factory heater

Yes mine has the a delete panel on the drivers side that bolts to the fire wall from the outside and has a hole cut into the radiator shroud with four holes around around it.

 

If yours has the delete panel it can be unbolted and use the driver's side heater unit. I'd be interested in the delete panel if interested in heater parts but will pm about that.
Stock, heaters were an option during these years hence the delete panel. I "think" around '59-'60 is when they changed to the vacuum controls but not real sure when the change happened.



Sent from my iPhone

 

My 61 had manual cable control and cardboard plenums. Also had a valve at the left front corner of the head that controlled the amount of water passing through the system. Stock from the dealer when Dad bought it new. Bill the Boss has my cables in Animal now.

 

Here's what's in our '63. I'm planning to use some creative cardboard and duct tape work to salvage the plenum and put it back in. The defroster manifold is still behind the dash.



Speedo? The gauges and lights work, just missing the lens and needle. I have another complete speedo that I'm going to put in.

 

WALCKS4WD.COM has that fiberboard plenum re-popped into a plastic one for 75 bucks. I would say it's probably well worth the money and that's probably what I'm going to buy for my Jeep.

 

Same as the setup in my 61. I bought the plastic plenum and defroster duct from Walcks. It was an easy install - only had to trim a little where the defroster hose attached to the plenumn - well worth the money since any used originals would pretty fragile. Mine also has the water shut off valve in the heater hose on the engine, Does anyone have a picture of the bracket for the shut off valve and how it is mounted? When I got the Jeep it had been relocated for a plow pump and I cant figure out where its supposed to go. I made a mounting bracket but it must be in the wrong place because the cable won't reach.

 

Thanks for that info, but cardboard and duct tape are going to have to do for now. Lot's of other things that $75 can go towards at this point.

 

FWIW my stock '57 has an original round bottomed heater labelled "Willys" under the glove box. It has two fans - one for the defroster, one for the cab circulation. They are controlled by rheostats under the center of the dash. No cables or doors.

 

Picture?

 

I would like to see a picture of your heater. I will be picking up a 1955 serial number 10181

 

I would guess this was dealer installed. Back in those days, adding a heater at point of sale was pretty common. There were also aftermarket heaters that could be added by the owner. These were common accessories to budget-priced vehicles, like pickup trucks (and my grandpa's Studebaker Champion).

Any of these heaters will be anemic compared to the modern aftermarket heaters, or even a junkyard transplant from a modern car.

 

That's putting it politely. F..ing useless has been my experience.

But maybe a cool accessory for a Restoration.

 

Big issue with the factory heater is they cannot recirculate cabin air, they only heat outside air (there is no inlet within the cab) Set your modern car to not recirculate and you can see the lost potential.
Here's what I did.
My Heater Mod

 

Thank you for sharing your pictures.

 

But realistically how effective can recycling the cabin airs be if you don't have a cabin? With a softtop and doors on will it contain enough heat to help?

 

Actually, on the true Earlys, the heaters ONLY recirculate, there is no outside intake.

They are still "placebo" heaters, at least here in NH. Mickey, you are in Texas, what do you need a heater for?

 

I sort of like the heater in my Dispatcher. It comes in handy on cold days even in Texas .

I'm thinking about making the recirculation mod on my DJ5 as it has the heater like JW60.

 

It got really cold the other day. I think it dipped all the way down to a bone chilling 95 with that last front.

Actually, once it's all ready it's heading to the cabin in the mountains where we got 34" of snow a week ago when I was there. Great skiing.

 

In California, I owned both a '73 soft top CJ-5 and a '75 hard top CJ-6, both with the factory heater. Folks complain about the heaters in the intermediate Jeeps, but I found both to be pretty much the same and adequate. I'd even turn the heater on with the soft top off to keep my feet warm, on chilly nights. Both these Jeeps had the full factory carpet kits with lots of extra jute padding under, and that likely made a big difference in the heater effectiveness. I made many winter trips to the mountains and desert, in much colder environments than the plains of Orange County. You'd be surprised how much a heater helps on cold days, even with a soft top (likely the steel top is a much worse heat radiator than the fabric top - when camping, a tent will keep you much warmer than sleeping in a car).