<VV> corvair oil cooler/cabin heater?

[Ramon Rodriguez III]

Thanks Jim!

Since I started all this I'll weigh in.  As some have stated, what goes in
must come out.  If the oil cooler didn't heat the air much then it wouldn't
cool the oil much and oil coolers would not work.

Now, as some have pointed out, it's pretty fair to say that if you want
heat the ambient is cold... so the cooling system will be working much more
effectively than in warm weather and likely the oil wouldn't be hot enough
to do much good when driving in cold weather... but this heater should work
pretty darned well in the summer!  I honestly don't know how much cooler
our oil is in winter weather than in summer weather.. that would probably
be the thing to test.  Piping up to the oil cooler/heater core could easily
be insulated.  Also if we eliminate the factory oil cooler the oil temps
will stay hotter until they reach the new (replacement) larger oil cooler
that doubles as the heater core.  The big difference winter to summer would
be the temp of the air blowing through the shrouds and over the valve
covers and oil pan.

So I'm not saying it would work, but it's an interesting idea to discuss as
evidenced by the wildly different opinions being presented!

Also I've found Corvair direct air heat to be quite satisfactory if you
have no oil (or exhaust) leaks and good heater hoses, and even better with
a high volume blower from Clark's.  I have found the factory heat to be at
it's limit in very cold weather at interstate speeds.  The big improvement
I'd like is a gas heater for the defrost/defog function, I'm considering
eventually getting a VW gas heater for that purpose.


-- 
Ray "Grymm" Rodriguez III
Lake Ariel, PA
1966 Corsa 140 coupe (daily driver)
1965 Corsa 180 coupe (under construction)
1965 Corsa 140 coupe (for sale/under construction)
1963 Monza PG coupe (daily driver)
1962 Monza PG coupe (under construction)