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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Removing the heater box

Is there anyone out there who has got rid of the heater box and replaced it with something else?

I could do with the space in the engine bay but I also quite like having toastie feet and a clear windscreen....
Toby Anscombe

Toby:
I've been told by my better half that I "damn well better NOT remove the heater if you want ME to go for a drive with you"...So the heater stays. However, I will eventually put the battery in the boot, because I think that's the perfect place for the CD player to go. Take a look at (image) the box I built to replace the (in my opinion) God-awful radio box the car came with. See the choke knob? The choke cable runs right alongside the battery on the other side of the wall. Instead of the choke knob, courtesy lamp and "aftermarket hazard switch" (dpdt switch) across the top of the box, you could have the CD player mounted there with it's butt-end on the battery shelf (in a nice little box of course), so when you eject the CD it wouldn't smack the shifter. Ahh, so many plans...

Richard "Frankenstein Seventy nine". Sorry DL : )


Richard 1979 1500

I replaced it with a blanking plate and I'm hardened to winter driving with no heater. Occasionally I think about some of those electric (cig lighter socket and I do have one in the car) heaters but have done no more than think about it.

Yes, if you moved the battery you could modify the heater ducting to sit it further back.
Daniel Thirteen-Twelve

Hey richard,

I used a house vent, and cut the slates out,sheet metaled the backside cut a hole below the heater shelf and put the vent in then the CD radio had enough clearance to be face mounted and didnt get oil spray on it, from the engine.

Hey Toby,

I took the heater box out...there is enough heat that comes from the engine to make a cold drive, tolerable, esp if you use a small dryer vent hose to collect the heat off the exhaust header and vent it thur the ventalation system...a baking pan works great to transfer the heat from the vent hose to the heater shelf. maybe use the fan from the heater box...in line there somewhere...you can cut a small 2-3 inch hole in the front of the heater self and put the hose in there, and sheetmetal over the oval hole on top of the heater shelf

PLAN B.

I "WAS" working on an electric heating/airconditioning idea, until the engine let go, so my ..."Mind Power"... has been devertied

I was going to gut a small window AC meld it with a turbo fan...for the AC, (using the turbo fan motor as the drive to power the compressor as well as the fan) and make an electric heater screen from a small ceramic heater that would fit infront of the turbo fan ...then run the whole thing thur a converter box...you wouldnt have to power the unit vary long...maybe 10-15 minutes per hour at a random rates...cause the heater fills an area of about 1500 cubic feet and the airconditioner cools an area of about 6000 cubic feet....the midget only has about 60 cubic feet with the seats removed...so with seats and 2 people maybe "guessing" 30 cubic feet???,

SOOooo....worse case senerio....the car could become a hi temp cooker oven / antiartic deep freezer.

anyway...your welcome to fleash it out more, as this has been booted down the road til late spring for me to take on.

I would suggest,,, getting a power spliter from a RV store and hooking it up to the ALT and running the system on a seprate battry independent of the rest of the car.

good luck
prop

then agian ...just take the window out of the hardtop and put the window airconditioner in there, and get a solar planel powered hot water heater and hook that up between the seats. that would work...plus you would have plenty of hot water for a good cup of hot tea...LOL
Prop

hey, you could fit a turbo charger and vent the air into the footwell instead of the engine....

Then the gas would be toasty warm and enough of it to rach all of you body, not just your left knee
Will Munns

Toby,
With the type 9 installed (gear leaver further back) I am looking at a Mini heater or somthing simlar to fit inside. Whatch this space?

Regards,

Howie
Howard Wright

I took the heater inlet further back and have put the battery on the passenger footwel(for this i will also make a nice box like Ant and others have done).



Arie de Best

And this is the heater(not fitted yet)


Arie de Best

And fits like this:

Still trying to fit a tap in the system to be able to switch of the heather(nice winterjob to put on the list).


Arie de Best

I started with that "box" but found that the standard of standard batteries (038) happily fits under the wing without going deep.

this means my battery tray doesn't really extend much into the footwell and (more importantly) never fills with water


http://flickr.com/photos/will-and-becky/2675553248/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Will Munns

But - what do you all want the space for?
Nick

Got to put the picnic basket somewhere ;-P


I'm finishing off the wire job and looking to where I can put the ECU without modifying the loom; currently it is complete and only requires power and earth so it seems a bit rude to start to chop it about..

I can move the fuses inboard which keeps the near side wing free but there is not enough space on the off-side due to the pedal box and heater...
Toby Anscombe

Anyone tried a heated seat cover? See http://www.waeco.com/en/300_649.php

(Nick, the PO removed the heater in order to install a K series and I occasionally miss having warm legs.)

Jonathan
Jonathan Severn

Will has fitted some heating elements to his; we have heated leather in the porker and it is rather nice.....
Toby Anscombe

. . . sybarites . . .
Nick

Hot seats are SOP in the SAAB too

Sybarites?

Who that?

Basil's lovely wife?


But hot seats do nowt for the blooming cold lower limbs when the rainwater comes tipping down from behind the dash (Midget not SAAB!)and the frosty winds do blow...
Bill

http://www.waeco.com/en/300_649.php?hirID=174&sprID=2&artOrigID=943

are what i used, you just slip them inside your current seats.

As bill says... Cold legs are my main complaint, other than that theyre great
Will Munns

you could always do a heating blanket with a converter box....of course id add a massage vibreator to the heated seats, a hot water dispenser for hot chocolate and hot tea, some electric heated house slipppers, a book stand so you can read while on those boring drives and some scented candles so,,,youuu.... and some........ooozzzzzz, buppppp, ooooozzzzzz, buppppp.......ooozzzzzzzzz
Prop

My exhaust pipe warms up the floor that much that my sneakers melt. I don't use the heater (but I haven't removed it (yet)
arnold

Arnold! Got an update for us?
Nick

Hi

I enclose a pic of my heater tray and new battery position after mods. I use a slightly modified 1500 heater at mo; not quite as modded as Arie's.

But I intend to build a heater box into the tray to put some strength back into the bulkhead. That is, replace the current external heater box (what a waste of steel!) with a structure welded/painted into the current tray. I'll mock up with Cornflake boxes and let Paul do the easy part! The heater will drop into this construction and the lid will (probably) self-tap on. It will be smaller and impart strength where needed.

BTW - you need the heater for the driver's side. The passenger has the benefit of the LCB and twin pipes close to the floor. I think this is popularly called underfloor heating.

A


Anthony Cutler

She's a very lucky car that you love her so much

The work you've done on that installation is a credit to you Anthony

Think I told you that at Curborough all that time ago

Do you actually need that much space at the back of the lump or is it a case of "because I could"?

Time for us to start looking round for suitable installations now before all the old cars and their set ups disappear


hmm I suppose we could always plumb the exhaust across the floor, side to side a few times so both seats get underfloor...
Bill

Bill - not quite so clean and tidy after 15K miles...

You're right - probably went a bit overboard and could have kept around 1 or 2" of depth.

A
Anthony Cutler

Well Nick, not sure till where I informed you guys. But in fact I have things running pretty well:

- oil leaks cured
- high inlet temps cured (were 80-90C, now 30-40C!!) by an intercooler (pics follow)
- the cold starting is a bit a pain in the ass, as also the sometimes dying while hard revving the engine (possible I'll use dashpot to cure that)

End of the line car runs pretty fast with only hardly 0,4 bar of boost. The smaller pulley is ready to be installed, but first the MOT (again) and making things tidy


a.o. arnold

Here's a picture of Prop's ductwork he was talking about:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/safety_fast/2619224719/in/set-72157605873860590/

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

thanks Gryf,

I was looking for that photo for this tread....I got to do some house cleaning on this ol puter,

But you could re-run the hose to the exhaust header and collect the heat to heat the car


prop
Prop

This thread was discussed between 13/10/2008 and 16/10/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.