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Packard53 writes, Quote:


What are you refereing to here?? Are you saying the VW bug had a gasoline fired heater such as the SouthWind heater was?

The heater in them was a heat exchanger box around the exhaust piping on either side. The heat came from passing fresh air around the exhaust pipe and then into the passenger compartment.

Bob: I certainly made a big mistake when I said the Bug had a gas heater I stand corrected. It has been over 40 years since I owned the Bug a and only had it a short time before I sold it.

If I remember correctly the heat came out along some vents of either side of the car along the floor boards. The controls for the heater were between the seats back of the floor shift. Needless to say the heaters in the early Bugs left a lot to be desired.


John F. Shireman

Quote:

John, I sure agree with you on that one. In the snow you needed a heavy coat. The heater sure wasn't going to warm you up. Had two bugs (63 and a 65) and a 67 square back. The square back heater probably worked better than the the ones in the bugs. Kind of miss the 63.

John, You are correct about the gas heater option. In Canada at least there was an optional gas heater offered that mounted in the trunk at the front of the car. My wife's '70 Bug had one and it worked well but it used quite a bit of gas when operating and didn't always ignite reliably as I recall. The hot air heater was almost useless as was the defroster. By the time the air got sent up along the ducts to the windshield it was luke warm at best. On winter trips in northern Ontario one of us drove and the other scraped the inside of the windshield for the first 400 miles if it was -20 or lower. The local paper company had a fleet of VW's that they used for the foresters to get around to the bush operations. They had great traction in snow but could be pretty dicey when driving on ice!

60 Corvairs also had a gasoline heater option that really worked well. A round cylinder thing that took up the rear passenger corner of the trunk just in front of dash. As I recall, in spite of the control markings, ours had two temp settings -- off and hot.

I drove a 1966 Corvair Monza Sport Coupe with the 110 h.p. engine for about 6 years. I commuted from Santa Fe to Los Alamos. The trip was about 35 miles up and down hills, and a steeply winding road near Los Alamos. It was a great snow car. Many times I passed the snow plow going UP Tesuque Hill. The heater and defroster worked well, they took hot air from around the engine and pushed it into the cabin. I had to keep a window cracked for fresh air or else it got too stinky with the smell of engine exhaust and leaking oil. Who knows what else I breathed in those fumes? The Corvairs always leaked oil, especially around the push rod tube seals. Great memories, good car, never again.

Your VW heater discussion has broght back alot of memories. When I was a kid, my parents had a '79 VW Van. (Last of the roundy styled vans). It was Light pea grean with a mustard top. Ran like a champ. I learned to drive a stick shift in this vehicle. (the longest actual stick I had ever seen at that time. Tiny gear pattern which was hard to find sometimes). It also had the largest sunroof you had ever seen. The whole middle section of the van could be hand cranked back and it was fun to leave open in the summer.

We live in Oregon, so we had cold winters. It was air cooled, so every winter mom would put the winter blankets in the back of the van. All 3 of us kids had our own ice scrappers (as we would have to scrape the INSIDE of the van, and winter gloves JUST for the ride in the van. Usually the van would "warm up" inside only if you were about 60 or 70 miles down the road. My parents finally bought a Toyota van in the late 80's and our blankets/ice scrapers/mittens were retired for good. I still miss that van. Quite the adventure when you are a kid.

I'm sorry, Gerd, but I don't think that little catalytic oven will quite do the job on that Trabant. Looks like it would take a blowtorch just to get the door open. Living in a place with no snow, that's incredible. What did the catalytic use? Hopefully nothing with fumes to do in the operator or did he have to keep a window open.

Howard and I live where the winters are mild. I would not want to spend winter anywhere else. After all you don't have to shovel sunshine!

Not the summers are a different thing. Some back east put there cars aware for the winter, I think I put mine away for the summer.

Quote: Well, with electric socks & I think Corporal Klinger said he had an electric bra a few reruns ago, and electric lots of other things guess I'm not surprised. Probably safer than carrying a butane lighter but still gives a new meaning to hot rocks.

Quote: I'm with Kevin on that one about spending winters anywhere else. Grew up where there was snow (not as much as some get) and the other seasons but still prefer the chance of riding an earthquake or if the fortune tellers are right this time, falling off in the ocean in 3 years 10 weeks. California has it's problems, but weather in most parts isn't the biggest one.