Heater improvements for 81 Vanagon?

[Geoffrey David Herrig]

Hi, I have an 81 Vanagon that has spent most of its life in California and
Texas where the lack of heat hasn't been an issue and now we're moving to
Colorado, where it definitely will be an issue. If anyone has any good
suggestions on heater improvements, or references to websites, they'd be
much appreciated. Since this car was sold in cold climates, I'm wondering
if the factory didn't offer some sort of heater booster option that might
still be available used. Thanks in advance,

Geoff Herrig

[Funkie]

try
rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled
probably find more relevant info and knowledge there

"Geoffrey David Herrig" <geoffre...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
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[VdubBeetle1972]

Hey medina.. 81 Vanagons as far as I know of were AIRCOOLED..

you might have just stuck your foot in your mouth..

Colt
72SB

[Cary Hayes]

Was the 82 vanagon the first year to go with a watercooled setup.

Cary

[Funkie]

if so, sorry. I wasn't rude though. I just thought vanagons were water
pumpers, thats all.

"VdubBeetle1972" <vdubbee...@aol.com> wrote in message
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[Funkie]

Yup 1981 Vanagon has a 2L T4 engine, my bad on the water cooled remark,
sorry.

"Geoffrey David Herrig" <geoffre...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
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[jim m]

There are/were several gasoline heaters available. Some even run on diesel
if it makes you feel safer. Here's a link for one type.
http://hometown.aol.com/arkmirvis/heaterman.html
Searching VW gas heater on E-bay may give you some more ideas but I'm not
sure I would buy a used one without seeing it work (not worried so much
about rip-offs but SAFETY!)

I had a really ugly one in my old bus, I was a Stewart Warner/ South Wind
and worked (past tense) great!
Here's a link to their site, I don't see my old heater but the one beside
the army tank may be what you need.
http://www.sw-exchangers.thomasregister.com/olc/sw-exchangers/page4.htm

and here is a link to a site showing the heater I had installed in a beetle
http://vw.itgo.com/heater.html
We have a local truck stop that services the S-Ws but only the ones for
heating fuel. The heaters look pretty similar to mine but I think the dealer
was concerned about liability. This was about 8 years ago.

"Geoffrey David Herrig" <geoffre...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
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[Busahaulic]

Well - how far do you want to go? You can disassemble all
the heater ducting and make sure it isn't coming apart
inside - causing a stoppage. You can add insulation. You can
go to West Marine and get an Atwood bige blower and put it
inline to increase airflow - trouble is, when it's truly
cold oustide, the air doesn't get all that hot going through
the heat exchangers! Aircraft SPruce and Specialty Company
has insulated flexible ducting (they have a website).
I did everything to my '79 bus and I have really good warm
air flow but it's just not warm enough! Add to that the
problem of deep water puddles that just fill the entire bus
with steam so the windows and windshield are instantly
opaque! I finally solved the problem this winter by
installing an Espar heater. The D1LC or B1LC models put out
7000BTU and are smaller than a standard shoebox! They get
combustion air from outside and vent exhaust under power to
outside. I bought the diesel model and added a 3 gallon boat
tank in my engine compartment, an option you don't have.
Typical scenario: 20 degrees outside, 80 degrees inside
(parked at ski area!) Fuel consumption is -get this- 0.07
gallons per hour on the highest heat setting!
They are pricey!
For further information regarding pricing, etc., please
contact one of the following Espar dealers:

Groeneveld Pacific West
1089 Valentine Avenue S.E.
Pacific, WA 98047
(253) 863-3700
(800) 959-5326
(253) 863-3131 Fax
Contact: Joe

OR

Thermo King Northwest
4711 N. Basin
Portland, OR 97217
(503) 251-8900
(503) 286-5938 Fax

Kind regards,
Ingrid
Espar Heater Systems

I bought mine from Groeneveld - they had some gathering dust
and made me a helluva deal. Regular cost is over $1300 with
the complete kit. I installed a remote switch so I can
start the heater in the morning when I first get out of bed
just by preeins a button on a key-chain remote - nice and
toastey by the time I'm ready to leave!

Install was not easy, but more time consuming than
difficult - I had a lot of hurdles to clear, such as a hose
adapter I had to build in order to use a larger diameter
fuel line to the quick-disconnect on the removeable fuel
tank. Come summer I'll play with ducting.

Geoffrey David Herrig <geoffre...@sprintmail.com> wrote
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[jimt]

83 was the strange year - water cooled, deisel, and still some air
cooled.
got an 82 westy
jimt

In article <amHl8.282$u4....@news.ou.edu>, Cary Hayes

[jimt]

my 82 westy has an aux gas heater/booster already installed. When i
first got my westy about 6 weeks ago i did some heavy inspections of
various things on it. One thing i noted was it was going to be a bitch
to get at that gas heater to work on it if i had to. But i dont see
where it cant be added if you can locate one. it seems to just go in
line from the regular heater boxes to the system and acts more as a
booster than prime heater. I noted that mine seems to use about 1 to
1.5 miles per gallon when i am driving around town and using it
(denver/aurora) (note that there is some a lot of wiring and relays and
safety stuff in the circuits associated with the heater.
jimt

In article
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