Daniel from Anglesey Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 A newbie as of this evening!☺️ Can you advise on a good in car heater to run off a z tec engine please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phippsy Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 I saw this post and thought of you, then realised it was you 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel from Anglesey Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 Just can't get away from you Chris 😂 It will be interesting to see a few suggestions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Car Electronics Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 https://www.t7design.co.uk/heating/water-heaters.html There are a few options here. If you don't need screen vents then it's an easier choice - take a look at what space you have behind the dash as retrofitting a heater is harder than fitting one during initial build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafod Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 Welcome Dan, I’m in Penmaenmawr so not so far away and often have a run out on Anglesey when the clouds look dark over Snowdonia. can’t really help you with a heater, I have a standard Westfield one in mine which is not great but have heard people change the route of the plumbing with the Zetec engine and have better results. The Westfield heater has a cheap design joint with O rings which often fails as the screw holes distort so some fit a mini heater rad core. Also the fan and housing is really heavy and a bit of agricultural engineering not suited to a light weight car. Good luck in finding an alternative or someone on the forum might have one they have taken out to save weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Taylor Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 Hi this what I retro fitted as we use the westy all year up here, makes a difference when the half hoods up https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202318862151?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-JvW0lVRTvK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=ExVmcqzhS4q&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murraymint Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 I fitted one from Car builders in my first westfield, really good heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel from Anglesey Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share Posted October 29, 2022 11 hours ago, Kit Car Electronics said: https://www.t7design.co.uk/heating/water-heaters.html There are a few options here. If you don't need screen vents then it's an easier choice - take a look at what space you have behind the dash as retrofitting a heater is harder than fitting one during initial build. Thanks for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel from Anglesey Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share Posted October 29, 2022 2 minutes ago, Daniel from Anglesey said: Thanks for the info The selection is the best lve seen!☺️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 The T7 Design ones are really, really good, and the build quality is excellent - (even without the current situation), I'd forget the factory supplied item; it's an ancient design with no proper air intake side, very poor efficiency and a lot of bulk! In an ideal world, you want, in order of usefulness: An on/off valve in the hot coolant feed to the heater* What's known as a squirrel cage blower, (that's the fan type that looks a bit like a wider version of a hamster wheel, they're much better at moving the amounts of air you need form a heater, especially in a Westfield. An air source for the heater from outside the cockpit. (The factory option just recirculates the air in the cabin, so if you are caught in the rain, and get in after putting the hood up and you or the interior is wet, the WSC heater just blew hot damp air at you and the windscreen, steaming everything back up! The one catch with some of the T7 models, is if the scuttle area is particularly busy, you can struggle getting one with the right combination of inlets/outlets etc, facing in the right direction. It's not that the can't adapt them to suit, but that they can be physically too tall to then fit. For that reason, I ended up using a Car Builder Solution model - they have a good range, too, and most of theirs are a bit lower profile. As I have a V8 Bonnet, which has handy rear air intakes, I use the off side one, partitioned off from the rest of the engine bay, and have the heater in the bay itself. Here, you can see the heater on the left as you look at the photo. (plus a similar arrangement for the engine air intake on the right. On the Honda engine, it has it's own warm up bypass plumbing so doesn't use the heater circuit. I can there fore just use a very simple on/off valve. Mine is adjustable from the cabin, but if you wanted, you could just leave the cable off and set it on in Winter, off in Summer, I guess. I haven't just got a decent photo of the valve in situ to hand, but you can just about see it where the red arrow is pointing, below. This is the heater unit itself, the air hoses to cabin vents are connected up, but not the engine bay side. So, why go to the trouble? I use the car all year round, and the heater with decent power blower makes a big difference in winter. With a hood or half hood, and the heater on, you don't need to be as heavily wrapped up, and suffer the potential issues being able to control the car fully that bulky clothes can bring. Being able to have the heater blow just ambient air out is an absolute god send if you get caught in the wet and need a hood/half hood up on a warmer, more summery day. And having the air sourced outside means you're not stuck in an ever more humid, overheating cabin. I've even, when caught in stop start traffic, on hot days, just set the heater blasting cooler air over me! Worth being aware, if you take the option, while a slightly different layout, this is exactly how Caterham fit heaters on their Sevens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrzej Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 I was thinking lately about a heater , during re-building the car, I have removed big-bulky one (I assume its a factory one) located inside on scuttle. Before Your @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman post, I was going to ask in technical section if someone mounted heater in the engine bay - seems no need now it is in my opinion also much better location if only there is enough place - main reason : no hoses with hot water next to legs! clamped with those hose clamps which can ( experienced this lately, hopefully it was on "small circuit" from thermostat to water pump) snap. Just the space needed is not always is possible, in Your car there is only expansion tank and inlet, I have located there also a pedal box for top mounted pedals, battery (small 18Ah but even it occupies some space) and some electrics - relay, fuses , thick wires to and from main electric switch to cockpit, windscreen washer tank, remote brake fluid tank... But need to think how to relocate all this to fit heater under the bonnet instead in the cabin. Also seems to be in this location possible to locate heater lower which can help with bleeding, as I saw that some add bleeding valves to high located heater hoses leading to in-cockpit heater. Thanks for sharing this experience! (how did You managed to achieve so much space in there, no wires, no hoses ! wow!) I wanted to have all with easy access but that causes real mess and a lot going on under the bonnet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 On the later cars like mine, the battery is in the nose, so that helps. At time of build, I relocated the fuse boxes u dear the scuttle, (they’re now on a drop down panel over the drivers legs, similar to the drop down ecu panel on the passenger side of the car. The washer tank is one I had custom made, and is in two parts, it sit inside the cockpit, at the end of the passenger footwell, behind a foot rest. Ill have a look for the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 The washer tank itself, installed the passenger footwell. The pipe on the top, then connects to a filler pipe I had fabricated, to fit through the scuttle. You can see the screw on filler cap, circled in red at the bottom of the photo above. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrzej Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Wow all taken into consideration and with purpose! Was wondering if IT is for a dry sump system maybe clever solutions! as for the washer i must look if there are still available fluid bags. I Rember we had such bag in fiat 125 when I was young. Or indeed fabricate sth in spare place. Maybe in rear hmm. Took some space with fuel swirl pot not sure if needed in road car but..somehow not trust flat wide horizontal fuel cell with one central tube for fuel supply. Also small but always oil catch tank.. all takes a space. Accu in the nose considered but wanted to make as low thick wires as possible still with on dash main power switch so abandoned this nosecone idea. And of course there is a mass distribution Yes Rember what You used to say not once "there are no two identical kitcars" ! but i believe we can take inspiration from others ideas and solutions , not copy but inspiration 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hunter - Club Secretary Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 What is all this talk of heaters and windscreen washer bottles!? 🤷♂️ I just drive faster, the adrenaline keeps you warm and the increased airflow keeps the visor clear.... You've all gone soft 😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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