Aftermarket heater suggestions

[mad4hws]

Hi everyone,
I recently took possession of a 1973 Patrol, which was originally imported into Colombia. Heaters were not installed in those vehicles. Now that this vehicle makes its home in Connecticut where winters are bit harsher than down south, its new owner needs to get heat inside the cab somehow. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm thinking aftermarket is probably the easiest and more efficient solution. here's a pic of my passenger side under dash



Thanks.

[Esteban]

My Patrol didn't come with a heater as well. It was a "luxury" item. In my case I installed the complete heater assembly from a small Datsun pickup. I brought the heater along with the Patrol into the States. For this reason, I've wondered a number of times about some aftermarket heaters, since they're probably more efficient.

I had this link from Jegs saved for a case like this:

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance- ... 7/10002/-1

What I will recommend is making a mock up with cardboard with the same dimensions of one of the heaters and see how much space you're left with. The Patrol heater has the blower in the engine compartment, and the radiator inside the cabin, so it compromises less space.

Take a look at this picture from mine. This is when I was doing the setup to find the best orientation. It's tight but allows the feet of the passenger to go all the length, but not play with them, since the hoses are nearby. Not ideal, but it does the trick during the winter.

Heater.jpg

Another option will be to see if one of the members in Australia can source you a used one over there, including the defroster chutes.

[jwgreen]

You might be able to aquire all the original heater componets from folks off this and other sites and then with the help of folks here with the dimensions of the holes needed through the firewall, recreate an heating system. Or a simpler solution would be to run an electric setup like this one from Vintage Air. Would need to check to see if it would fit well or not.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/vta-5 ... AoOe8P8HAQ

[mad4hws]

Thanks for the suggestions. The space is pretty tight for sure. I really like the idea of a cardboard mock-up. Thanks for the suggestion.

[AARON713]

I'm considering a Portable Buddy Heater.

[dustin3n]

Another good option is the Danhard universal heater.

[AARON713]

Attached by metal zips for theft and titling. Works perfectly on low.

[mad4hws]

that propane doesn't cause any issues for you? I guess if it were in my patrol it wouldn't because the fumes would have 1,000 places to escape, but your Patrol looks like it actually seals up pretty well.

[AARON713]

No not really, I have so many leaks in my Patrol that it helps with ventilation.

[mad4hws]

No not really, I have so many leaks in my Patrol that it helps with ventilation.

That's hilarious. Those little heaters work fantastically well. I use them when we go out rocket flying in Jan/Feb. They're strong enough to keep the frostbite off. I'll have to think about an alternative use for them in the Patrol now.