Now I have HEAT :) - (Long with pictures)

[davis911s]

I live in Canada and drive my bus in the winter

I was never happy with the heat in my bus. I had 2 problems.

PROBLEM #1 - The PO had heat exchangers from a notchback on there = way less heat!
Solution I found a decent set of PROPER exchangers and installed them

PROBLEM #2 - I LIVE IN CANADA, (Best Country in the World! but it is COLD in the winter!
Solution. I installed a Mikuni air heater

I put it under the jump seat in the rear

I used ABS pipe to split the heat into 2 areas.

I also made it so I can disconnect and BLOCK the "rear" heat. That way I get all the heat up front. The front heat tube exits under the driver seat, right at my feet. (Takes about 30 seconds to screw in the rerar outlet when needed)

The only "PROBLEM" with this is the fact that the heater burns diesel, therefore I needed to install a seperate tank for the diesel. I bought a HONDA metal fuel tank, it holds about 6 litres. I put it under the westy bed bench.

The heater works well. I have not measured the output temps yet but it is decent. It is not "HOT" where I will be driving in a t-shirt all winter, but way better.

Added bonus is that I can use this to heat my interior before driving to work or when camping. It runs off my aux deep cycle battery Flick a switch in the morning and the furnace kicks in within about 2 minutes and heats my bus without killing my battery

I know this is not for everyone. But I bought the heater from EBay. I bought the ducting, outlets and fuel tank locally. I have just under $500 into this heater.

Shawn
_________________
"I choose to use CAA on old cars with character...instead of car payments on a new car "

1973 Westfalia, Camper Special with 75 FI. Automatic 003 . Non-pop top
1977 Porsche 911S Targa, 2.7 L with 5spd
1992 Passat G60 Syncro Wagon (SOLD)
1975 Westfalia (SOLD)
1979 Westfalia (SOLD)

[davis911s]

I added a video of it running on YouTube


Link


It is NOT as loud as it sounds on the video. My camera must just pick up the sound real good. Especially when I stuck the camera into the bus.

Shawn
_________________
"I choose to use CAA on old cars with character...instead of car payments on a new car "

1973 Westfalia, Camper Special with 75 FI. Automatic 003 . Non-pop top
1977 Porsche 911S Targa, 2.7 L with 5spd
1992 Passat G60 Syncro Wagon (SOLD)
1975 Westfalia (SOLD)
1979 Westfalia (SOLD)

[TRN9]

Thanks for the video! Nice work! Where did you purchase the heater?

[Steelhead]

Man...if that has an electrical on/off switch, you should definitely install one of these remotes:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/dealsurprise_1980_3258349

$15 and you don't have to leave your house to heat up your rig! I installed an RV sized propane heater in my bus back in '96 and I always wanted to have a wireless on/off switch for it. Unfortunately I don't drive the bus in the winter as much so I don't need the heater (or the remote).

Maybe consider mounting an LED somwhere (behind rearview mirror?), so you can see that it is turned on.

one place to buy it:
http://www.dealsurprise.com/gigaviaktchu.html
_________________
'77 Bay Window / '89 Caratsburg (aka. the Stormtrooper)

[busfreak_71]

I must say that you are very brave to drive a bus in the winter up here in Alberta. At least you can do it now while warm!
_________________
'71 Tin Top Westfalia
'99.5 Bora TDI
'85 Jetta Coupe
'85 Mercedes 300SD

Resident Off-Grid hippie and diesel advocate.

[gt1953]

I like the accent in your voice...nice heater and great location for it...filling the fuel cell may be a problemo. It all about the heat though.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[davis911s]

UPDATE

I used a cheap thermometer (only went to 50 degrees), the output at the vent is way over that!

But the interior was only "warm" (15 - 18 degrees ) after the heater ran for 30 minutes. I assume I am losing lots of heat!

Seals are all new, the floor and rear walls all have B-Quiet and bubble foil insulation.

I think I am losing most through the front doors (no door panels right now) and the roof (Bare metal!) My next project is to insulate the roof and doors and get those panels back on a see if there is a difference.

Still a HUGE improvement over what I had. I think money well spent so far!

[Bursch]

[davis911s]

I was reviewing previous "heat modification" posts.

Everyone stated DO NOT use PVC due to the heat. This was in reference to rebuilding the main heat tube under the bus.

What is the concensus on using PVC where I did? I will remove it if there is an issue and just run a straight tube to the front for now, then build a 3 way splitter out of something else later. Looking for opinions

Thanks
_________________
"I choose to use CAA on old cars with character...instead of car payments on a new car "

1973 Westfalia, Camper Special with 75 FI. Automatic 003 . Non-pop top
1977 Porsche 911S Targa, 2.7 L with 5spd
1992 Passat G60 Syncro Wagon (SOLD)
1975 Westfalia (SOLD)
1979 Westfalia (SOLD)

[busfreak_71]

[WestyPop]

busfreak_71 wrote: "PVC releases a toxic gas at high temperatures, not a good thing."

Ditto on the ABS pipe & fittings; maybe even worse. It always smells like it outgasses heavily, even at room temps! OTOH(?) just turned up this article:
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/how-to/dep...eport.aspx

Should be pretty easy to find sheet metal ducting & fittings in a variety of sizes at the Home Depot/Lowe's type supply centers. Lots of different & safe external insulations available that can be wrapped around the thin metal tubes, to hold in the heat right up to your selected vents. Also shouldn't be too hard to plumb it into your bay's center/front distribution tube, for defroster use.

Nice start on mobile climate control system.

J.R.
68 Westy
(+ others)

[BusBerd]

Is this heater you installed an addition to the factory heat from the bus or have you given up on the factory heat?

Have you tried to get the right heaterboxes and seal up the ducting from back to front? Is your blower fan working? Have you thought about adding a bilge fan to the main heater duct underneath in about the center of the bus?

I live in MN and although I seldom use my bus in the cold weather (they use salt on the roads here), I have had occasion to use my heat. I found that carefully sealing the ducting all the way from the heaterboxes (and even bypassing the ducting that goes to the rear, if you want) really does help with the heat. I have yet to add a bilge fan in the ducting, but that may be a project for this coming summer.

If your factory heat was working correctly along with the extra heater you have installed, I think you'd be toasty.

I have also seen another samba member that hung a thick sheet of plastic from the roof of the cab directly behind the front seats to help contain the heat to the front. i though that was a great idea. Although i would want to design it somehow so that I could easily remove it for summer. Maybe snaps.

Anyway, nice bus, nice video, nice heater.
_________________
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
1977 Westfalia Camper Bus 2.0L Fuel Injected Engine, Manual Transmission

[The Sage]

My bay window has a thick curtain at the rear of the front seats, it works very well at containing heat.

You should complete the insulation work and you will be fine.
_________________
Feel My Pain l Sage Ad World

[pb24ss]

Nicely done. Very reminiscent of my Airtronic D2 install. Well worth the effort. I drove into work today in a t-shirt and light jacket. it was 7F degrees out when I left.

[pb24ss]

I forgot to mention that while driving with the airtronic on I get substantially less heat, as it's leaking out the bus. I've sealed it up as best I can, and it's very comfortable on the coldest of days. Camping is another story though. When parked I have WAY more heat than I know what to do with.

[davis911s]

[chrisradioman]

Good job M8, any more info specs etc.?
_________________
http://www.vintagevwweddings.co.uk/contact.html

[pb24ss]

what is the make and model of the heater you ebay'd?

[davis911s]

Here are the specs on the Heater. It has a sticker on it that say

BTU's are around 6200

MIKUNI MY16

Features:

Full 1.9kw output
Economical and quiet
Solid state thermostat control (timer available)
Two heat version available
Microprocessor controlled
Compact size
Specifications:

Power source: 12 or 24v DC
Power consumption: 40w
Fuel: diesel
Dimensions: 350L x 123W x 127H(mm)
Heat output: 1.9kw
Fuel consumption (L/H): 0.23
Aair-flow (M3/H): 60
Weight: 3.5kg
_________________
"I choose to use CAA on old cars with character...instead of car payments on a new car "

1973 Westfalia, Camper Special with 75 FI. Automatic 003 . Non-pop top
1977 Porsche 911S Targa, 2.7 L with 5spd
1992 Passat G60 Syncro Wagon (SOLD)
1975 Westfalia (SOLD)
1979 Westfalia (SOLD)

[barefootwestie]

Looks like a great idea. The only thing that would concern me, as has already been mentioned, is the use of the ABS tubing. Good luck on the insulating!
_________________
My Bus Restoration Blog
https://myvolkswagenbus.com/

1973 Westfalia
"Getting better....one repair at a time."

Other VW's owned through the years, in no particular order:
'67 Beetle,
'67 Ghia Hardtop,
'72 Ghia Convertible,
'72 Westfalia