Tonight looking at ways to shed some weight on a leviathan of a Rickman ranger i intend to throw at a few trials sections in due course, I turned my attention to the bulky mk 2 escort heater unit lurking under the ugly dash in this whale of a car.
I obviously have not weighed it yet but it looks like replacing it with something else smaller could save a good few pounds at the front end of the car too.
Now my idea.. For my sins i have a 1953 ford prefect the old dit up and beg style not the 100E, this car as a heater of sorts that basically lives between the radiator top hose and the engine block upper outlet. I would post a picture of this heater but photobucket as changed these days and i am none too sure how to post pictures now.
This heater is tiny and a virtual duplicate easily made from a small trials bike radiator or even a heater matrix proper off a small car. The prefect heater sens a little heat along a pipe into the car and helps keep the screen clear in cold weather, it is no way a modern heating system, Now have any tried similar ideas or other heating ideas that dispense with the heavy road car heater systems and yet manage to at least demist the screens a little. weight is what i want to shed here, at the expense of a little comfort. Any advice please.

[Edited on 17/4/12 by deep blue]

Do you need a heater?

If yes, there are some electric ones available which might suffice for de-misting duties - think car builder solutions sell them.

Well the Rickman is a closed car and i am not sure it will keep the screen clear, a little heat flowing through from the electric heater may work i did not think about using one of them to be honest. Good idea..

replace with 2 or 3 12v hairdriers (used in caravans ) nice and light, instant heat, etc. not sure on the wiring requirements, but got to be better than a matrix heater? couple of quid each off ebay too

Looked at these the other day.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/in-car-ceramic-heater-48775

Very small but no idea how effective. Cheap enough to try possibly.

John.

I stripped the radiator core from my Cortina heater unit and built it into a small wooden box with the fan from the Cortina heater unit pulling air in and through the radiator. I also put a flap inside the box to direct air to either the screen or footwells in my Se7en.

This provided enough air and heat to convince the SVA man whilst reducing the weight by around 80%. I've used it a lot and it's always produced more than enough heat despite being crude in the extreme

I've knocked up a small heater out of a matrix and a couple of high power computer fans. The size is dictated by how small a heater matrix you get hold of.

Have a look about halfway down this page to get the idea.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=62214&page=4

It's an idea I saw on another site years' ago but can't remember where to credit the innovator.

+ 1 for computer fans. Hole at each corner so easy to mount, low current consumption. If you live near a place that does PC repairs get them to save a couple of the old power supplies because those fans are perfect for the job.
I used a couple on a Citroen 2CV, only way of getting blown in a 2CV.

Could you not just duct in a bypass of air from behind the radiator?