their duct too. I am about ready to put it all back together this weekend. Here is a link to the assembly manual. http://www.angelfire.com/d20/51chevaccman/51accassman_0037.htm It may or may not load correctly. I got it to load the images on my computer at work but I can't get it to load at home for some reason. If it loads, it should help you out. Gater
Gator - great site, do you know which manual its info comes from? I was wondering how to hook up the hoses between the water pump, heater and control valve. Ditto about the second wire, it's just a ground. LWJ
Two of the best resources on the internet! 1. Nathan Hall aka vwnate1, nate, grand poobah, sage, master of all that is known. 2. The Old Car Manual Project. This website is devoted to finding, reproducing and posting several manuals from shop manuals, owner's manuals, restoration packs, etc. The Chevy section is the most extensive in the project. Here is a link you should bookmark, add to your favorites list or however you store your resources. http://chevy.tocmp.com The manual that Gater posted the pics from is from the Chevrolet Accessories Installation Manual for 1951 Passenger Cars and All Trucks. You can view it in its entirety on this site. Take some time to look through this site. I can't speak highly enough about it.
Andy~ I know you're trying to build your ride with the fewest $$$ involved, but think about this. One of your younguns will wind up with this ride while you're building 3 more. (over time) Maybe what you need to look into is some of that "Custom Air" (or whatever it's called). You knowone of your kids is going to be tossing his guitar in the back of this rig and heading out with his honey~ Finish this right by putting in Vintage(?) air. Yes, $$$, but do you think he'll dump this ride anytime soon? Everything that you went through to get history rollin' again? And, when he's rolling through town with the windows up on one heck of a hot day, but chillin' with his babe on the inside- you don't think he'll think to himself, "Dad, YOU ROCK!" (?) I just had to throw this in, Andy. True?
ROTARY Heater Switches Are a whole 'nother thing ~ not used by GM , Cornbinder liked them in the 1940's though and NAPA's Echlin line and Standard Ignition , Cole -Hersey , all these still make them and prolly sell for 1/2 what any old car/truck vendor does . The only differance between the 6 and 12 volt versions is : the tiny lightbulb and yes , I've used these to very good effect over the years as they're a true variable resistor , not a two position switch like the GM one was . If you go to E-Pay and put in " Heater Switch " you'll be rewarded with hundreds (if not thousands) of choices in new and used , original and repop heater fan switches for sale.... I even bought one of those wierd '49 F**d DeLuxe heater switches , the ones that have _four_ connections on them and (IIRC) eight different positions , they work like this : for heater blower they run the fan one way but twisting it past the zero point of the dial reverses the current flow and blows air out the defroster vents ~ this same setup was on the heater in my old '49 (? '50 ?) Dodge B1B 1/2 ton pickup so many years ago...... More useless trivia for Ken to marvel at I suppose
Yes Zig, Vintage Air is definately in the plan for this ride. As is the multi-carb setup with Fenton headers and a nice polished engine dress-up kit, bee hive oil filter, chromed bat-wing air cleaners (if they will fit on the multi-carb setup), etc. BUT...these things will have to wait for now and are good things for the kids to do later on when they gain more skills with tools and such. Remember, this project is designed to be CONTINUALLY worked on by the kids as they grow (keep them out of trouble). Therefore much will be left undone while I pile them in and take them for ice cream on a nice summer's night. Plan is to get it on the road and then finish it over time as we work on the next ride. I am currently negotiating a '54 GMC (YES, it's a "G") Suburban buried deep in the Georgia woods. It has stock driveline with a hydramatic in it. A rare beast indeed and more than fitting for our next project as a surf-mobile. I may drop it on an S10 frame and make it a "Surf Monster", but that is all up in the air right now as I don't know if I can even get the beast to Long Island. The owners are older and taking their time getting me pics and info. That's okay with me for now as well. Andy
What??? ANDY! These are REAL TEARS falling on my 'puter!!! A G? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! "Catch a Wave"!
Fresh air Heater If anybody needs a fresh air heater let me know. It already has a 12V motor With two wires and heater core. I would love to see it go to a good home.
I have a recirq. heater that came out of the 53, but not origional. mounts the same, works fine. Also have a new 12 v. motor for it. My old switch that was in my truck that said heat used to get hot as fire when I ran it for long. If you go with an air system, use "Old Air" hidden system. it fires out of the speaker grill, and is predomonantly hidden from view. I have put in 3 of these, and they go right in.
