Old Heater found in '47 Pickup

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Jan 6, 2008 | 04:28 AM

whateg01

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From: Wichita, KS

Old Heater found in '47 Pickup

So, in the box of parts I got with my '47 was this heater. It is apparently one that was added on, but that's about the only information I can guess about it. Does anybody have any information on it? In a way, it'd be kinda neat to use it if it works, and there isn't much to go wrong in it. Mainly, though, I'm just curious.

According to this, it looks like a company named 'Arvin' made this.

Here you can see a few things. There is a set of ports on the left that I'm going to guess went to the defrost vents. There are the water inlet and outlet lines. There is also the wire to supply current to the fan motor. And you can make out what appear to be studs for mounting it to the firewall.

This is the heater core. Not much in the way of technological advances between this one and the one in my '89.

Here are the vents on one side.

Here are the vents on the other side, and the aforementioned outlet for the defroster?

Dave

Jan 6, 2008 | 10:37 AM

46fordtruck

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From: Orange County, CA

Arvin was one of the largest makers of aftermarket heaters for cars and trucks back in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. I have a couple of Arvins for my trucks, not the same as yours though. Take the core to a local radiator shop, and have them test it and see if it'll hold pressure, if not, they can probably fix it. The motor can be either repaired by an electric repair shop, or you might be able to find a 12V replacement that'll fit in with little work. Theses heaters are very simple, I've taken one of mine apart and restored it, took very little time. Now on my Arvin the fan swithc is mounted directly to the unit itself, it looks like maybe yours uses a dash mounted switch. You might be able to rig up something very easily. The one on mine is a rheostat switch to control how fast teh fan works.

Jan 6, 2008 | 11:10 AM

whateg01

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From: Wichita, KS

Thanks for the information! It doesn't look like it would take much to restore it, and it would be a neat touch, I think. 'Course, it would make installing A/C a little more difficult, but since nothing else on this truck is going to be easy, why not go a little further, right? I was thinking of leaving it 6V, but I guess I need to find out if it works or not. I can actually pressure test it myself, and for that matter I can test, and probably fix the motor, as long as it doesn't need something like rewinding. I think at the very least, this will be an interesting side project, and maybe it'll get worked into the big one.

Thanks again!

Dave