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Heater Delete

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David_Doan

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I currently do not plan to have a heater in my car. There's been some discussion that running with the heater valve closed (or blanking it off) causes a heat issue near #4 piston. It is apparently also bad to bypass the heater core because that returns hot water to the engine.

Any thoughts or best-practices from those who do not have heaters installed?

Thanks,

David
 
Well, First, the intake dia. on a deep vane water pump for the 1275 (OEM cross flow rad. spec.) is larger than outflow of a BE rad... But, as I remember your using the Alum. rad.....What dia. is the exit at the bottom? If it is the same as the intake for the WP then things are good....You can just route and plumb the hose from the heater valve to the opening for the water temp bulb of the rad... (that's what the Works did in the racing BE's) What I did with my standard BE rad. was to place a heater core behind the rad and re plumb the complete mess with various parts from irrigating systems and regular plumbing parts. It eliminated the troublesome appendage off of the lower rad hose... never had a leak! So, to summarize, take a hose from the heater valve opening and run it to a heater core behind the rad and then run an exit hose from it to the lower rad hose which exits to the water pump intake.
 
So you're question is; how can you best avoid having a better/safer driving experience and simultaneously reduce the cooling capacity for the motor? hmmmm :devilgrin:
I'm :jester: around, but I don't see the downside to having a heater. The ability to defog the windscreen during an unexpected weather event is a big plus. I ran without a heater for the first year I had the Tunebug. Hated it. The way mine was setup, and to answer your question: rotate the heater valve 180 to aim the opening at the driver's side & run a longer hose from it to the radiator connection. Leave the valve open. But don't, just put the heater in.
 
I knew this would be a "controversial" topic. My car does not have a top. I live in Texas, I don't drive it when its cold, I don't drive it in the rain, my heater core leaks, my heater valve leaks. I LOVE the simplicity of the sprite. No heater make is one notch simpler.

I currently have an aluminum plate covering the heater valve hole, I'm just trying to find the best "no heater solution"
 
bug_sixty said:
Well, First, the intake dia. on a deep vane water pump for the 1275 (OEM cross flow rad. spec.) is larger than outflow of a BE rad... But, as I remember your using the Alum. rad.....What dia. is the exit at the bottom? If it is the same as the intake for the WP then things are good....You can just route and plumb the hose from the heater valve to the opening for the water temp bulb of the rad... (that's what the Works did in the racing BE's) What I did with my standard BE rad. was to place a heater core behind the rad and re plumb the complete mess with various parts from irrigating systems and regular plumbing parts. It eliminated the troublesome appendage off of the lower rad hose... never had a leak! So, to summarize, take a hose from the heater valve opening and run it to a heater core behind the rad and then run an exit hose from it to the lower rad hose which exits to the water pump intake.
Click to expand...

My water pump and and radiator are stock.

bug_sixty said:
You can just route and plumb the hose from the heater valve to the opening for the water temp bulb of the rad... (that's what the Works did in the racing BE's)
Click to expand...

This sounds easy, then where to hook up the temp gauge? use a "T"?
 
1. I don't think there's any controversy.

2. About turning the heater valve 180 and too much hot water: That's the way Drew put it. I don't know, but I'm guessing Hap would have been consulted beforehand. In practice it worked fine, I saw no downsides except those that come from not having a heater.
 
AN5Sprite said:
2. About turning the heater valve 180 and too much hot water: That's the way Drew put it. I don't know, but I'm guessing Hap would have been consulted beforehand. In practice it worked fine, I saw no downsides except those that come from not having a heater.
Click to expand...

That's how it was set up on the 948 when I bought the Tunebug originally. Always intended to put a heater in the car, just never got around to it. I didn't experience any issues from that setup, other than getting cold on a few early spring drives. :smile:
 
Since the heater was an option, how did the factory do it?
Rut
 
OEM parts book shows a gasket and blanking plate over hole in back of the head....and... a straight lower rad hose (without the appendage)
 
For trivia's sake.....factory option also was a "fresh air unit" which had the ducting you see in the heater unit but the heater box unit was smaller....ie. you have defrosters!!!
 
I'm sure that would be a great option....I like the fresh air ducts at my feet....It gets da... hot down there in the summer.....so...just use all the plumbing for the heater box without the core and use a couple of rubber blanks like the one's for the firewall in the two heater core openings on the front of the cover... By the way the OEM "fresh air unit" didn't have a blower unit included....just the plumbing and the small box....
 
More trivia...the export market didn't offer the fresh air unit.....only the heater and as remember from prior lit.. the heater was standard not an option even though it was listed as a line item and $$ added......The Tach was optional but was simply included on every unit brought here
 
pics (I Hope)
 

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For those in some way impaired.....Ok... fresh air unit on left and heater on right....Also, for those who have most but not all the OEM BE stuff...look at this.... refer to #15 on the heater hose.... observe that there is a plate above the hose....this plate I have seen once on the nearest OEM sprite I have ever seen back at the 25th conclave in Aspen.....The plate was a caution plate that warned that the area or hose (I can't remember exactly) was very HOT..... when that hose needed replacement the plate and the old hose went to the trash bin....
 
I would think that if the original designers included an adjustable coolant valve at the heater, and did not provide any warning of its (mis)use, that they believed it was acceptable to run with it closed. The driver's handbook says:
Heater (Fig. 1). A valve controlling the flow of coolant through the heater unit
is fitted at the rear of the cylinder head. The valve is opened by turning it in an
anti-clockwise direction when heating is required or shut off by turning clockwise​
when the system is to be used for cool air ventilation.

I'm not suggesting the original design was flawless; perhaps someone can dig up an A-series engine cutaway showing all the cooling passages and we can convince ourselves that the water pump has a satisfactory flow loop? Also, if you delete the heater, do you lose that oh-so-pretty copper crossover pipe? :smile: My daily driver is a Miata and the availability of a heater and air conditioning opens up many more opportunities for enjoyable drives: there's nothing wrong with going down the highway with the top down and heater or a/c going to keep you comfortable. But I also understand what you mean by simplicity, David; part of the LBC charm is their minimalism...

Mark
 
David_Doan said:
I knew this would be a "controversial" topic. My car does not have a top. I live in Texas, I don't drive it when its cold, I don't drive it in the rain, my heater core leaks, my heater valve leaks. I LOVE the simplicity of the sprite. No heater make is one notch simpler.

Ditto to all of the above. I've been running my '65 with no heater core with no issues.

Seat heaters are an interesting option, though.
Click to expand...
 
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