Visionary

I'm curious if many people are running headers without the heat boxes. Anybody running custom headers with an alternate means of heat? (like using the factory oil cooler, etc.)

911rudy

Its been discussed in deapth here many times. Bottom line hot boxes or freeze.

Visionary

I appreciate the response but that doesn't really answer my question. I know there are plenty of people out there that will say "heat boxes are the only way to go". But that's like saying B&B makes a great set of headers (I've installed many, many sets and you're lucky if they line up without persuasion). Sure they work fine as headers but from the stand point of somebody in the fabrication business they leave much to be desired.

As for the heat boxes I'd be surprised if the guys who are building their cars to be weekend racers and frequent DE's are concerned about heating the cabin while barreling down the main straight at wide open throttle.

Mark Houghton

My opinion is that heat is nice...if you want or need heat. Personally, the added cost to a set of headers just for the luxury of heat is something I could live without. That's if I were to swap out my stock exhaust for headers...and from what I've heard the later exhaust (such as on my '87) performs quite well to where the benefits of headers may not be great enough to warrant changing out (except maybe for the weight reduction). I rarely drive my car in temperatures less than 50 degrees, so I don't need no stinkin' heat.

fullquack

Well I drive mine every day, so heat is nice, but what I need more than anything else is de-fog. Really important after you get in the car while being soaking wet, damn windows fog right up.
If I were a fair weather driver only, I would not run with heater boxes, and simply get a set of Brians beautiful headers!!!!!
Mark..... in sog city Seattle.

Mark Houghton

Mark,
That brings back fond memories of when I used to live in Portland and drove a'73 MGB. Whimpy-assed Lucas electrics, leaking convertable top, and a marginal defrost left me with perpetually fogged windows. Had to keep a rag handy at all times to wipe the inside of the windows.

Out here in the bone dry desert, such is not an issue. Snow and ice and sub-freezing temperatures are what keep me from driving in the winter, so I can probably do without a heater most of the time.

Mark - desert rat and sun worshipper

MikeD94

I don't have any heat boxes on my headers. Only drive on weekends and when temps are above 35-40 deg F. It's not too cold with windows closed on a sunny day. It's usually warmer in the car than outside and there's hardly any cold air coming into the cabin. But I admit that I usually don't drive more than an hour.

jimculp

I don't miss the heat- I do miss the A/C.

Rob S

I know that people have tried to scavenge heat from the engine-mounted oil cooler. There have been threads here or on Pelican; it might be worth a search. There may be some commercially-available shroud that's being sold for that purpose. My recollection is that it's not particularly effective., but I've never seen one or tried one.

There is another method of heat that hasn't been discussed much, maybe because it hasn't been very succressful. I have a set of headers made by Bob Holcombe (MODE, Inc.). He supplies an aluminum heater tube that bolts to the lower valve cover studs and sits close to the header pipes. So, instead of encircling the headers, it runs parallel to them, apparently acquiring enough heat from the headers. Air flow runs through the usual heater hoses.

I've never installed it on my car, so I can't vouch for its effectiveness, though I doubt it would be a great source of heat in a cold climate (recall that Bob is in Phoenix!), but it may provide enough warmth to break the cold a bit, and it would be easy to try.

I've often thought that a small electric heater, either plugged into the cigarette lighter or wired more directly, might work. Clearly, you wouldn't want to tax the alternator too heavily, but my guess is that you wouldn't need much heat to raise the comfort level in the cabin a notch or two.

Early 911s (such as my 66) came with gas heaters. They were bulky and complex, but when they fired up, they worked like a blast furnace. I wonder if anyone sells a small, aftermarket gas heater that could be temporarily installed somewhere in the car (they used to reside in the smuggler's box until A/C took up residence in that space). They're kind of scary, in some ways, given that they are truly a furnace, but they existed in VWs and other cars for decades with considerable success.

Here's a pic of the heater tube for MODE headers.

Rob

911rudy

I remember the gas heaters and there was always one word that crossed my mind over and over. LEAK. Not like on a hot engine where there was a chance that it might flare up. No, a leak in the smuggler's box where there was an open flame and gasoline by design. Guess what's just below the s box? That's right about 20 gallons of one of the best heat sources you will ever see. Lets see a minor rear end collision with the guy in front of you while your heater is on...... Buy a parka or get one of the cirgaette lighter blankets or seat warmers. Don't go crazy.

Mark Houghton

That's probably not a bad idea for some heat, though obviously less due to the lower surface area vs. the stock heater boxes. I can't remember if aluminum has better heat exchange rate vs. something like copper. Whatever you use, the thinnest wall thickness would be best.

kens911

the heater boxes work fine on headers and heat up pretty quickly. However after a couple of years when they start cracking and after hitting bottom on a few speed bumps the exaust fumes in the car really suck. I was very happy with them until the headers cracked

Guns951

There is always the solution of a gas heater in the front trunk like my buddy justin did...less weight, no exhaust fumes if they crack...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...tallation.html

ldangelo

I removed the heater and A/C out of my re-build (in progress)... Have you conceder an aftermarket heated seat element like:

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/installation.html

Just a thought? I'm thinking about trying something like this.

Visionary

Spoke with Todd from Protomotive about their old oil cooler heat unit. He basically has the same opinion as the rest of us. The cooler takes too long to heat up and in cold enough conditions the cooler is bypassed by the thermostat. He did how ever suggest a different method they used which was basically a vacuum cleaner like pickup that essentially pulled the air passing through cylinder heads 3 & 6 between the exhaust posts and tins. May try this method.

The reason for this is I have built a center mount turbo system with flat 3-into-1 collectors for the header. It would less than desirable to build heat boxes for this setup.