Eliminate Heater? SURE CAN --

[nypater]

I live in sunny Florida where I have no need for heat. Is there a way to eliminate the heaters and go straight from manifold? To the muffler?  And can I remove the pipes from the fan shroud as well?  Does any of this make sense?

Thanks,

George

[68autobug]

Hi George,
Yes, many VWs in Australia don't have heater boxes. as they live in hot climates.
plus many don't fit them as they are expensive to buy new compared to J pipes which take their place,
My Son has j pipes and no heater in his old 55 Beetle.. He wishes it did have heaters in the Winter..lol

You can disconnect the heater hoses in the engine bay, but You need to block off the holes in the fan shroud
You can buy plugs to do this.. about 50mm welch plugs are used.
Some people even cut them off and weld a plate over them..

also You will need to block off the holes in the rear tinware where the heater hoses went thru.
two pieces of round metal with a bolt thru the center can be used to block them off, or
even one round piece of metal with small screws in three places.. to hold it in place..
plastic or wood cannot be used as it gets very hot there..
You can now buy new rear tinwire with NO holes in them... and fan shrouds with no holes..??

You can take the heater boxes off and replace them with J pipes which are sold by most VW parts shops.
check out the CIP1 website..  to see what they look like..

so, its possible to take the hoses off, and the heater boxes [heat exchangers] removed, along with the plastic hoses that connect them to the body..  and just block off all holes..

any more info, just ask..  its going into winter here now, 10C a couple of nights ago.. Brrrr

LEE
1st pic - J pipes I had while restoring My beetle.
2nd - take the heater boxes off.

[CarlIseminger]

From my understanding, is that if you disconnect the airflow from the fan shroud to the heater boxes, you shoould also remove the heater boxes.  When you turn "off" the heat, the fan is still blowing air through the boxes, only exiting out the bottom of the car.  If you stop the airflow, the heater boxes will overheat, and thus, transfer the heat to the engine. 

So if you want to eliminate heat, the best way is to remove the heater boxes and substitute J tubes.

[68autobug]

Hi Carl
when the heater boxes are turned off, [heater turned off] a round flap closes off the heater box
You can see it working when You disconnect the cables and move the lever back & forth..
looking at the front end of the heater box where the plastic joiner [muffler] connects to the body/chassis.

I've never actually looked under a car to see whether the heater boxes are still there or J pipes.
Some exhaust systems won't fit if You have heater boxes fitted.

Carl, in early model beetles, the hot air from the engine is pushed thru to inside the car [heater]
when a flap is closed... when the flap is open.. the hot air comes out the back of the car.

The later cars heater system was called fresh air heater, as the hot air had not been cooling the engine like the old system.
some heater boxes  had a small hole in the closing round flap..  why that small hole is there I don't know..
many people believe its there to keep the heater tubes in the body dry???
or balance the fresh air system???

Heater boxes are also Heavy, so many people take them off to lighten the car.
or fit larger sized j pipes to a BIG exhaust system.
Now, You can buy heater boxes with the larger pipes going thu them..

cheers

LEE

[nypater]

This is exactly the answer I was hoping for. Out they go!
I also yanked the autostick wiring harness which was wrapped around the throttle and wedged up into the tranny?
Yikes!  The adventure continues.

[68autobug]

Hi
I'm still doing My wiring after getting the car on the road in late 2005..
after ripping it all out in 1997..lol  it was going to be done right away..lol
so, I didn't mark anything..lol  YIKES...  and didn't write anything down when I did connect everything
I had to go back a couple of years ago, and put masking tape on every wire, and mark what it did..
some wires got lost along the way, so, I just run another few wires from the front to the back,, lol
so, I have plenty of spare wires that I have no idea where they go..lol
I ran most of the wires thru circuit breakers while I added a new late auto fusebox
which still isn't connected to anything yet.. lol
but everything works excepting the oil temperature and oil pressure gauges.
the oil temperature gauge was working a couple of months ago, but lost it while I was fitting
the new doghouse fan housing.. lol..
still looking for that one...

the actual autostick wiring isn't too difficult if you have the lights etc working or connected.

Biggest problem I had when fitting the new housing, I forgot the accelerator cable..
and then accidently pushed it under the car near the gearbox..
[as My hand cannot fit behind the fan housing and be turned...]
that was a hard job.. I eventually pushed a piece of small PVC hose thru from the back thru the tube to the carby
and that worked... otherwise I was stuck... no room behind the gearbox- too far - I couldn't reach from either side.

cheers

LEE in Australia