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 Post subject: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 11, 2016, 10:14 pm 
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Joined: February 9, 2016, 8:46 am
Posts: 392
Location: New Jersey
I'm wondering how many guys are running or plan on running some sort of heater / defroster. New Jersey says IF I have a windshield, I must have a defroster at least, and a washer as well. The legal part notwithstanding, who has a heater, and is it effective / worth the time and effort to put it in. I'm compromised putting it in the middle where Rod and a couple others I saw did, because of the bellhousing on the SBC requiring some creative dogleg work on the upper and lower cross members.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 11, 2016, 10:53 pm 
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Joined: July 29, 2006, 9:10 pm
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Location: Oregon, usually
Dismantalus wrote:
New Jersey says IF I have a windshield, I must have a defroster at least, and a washer as well.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-61598.html Not particularly effective, but you're not likely to be driving your Locost when an effective defroster is needed. For the washer, well, your donor came with one--stash the tank and motor under the hood someplace and stick the nozzles on the scuttle.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 11, 2016, 11:00 pm 
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Joined: October 24, 2008, 2:13 pm
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Location: Carlsbad, California, USA
I'm definitely planning on a heater, but not there yet. I did save my donor's heater core. I'll assume you have done likewise.

I do remember that raceral had defrosters, and my recollection is that he had a very nice all-around heater/defroster setup. His build log is here ==> viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2391 You'll have to poke through it for yourself to find the right pages(s), however.

Cheers,

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 5:25 am 
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Joined: February 9, 2016, 8:46 am
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Location: New Jersey
JackMcCornack wrote:
Dismantalus wrote:
New Jersey says IF I have a windshield, I must have a defroster at least, and a washer as well.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-61598.html Not particularly effective, but you're not likely to be driving your Locost when an effective defroster is needed. For the washer, well, your donor came with one--stash the tank and motor under the hood someplace and stick the nozzles on the scuttle.


Thanks, Jack. Procuring the stuff is easy enough. Vintage Air and a few others have a couple of decent units as well. That part I have covered. I was just wondering how many people actually installed them, and if they were effective enough to warrant the effort to put them in. I kind of painted myself into a corner if I want the battery in the normal locations, the pedal assembly penetrations / steering column, and the engine setback where it is for hood clearance and weight distrobution. If enough people think it is worth while, I'll figure a way to put the battery in the "Trunk", and put the heater on the passenger side.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 5:28 am 
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Location: New Jersey
Lonnie-S wrote:
I'm definitely planning on a heater, but not there yet. I did save my donor's heater core. I'll assume you have done likewise.

I do remember that raceral had defrosters, and my recollection is that he had a very nice all-around heater/defroster setup. His build log is here ==> viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2391 You'll have to poke through it for yourself to find the right pages(s), however.

Cheers,


Thanks to you also, Lonnie. I'll peruse that this morning. As far as saving the heater core, let's just say that the donor is a 1988 Camaro. This is one area where I'll spend a few bucks and get something new.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 7:18 am 
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Joined: September 22, 2005, 8:12 am
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
As far as building defroster ducting, it's way to much work for a useless item. The low pressure area behind the windshield will suck the hot air off the surface before it reaches a 1/3 of the way up, unless you have a closed cabin. Buy an RV 12V hair dry to pass inspection. Now a heater well worth fabing and will extend the driving season. I use my heater all the time for early morning blats. Dave W


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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 3:04 pm 
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Joined: September 15, 2014, 8:13 pm
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Of course, open cars don't fog up much...

But of course, I am in the same boat as Dismantalus. Unless I go without windshield, which crosses my mind about once a week or so. The NJ regs don't say you need one. In the state of bureaucratese, I am not sure that means the state interprets no windshield as OK or not.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 5:09 pm 
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I agree the defrosters are not probably going to be needed, I do disagree somewhat though that they are too much work to put in.
Especially if you don't go hi-tech
In the end though best go with what you think your State laws might require.
As far as the heater goes I took the time to install dash vents as well.
These I can direct on my body, face or hands where ever I choose and on the high speed setting are well worth the extra warmth they provide.
In fact I use the vents way more than I ever use the floor heater.
Plus if nothing else and you are from the sunny southern climates, one can use the heater as an extra radiator if you are stuck in traffic and your car starts to overheat. 8)

This part shows my heater details if you wish to take a look.

http://www.lotussuper7replica.com/heater.html

Al

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 5:48 pm 
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Location: Duxbury, MA USA
If I had a top, I would want a defroster. Without the top, functionally not needed. As far as heat goes, by the time I really need it, I tend to switch over to one of the closed cars.
What does NJ do now as far as generating a title for the car inspection-wise? I know that for annual inspection it is emissions only now. From what I hear from friends and family that still live there, the number of truly not road-worthy cars has noticeably increased.
When it rains, I would not mind wipers on both sides of the windshield...but it would look far too silly, even for this car.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 10:40 pm 
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Location: New Jersey
JPS Europa wrote:
If I had a top, I would want a defroster. Without the top, functionally not needed. As far as heat goes, by the time I really need it, I tend to switch over to one of the closed cars.
What does NJ do now as far as generating a title for the car inspection-wise? I know that for annual inspection it is emissions only now. From what I hear from friends and family that still live there, the number of truly not road-worthy cars has noticeably increased.
When it rains, I would not mind wipers on both sides of the windshield...but it would look far too silly, even for this car.


As of now, once the car is completed, you have to fill out the paperwork, providing all receipts, VIN numbers on major components, a full description of the build process with pictures. Then, they will issue paperwork that says you are the lawful owner of the vehicle. If all is in order, it then goes for the safety inspection. If that all passes, an OBD1 vehicle is good to go, there is no more inspection for pre-obd1 vehicles. If you are using an engine that is obdII, you have to pass the obdII test. If all is well, they will submit the report, and a title will be issued. Vehicle can then be registered and insured.

You are right, there is some serious junk on the road in NJ these days. The only inspection left is the OBDII emissions test. No brake test, no horn test, etc. Shows where the priorities are!

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 12, 2016, 11:26 pm 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Omterry wrote:
Of course, open cars don't fog up much...

But of course, I am in the same boat as Dismantalus. Unless I go without windshield, which crosses my mind about once a week or so. The NJ regs don't say you need one. In the state of bureaucratese, I am not sure that means the state interprets no windshield as OK or not.

We've got what sound like similar laws here in BC. The regs say that if you have a windshield, you need a heater/defroster, as well as wipers, but nothing about actually needing a windshield unless it's a structural part of the vehicle, like a unibody car with airbags. The reality of finding an inspector willing to sign off on a car without a windshield is a bit trickier though. I actually talked to the head of inspections with CVSE (Canadian version of DOT) for BC when I was trying to get mine through, and he was a bit hesitant until he asked if it was a hotrod and said kind of. That was the magic word that changed the whole conversation. I have a small plexiglass wind deflector on my car that I just look over, and it's fine under about 50mph with just glases. I've had it well over 100mph with just my regular glasses, but only briefly. Going any kind of distance on a highway is much nicer with a full face helmet. As far as heat, my legs stay warm from the tunnel, and if I get cold hands I can warm up on the muffler or trans tunnel.
Kristian

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 13, 2016, 8:26 am 
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Joined: September 22, 2005, 8:12 am
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
You should really talk to someone who has already gone thru the NJ inspection process! I had fab'd a lot of parts and made several modifications needed, per the MI inspection list. The trooper never even looked at half of the items or checked there function. Could save you a lot of $ and time knowing what is really needed.
Another option is to intall a couple electrical outlets and use MC heated gloves and vest.
Dave W


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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 13, 2016, 10:19 am 
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Joined: June 15, 2010, 8:29 am
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Location: Duxbury, MA USA
Is not NJ similar to many other states in that the vehicle only has to comply with the safety items of day for the year in which the vehicle is similar? My car ended up being titled as a '64 Lotus Seven and that made a big difference in which areas it needed to be compliant. For instance, as I recall (it has been 3 years since my car was legal so some of the dancing around regs is not fresh in my mind), washer mechanisms were not required until 1968. I did show up at my State Police inspection with the federal rules printed out for everything that I was going to claim an exemption for, but I did not need it. He wanted to know if some of the major parts would be interchangeable with the car that was the "similar". Of course, the answer is yes. He just made sure that the parts that needed to be there were there...did not even check if they all worked. It all did work though. I had receipts for every single part on the car laid out neatly in an excel spreadsheet so that any receipt could be immediately accessed, and I think that I making their job easy in this respect helped me out. Not having stolen parts was really the biggest part of the initial inspection.
Also keep track of parts that you have paid state sales tax on otherwise you will pay tax on your whole stack of receipts if the sales tax in not indicated on them. Again, keep it really organized and easy to access the information.
As far as subsequent safety inspections have gone, its really more about checking the mileage, tires, and lights.
My '74 Europa, which looks much more like a real car...even though its not...gets a much more thorough checkout...and yes, the last time they did check to make sure the windshield washer worked.

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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 13, 2016, 3:12 pm 
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Joined: July 4, 2006, 5:40 pm
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Location: Novato, CA
I thought about a defroster. I have vents for it and a switch on the dash, but that's as far as I got. I might look into the HF unit. You do need either wipers or a defroster occasionally (I have neither). You never need a heater. A heater would only work on the parts of you that are already warm.
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 Post subject: Re: Heaters!
PostPosted: June 13, 2016, 4:14 pm 
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Joined: June 24, 2007, 6:04 pm
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Having a floor heater does not overall give a lot of extra for the driver, which is why I installed dash vents.
Take your family car, put down all the windows in an chilly Oct day, go hit the highway at 50 miles an hour.
Turn on your heater to its highest setting, direct the heat only to the dash vents, close off all the vents except the one by your face and chest.
Now see if you get no benefit.
It seems the majority of people that are indicating a heater has no use, are the people that don't have one. :)

Al

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