Diesel heater in a '62 ragtop

[thomas.]

I put a 2kw one of these in my bug. I already had a 5kw in my bus and they really work good and can't beat the price. I've seen where guys mounted these in the spare tire area but didn't want to do that for obvious reason. I also didn't want to make too many holes. I ended up making the two holes for the intake and exhaust and two small holes for a couple of self tapping sheet metal screws.I mounted the fuel tank to 2 fender bolts and then routed the heated intake air to the two defroster hoses.It heats the whole cab up in no time. The controller came with a speaker that lets you know whats going on. It's worked flawlessly. My cars previous owner excluded the heater components.

[vwoldbug]

Nice work , do you drive the car year round . Nice car

[klroger]

That is nice (& the heater as well!!!) Do you have a link to the manufacturer of the heater?? Is it a Wabasto ??
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I Didn't know what to do, So I Didn't do anything!!!!

[thomas.]

I drive it until the 1st time they start using the salt to dessolve the snow and ice which should be pretty soon then store it until some large rain storms.
They sell a large number of these on ebay. These are the chinese diesel heaters. If you purchase I would look for one with a guaranteed ship date. I saw a couple of great deals on the 2kw version just recently and posted the link in the van forum. There were quite a few for sale with free shipping for $109 but looking now can't find any. The one I posted about is out. At least at that price.
Caveat emptor A lot of the merchants that sell these will claim to be selling 2kw when they are really 5kw. The 2kw ones have the intake and exhaust pipes directly in the middle. The 5kw pipes are offset since they are a larger size.

[thomas.]

A guy messaged me wanting to know if I had any more photos of the install. I figured I would just post here in case someone else was interested.
The fuel line runs behind the spare where it won't get kinked. then up to the bottom of the heater where the heater is raised up high enough for the fuel line to go in and not kink there either. I made a copy of the intake and exhaust holes on cardboard to check where I would drill the holes. Once the heater mounting plate was mounted I used a small harbor freight flashlight pushed through the holes to get it close. I also made two brackets to hold the heater plate down one of which goes to the front 1/4 panel the other to the bugs fuel tank hold down bracket. The fuel tank (for the heater)I had to make a bracket out of some galvanized brackets I had laying around. I mounted that to two fender bolts. I guess that's about it.

[motofly196]

This is awesome! I was just thinking about doing this in my Split bus. I was looking at the Eberspacher diesel powered ones though. Was there a way to use this as heat and defrost the windshield in your beetle or bus? With the supplied hoses and vents, looks like it's just heat only?

[thomas.]

In my bug I have all the heat going to the defrosters .Heats the whole interior.I have a 5kw one in my '66 westy. Its mounted under the rear r & roll seat/bed. The heat hits the back of my head while driving and warms up the front cab. I have the heat exchanger heat all going to the front windshield but lately have been getting an engine odor from that heat. I'm thinking there is enough heat from the diesel heater to clear the windshield.On that heater I only use a remote to turn it off and on since I have a bench seat in front. There are some photos in this thread.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=60

[motofly196]

Awesome! Thanks for the quick response, I'm reading through that thread right now. I'm building a 2 liter engine for my 63' Kombi, and instead of spending a bunch of money on High Performance heater boxes that won't work that well anyways, I thought about restoring an Eberspacher BN4 that I have and just using J-tubes. Then I read about others that still have problems with the Gas fired heaters working well. So I thought, what about a brand new Diesel one?
I should of know that others have "Been there Done That!" Thanks for documenting this install, and the information!

[dubman67]

How many hours of run time do you get from the tank?
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62 Double Cab
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"At 17 got my first Volkswagen...and mastered the life long art of dragin...." Ice Cube

[74 Thing]

Do you get any fuel vapors from the tank since it is not vented outside the luggage compartment or does it smell in the cabin since the air intake for the gas heater is in the luggage compartment where the gas tank and diesel tanks are located?

[thomas.]

I haven't had it in but a week now and haven't seen the fuel drop at all. I filled it up yesterday about 2/3 full . I have cardboard over the speaker area in the trunk but still notice a cold draft there while highway driving. Therefore the interior isn't as warm when at highway speeds so I might add a third vent to the floor area if I can't seal the drafts.Only unpleasant part of that would be a 60mm hole.
The cap is vented on top of the diesel tank but I haven't noticed any fumes or smoke for that matter.
I think the tank is a 2.5 liter which is less than a gallon, but if i were to guess I would say I could run it at least 4 hours full blast without a fill . Probably longer. From what I've read they use very little fuel and the same with electricity after they are running. Start up they use high amps for the glow plug.

[whatthehucks]

[bluebus86]

[bluebus86]

Yikes, no grommets around the ducting holes in the fender well, that will allow cold air in to the trunk, seal them up. I dont see your hood seal.
a paper towel for a brake fluid cap? get a cap, you are allowing that towel to soak up fluid, which will dribble down onto the trunk insides, destroying the paint, plus that wicking action and splash from cornering and such will remove vital brake fluid from the reservoir. bits of towel may clog fine valving ports.

dont die Bug On!
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[halfassleatherworks]

[thomas.]

[/quote]


Would you be able to show pictures of how you connected it to your defroster tubes in the front? I really wanna do this as the previous owner opted for performance exhaust and headers over heat components [/quote]

I just cut the 60 mm hose the heater came with to about 8" or 10 " long and pushed the 2 stock 32mm def. hoses in the 60mm hose and taped them up with aluminium & duct tape. Then they just run up to the defroster collars in the trunk compartment and attach in the original way.

[thomas.]

[thomas.]

[bluebus86]

[Busstom]

Hi Thomas,

Thank you for documenting your process in detail, with pics. This just may be the only CDH install documented in the 58-67 Beetles forum, it’s certainly the only one I found using “Diesel Heater” for a search term. I’ve actually seen this thread before, as you have it linked in other places (I spent a week going through the CDH thread over in Vanagons, and read several others in the Splits and Bays forums).

I have a 2kW that I just got through Amazon which I’m planning for the install in my ’65 Beetle, and your installation is the one that most closely resembles the installation that I envision for myself. I have a few different ideas I’m planning to try out, but your general layout is what I’ve pictured from the get-to. I must say, it must’ve taken some serious consideration before cutting those two holes in your wheel well for the intake and combustion, but that’s a pretty easy area to repair if you ever chose to close the holes up, for sure.

One thing I noticed is that you chose to use the green urethane fuel hose that came with the unit. I too plan on using that same hose that came with my unit. I’ve read (and seen) numerous accounts (and misinformation) online and on youtube about the inferiority of the (poly)urethane hose, and that the polyethylene (or Teflon, PFA, whatever it may be) is superior. We’ll see, but for sure, the urethane is far more durable and resistant to pinch-damage and vibration/abrasion damage, and theoretically, easier to seal (although some people have seemed to struggle with this), so I’m going with it. I’m sure there is plenty to debate about fuel hose, but I’ve not see you complain and you appear to have success!

One thing I wanted to point out that some people seem to overlook, is that these old Beetles can often be very difficult to completely seal around the front hood. I believe this is largely because most of them have been smacked in the front before, so the quarter-panels, apron, and hood line rarely close up perfectly. A close look at all of the Beetle photographs around, many, MANY of them exhibit very gappy lines below the arch of the hood, especially on pre-62’s with the single folding hood prop on one side. As a result, it can be nearly impossible to eliminate some amount of draft leakage in the front compartment (these comments are in response to the blather about having a sound hood seal in place).

Another thing I wanted to point out for some readers was, most of the caps on these fuel tanks are vented – vented in only one direction – INTO the tank, not both ways. They have a one-way vent in the cap so that the draw of fuel does not result in a vacuum inside the tank. This is why we don’t smell diesel fuel coming from the vent in the top of the tank. Incidentally, last night I just purchased the same tank from Amazon that you have here, it took me forever to find a small tank that didn’t already have the hose-barb installed on the bottom (I’m going to try drawing the fuel differently, I want to try the provided dip tube in an effort [fingers crossed] to mitigate any potential gravity-favored leak at the base of the fuel tank, so we’ll see how that works out).

It's great to hear that (at least for a while) you seemed to be mostly satisfied by ducting the heated air only through the defrost outlets; that is what I’m going to attempt, as I’m reluctant to drill through my underdash area for another outlet. I suspect (hope) it will work fine, since I’m in California and don’t plan on enjoying my car in sub-40˚ temps. I plan to document my installation as well, hopefully it will turn out to be a good addition to the available reference that you’ve begun.

Anyway, thanks again for sharing a great install, and for breaking ranks with the uber-rare CDH install in an early Beetle!