Dutton Kit Cars and their owners

Heaters

There is some discussion on this topic so i thought it needed its own post.

I have driven soft top cars with out heaters in and even in summer they are not always a luxury. if you have to run with the roof on (like when its raining...) then you spend too much time demisting the windows to be truly safe.

there are many different ways of fitting heaters, i have tried several. from fitting complete heater units from various scrap cars. (Good ones can be had from Reliant Robin's (fairly compact) or old shape mini's (getting expensive)) or you can make your own from a heater matrix and fitting it to a home made box (plywood if you like) blower fans are easy to get from scrappers and a fairly good one can be got from the Fiat panda's its two speed and flat (like a cooling fan found on the cars radiator) so will fit into small spaces.

You do not have to have deflector controls, just have a heater box that has some of the air permanently blowing onto the windscreen. heat control is also easy to achieve, again the reliant heater valve is an inline fitting and will fit to the heater pipe anywhere convenient, there are other cars with this arrangement as well (some Vauxhalls had them)

if all you want are demisters then this is some thing that any car could have, they work very well and are easily available. boat chandlers sell them for instance as they are often used on cabin cruisers.

http://www.gunningheating.co.uk/heatingelements.php

these as you can see this could go almost anywhere under a dash and would need only a little trunking and a small fan to be a viable option, that and the fact that our cars are so small that even just a demister system would give some heating to the car that would be worthwhile.

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Permalink Reply by Adrian Southgate on November 18, 2012 at 10:34

I'm in agreement with Dave on this.

I've had the Legerra on the road for over 5 years now and it's been my daily commuter car in all weathers. Having a much larger windscreen than the 'sports' models it has to have some sort of warm air system even if its just to keep the windscreen warm and clear.

I am currently using a mk 1 escort heater box in the passenger footwell, exactly as TWD designed it. Its not an efficient use of the heater box but does the job eventually.

The Sierra has a later Capri heater with a modified fan assembly. As it was designed as a winter 'all weather' vehicle it had to have a heater to keep the windows clear.

All Duttons leak, the water gets into the carpet and when the car starts to warm through from the engine/gearbox/exhaust that water will evaporate and then re condense on the coldest part of the car... your windscreen. If you have any intentions of using the car in other than perfect conditions then you do need warm air flow on the inside of the screen.

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Permalink Reply by 1midz0wwbl268 on November 18, 2012 at 11:21

Even in summer it can still be damp and this will lead to your windscreen misting up, As ade sayes, anything that takes your attension off the road has to be avoided, so hense why i have fitted a heater, so that in spring and late summer, its there if i need it, plus with our summers getting wetter, i expect to have to have wet weather gear up sometimes, so thats another reason for fitting demisting .its not me being a southern softy, its me being sensible.

I was at the point of my build, where it was a case of its going to be better to do a difficault job now, before the dash goes in, hopefully not to have to come out , than to leave it and try to fit it around the wiring loom and cabling .

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Permalink Reply by 3a038xvsl2h4u on November 18, 2012 at 18:39

I am suffering from misting at the moment. Heater gets there in the end but takes ages. Anyone tried some of the glass stuff designed to stop it forming in the first place?

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Permalink Reply by Adrian Southgate on November 18, 2012 at 18:47

I have tried the rainx anti mist, it causes water droplets instead. The only way to really cure it is to dry the cab out and get some warmth into the glass while you are moving.

Are you running the standard setup of steel escort heater box on top of the tunnel?

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Permalink Reply by 3a038xvsl2h4u on November 19, 2012 at 18:18

Standard escort one on top of the tunnel. Its not leaking but smells a lot like warm radiator water when the blower is on. Its not blowing out steam yet but I think it might be a matter of time!

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Permalink Reply by Dave Adams on November 18, 2012 at 18:58

Yes its ok but not great.

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Permalink Reply by Adrian Southgate on November 18, 2012 at 19:00

This ebay item is for the steel capri heater box which is pretty much a straight swap for the escort unit.

The main difference being the fresh air eyeball vents for each end of the dash. The plastic ones are better but a new motor for the plastic one will set you back £60 !

There are some on ebay so its worth a look.

Mine is set up just like the original capri with two demister vents, two footwell vents and two fresh air (not heated) eyeball vents. I had a burnt out motor so replaced the entire fan with a 10 inch server fan which moves twice as much air but sounds like a jet engine taking off. Its also worth asking the seller to include all the pipes, vents and controls if possible. That way you just unbolt the escort unit and bolt in the capri one, mount the vents and controls somehow.

I'll take a photo of mine when I take the dash off so you can see what I mean.