Got a Baja.. looking for alternative heating sources?

[ButchW]

I've got a Baja bug I just acquired. No heater boxes etc., because of the Baja setup.. heat/defrost cables not there yadda, yadda. Looking for an economic heating alternative for this one. Anybody know of any efficient electric heaters... or??????

Ideas welcome. Thx.

[super beetle]

Won't help with defrost, but mid america has heated seat pads.

[ALYKAT III]

Gas heater. Not all that easy to find,not real cheap, but very effective

[E_bug]

Copper lines close or wrapped on the exhaust and a heater unit from a junkyard econo box along with its heatrer matrx.

And a lot of diy bliss.

I forgott the circulation pump from a w124 merc or audi vw... For the coolant.

[ButchW]

Copper lines close or wrapped on the exhaust and a heater unit from a junkyard econo box along with its heatrer matrx.

And a lot of diy bliss.

I forgott the circulation pump from a w124 merc or audi vw... For the coolant.

Well now.. that sounds interesting. Know of anybody who has done this?
I would think you'd have to find a way to control the temp of the coolant
too.. but the copper lines wrapped around one side of the
exhaust would definitely generate heat. Hmmmm have to ponder this one.

thx.

[foreverska]

I have a friend who did it on his turbo Miata. Said it got TOO warm at times. Maybe a bypass valve shorting the leg that's attached to the exhaust would cool it down a bit.

[ButchW]

Has anybody tried this ceramic heater that Amazon sells? The cab of a VW is relatively small.. may be an alternative. For defrost I can hookup a blower unit to run through the original defrost ducts. So long as the cab is warm I think it would work.. If I kept the Beetle in the garage it would at least be warm in the mornining running to work.. it's coming back from work when your teeth would be chattering. Maybe a combo of this... heated seat cover.. and ???

It's funny that as long as people have been looking for alternative heat sources that somebody hasn't invented something yet. A good radiant heater for inside the car would work if you could hookup a separate fan/blower.

Need to do more research.. This is FUN! If anybody finds any diagrams/pics .. please post.

thx.

[ButchW]

OK.. I think I found the solution!

[Steve Arndt]

I have a gas heater in my baja.
here is a pic;
download/file.php?id=10141

[Piledriver]

OK.. I think I found the solution!

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/download/ ... p?id=11723
When I lived in upstate NY I considered that for my Bus.

The only way an electric heater is going to be viable is if you install a decent (100A++) alternator, and have everything sealed/insulated very well.

I voted with my wallet and have a BN4 in the squareback now, go with the late BN4 (or newer), much better heater.

[ALYKAT III]

Yeah, do a search on thesamba.com for bn4 and there is a decent thread on them.

[Piledriver]

You can buy a refurbished BN4 for ~$600, out of season possibly for less.

I'm running the one I pulled out of a 72 Bus 25 years ago after I used it for years in NY.
(The rustworms got the bus, but the heater and the engine live on...)
I dug it out of a box, replaced the pump (the old one had issues), and it ~fired right up.

It rocks a lot harder when it's in the trunk and the outlet is right near your feet.
(I was actually happy to have to run some deflectors into the AC blower to keep my feet from roasting, it blows it around the car well)

[Steve Arndt]

I have a 20,000 BTU per hour Stewart Warner. Fully customized with shielded MSD coil wire, LS2 truck TTL coil, custom 18 hz spark rate solid state spark controller, electronic fuel pump with custom setup regulator, and it rocks.

[ButchW]

You can buy a refurbished BN4 for ~$600, out of season possibly for less.

I'll have to look and see what this is... Sounds promising... expensive, but promising.

[ButchW]

Alright you guys.. I hope you led me down the right path.. I'm takin' it on faith this will work!

Bought a BN4.. Ebay.. $300. May need some futzin'.. but looks ok. Whaddya think?