Smiths Heater substitute

[damiane]

At considerable risk, I realize, of being dragged out into the street, tied to a lamp post, tortured with blazing fire irons and branded a heretic prior to being executed by have a Land Rover gearbox dropped on my chest, I gird my loins to ask the following question:

Has anyone successfully installed a non-original non-Smiths non-round type heater on the firewall of a Series IIa essentially in the same position as the original non-functioning (ie leaking core) Smiths and plumbed into the same pipes (perhaps with adapters for a different pipe ID). In my defence - to the charge of heresy - I have investigated the replacement core option from the U.K. and from the U.S.A. but I could buy a couple of wreck Series for body parts, or even take a trip overseas, or do any amount of other things, for the price of that option only to have a heater that looks like the real McCoy. While I fully sympathise with those who undertake the full and entirely accurate resto that is not for me; maybe the next owner.

A mechanic acquaintance has suggested that some of the old-car restorers often use generic heater types in their restorations when the vehicle didn't actually have a heater in its original form. Any advice will be very gratefully received. You can only do so much with two jumpers and a wooly hat in the Victorian climate.

Damian

[crackers]

Never having done it nor knowing what these heaters look like inside, is it worth taking the unit to a radiator specialist to see if they can do something with the core?
Alternatively, can you fit some different works inside while retaining the casing so that it at least looks right.

[Sitec]

There is a way around this... If the outer core leaks but remains in tact, with a bit of careful work you can remove the rest of the core and replace it with micro bore copper pipe rolled around something the same diameter as the original center gap. Then slide the outer core back over the new center and rebuild. I've not done it, but have seen it done....

[damiane]

Never having done it nor knowing what these heaters look like inside, is it worth taking the unit to a radiator specialist to see if they can do something with the core?
Alternatively, can you fit some different works inside while retaining the casing so that it at least looks right.

Crackers,

Thanks. But everyone says these cores are not repairable once they go. The crowd in the U.K. do a replacement core but the cost is astronomical.

[crackers]

Bummer.
Travel rugs work well

[gromit]

Can't remember where I found this so apologies for not acknowledging the source.

Smiths heater repair, fiddly and needs some soldering skills & lots of patience.


Colin

[crackers]

Man, that's a wet winter's evening in front of tele job isn't it. Patience and lock up the scotch bottle before you start. Be satisfying to get it all working though.

[JDNSW]

Similar heaters that would do in the Landrover were fitted to many cars in the days before heaters became common (for example, heaters were not standard in Holdens until the late sixties). There should be a few of these still about, and places to look would be long established wreckers, swap meets, garage sales etc.

Very few Landrovers came from the factory with heaters in Australia prior to Series 3, and where ordered by owners would most likely have been fitted by the dealer, who would have used whatever type of heater was available - which would have only sometimes been a Smiths, although some were very similar, some a bit different, some quite different.

John

[damiane]

Can't remember where I found this so apologies for not acknowledging the source.

Smiths heater repair, fiddly and needs some soldering skills & lots of patience.


Colin

Grief,

Thanks for taking the trouble to find this but really I think I would have more chance of successfully operating on the human brain than to perform that series of high temperature soldering tasks let alone getting copper tubing to cut and bend in all the right places. I am only too willing to admit that I have many inadequacies, these two being only part of that giant kaleidoscope of shortcomings.

Damian

[Don 130]

How badly do you want heat, and how much heat. One of these will do for heat, or a diesel fired webasto/ eberspacher type if you want lots of heat