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Wed Nov 26, 2008 8:30 pm

I have 2 little boys and a wife that love to go on Baja rides and it's starting to get a little too cold unless I can warm it up inside.
I have the Baja exhaust so not heat there and I thought about a gas heater like a Thing. But I have a 1 piece front end my gas tank is behind the back seat. I have been thinking about one of those 12V Heaters but I'm not sure please help me out. Thanks
Jeremy

Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:45 pm

Jeremy,
I am using the 12v heater. It works good for me but I just cruise around town. I don't think it would heat your car enough for those two boys unless you had it back in the floor, behind the driver' s or passenger's seat. If your bug is really tight and you had one under dash and one in the back I think you would be happy. I wear a jacket and am comfortable. I have only driven it as low as 36 degrees so far. Don't get real cold here. The fan in the heater is not real strong.
Hope this helps,
Dan

Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:45 am

I use two 12v heaters mounted under each side of the rear seat. I have an aftermaket seat that has space under it, they blow forward on my kids feet. if you seal up all of your air leaks it works pretty good.

Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:51 am

derwood38 wrote: I use two 12v heaters mounted under each side of the rear seat. I have an aftermaket seat that has space under it, they blow forward on my kids feet. if you seal up all of your air leaks it works pretty good.
What kind of heaters do you have and where did you get them? Thanks again.

Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:12 am

You could use hand or foot warmers under a blanket until you get something better. Just a thought.
I use a Mr. Heater Jr. on a small propane bottle sometimes, but my son and daughter are older and I only use it on road.

Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:16 am

derwood38 wrote: I use two 12v heaters mounted under each side of the rear seat. I have an aftermaket seat that has space under it, they blow forward on my kids feet. if you seal up all of your air leaks it works pretty good.

Derwood, do you have a picture? How about the "draw" from your battery? I have considered getting a second one for the back of the car, no rear seat.
The key is to have the bug sealed real good. Does not take a lot to keep it warm once you get it there. No rear seats leaves good possibilities for a second heater.
Dan

Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:47 am

A guy named Barney makes a heater that is run off of the engine oil. It looks like a good set-up. His e-mail address is:

[email protected]

Jeff[/img]

Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:08 am

Here's a Pic of the engine oil heater unit.

Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:11 am

More heater install info.

Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:56 am

Great idea but I have a hard enough time getting oil temp to 180 with out a cooler. I was told that you want to get oil temp. to between 180 and 210 every time you drive it so you burn off any water in the oil. I have a dog house cooler and full flow case and no external cooler yet. I have the hardest time getting it too 180. I have a 2276 with about 8:1 comp. My temp sender is just below my dis. This is just driving around Mesa. Now when I'm driving most of the time It's at about 3000 RPMs just to keep up with trafic. I have a 002 with close 3rd & 4th gears, at 3000 RPMs 4th gear I hit a whopping 47.5 MPH on GPS with 30" tall tires. This is why I say oil cooler inside is out of the question. Does any one know a good 12V heater/s?

Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:57 pm

I know this is an old thread but was wondering if anyone knows if these engine oil heaters are still being sold or how well they worked.

Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:56 pm

I would shy away from the 12V heaters (1 is fine) with a stock alternator, IMO to much draw down and work for the system. Larger ALT and a good battery will help. I have seen a couple of ALT and battery's melted, but from sound systems, not good to see.

About the oil, is it a foamy white sludge at the filler? If not you have nothing to worry about. And on that, put in the oil heater. You can go to the pic-a-part and get most of what you need, and use soda cans and duct tape for the ducting and air flow.

What about heater boxes and a ducting fan from the inside?
You said Baja exhaust, is it something you can run with the heater boxes?

Mike

Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:32 am

I live up in the snow and I have my oil cooler mounted inside the car. Most of the time I don't get to turn the fan on but when I do it does make a difference. I just prepare for the cold by wearing warm clothing. I also noticed the more people you have in the car the warmer it stays just from body heat alone.

Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:34 am

I get plenty of heat out of the factory heat exchangers. The complete system is already engineered, keeps me warm to around 10*. Just seal the system, have door gaskets and go. Cheap too.

They do not hang any lower than the engine case itself, so they do not decrease clearance issues. It does require an exhaust that runs through them. I ran a 1915 engine with the heat exchangers for 6 years and loved the winter heat.

I put them on my current Baja build too. Simple, yet effective.

Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:11 pm

I use the stock heat exchangers too but I did mine a little differently since I used heater channels with no heat duct and I don't have outlets on my fan shroud.

I drilled a 2 1/2" hole behind the back seat down to the passenger side heat exchanger. Hooked up a blower fan from a super beetle to that with a 3 speed switch in the dash.

Took the output of the passenger side and ran a pipe across to the drivers side heat exchanger and then a pipe into the car and ran that up between the two front seats.

It gets so hot you can burn your hand, so far it works great and inside the car is almost too hot so I have to crack a window or turn the fan speed down.

I've used a 12 volt ceramic heater before and they work quite well, only make sure your alt or gen puts out enough power for it and that you use heavy guage wire so the wires don't melt.

hth

Jeff

Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:31 pm

You might try what I did. I installed an inverter and then installed two hair driers. Yep, the same ones your wife uses to dry her hair. You'll be suprised how fast the interior warms up

Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:56 pm

fahrvergnugen57 wrote: You might try what I did. I installed an inverter and then installed two hair driers. Yep, the same ones your wife uses to dry her hair. You'll be suprised how fast the interior warms up

Sounds like a great idea. I can use them for defrost since I don't have any with my configuration. What wattage hair dryers and what wattage inverter did you use?

Jeff

Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:09 pm

Eberspacher BN-2

This uses the stock heating system (with a little twist) in reverse, so heat is at the vents and window first and the leftover goes down to the heater channels and on my feet. never seen this done before but seems an obvious route, no issues and no excessive cutting. You should have plenty of room for it up front with a 1 piece, just mount a spar tank and tap into that (you can always use spar fuel on a run just in case). Quick, clean heat on demand!

Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:10 am

Dude, Muttley, You are something. You keep showing these little things on your baja that make it more bad ass then i thought it was before.
Man, your car is SET UP!
Mow much do these heaters go for?

Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:13 am

Ya, muttley your baja is awesome and the BN-2 is a great heater.

I have 3 or 4 of them sitting in a box, not sure how complete they are so I may look and see if I can get one or more working.

thesatelliteguy, Do a search in the classifieds for eberspacher they come up from time to time. Most are not complete, ie. for parts but I saw a kit or 2 for $570 :shock:

Jeff