VW Beetle Heat

The heat in a VW Beetle is very different from on vehicles with water cooled engines. On a Beetle, I think the heat source is a heat exchanger on the exhaust manifold (could be part of the engine itself). There was no blower you could control, instead the source of air was from the engine's cooling fan. Heat output was dependent on engine RPM. The heater channels (ducts that carried heated air from the engine to the passengers) were prone to rusting. When they did rust, forget about having heat! I've found the heat on Beetles with good heater channels to be less than stellar, but better than nothing, and better than I had expected. I cannot imagine it would have been comfortable at -28 degrees, but I would hope that the car was able to at least get above freezing inside. I know there was an optional gasoline heater for the German market for Beetles, but I don't know if it was available in the US market. If it was, I doubt it had a high take rate.

There were a few aftermarket accessory heaters for Model A Fords that worked like a VW heater. The kit contained a new exhaust manifold with a large fin atop. A duct went over the exhaust manifold and air from the radiator fan blew through it. A hole was cut in the firewall with a round cover. When you wanted heat, you flipped open the round cover and heat came in through the passenger side foot well. If you had one of these, you'd want to make certain to use the expensive bolts to attach the new exhaust manifold so you wouldn't blow exhaust into the passenger compartment.

Thanks for sharing, keep the stories coming!
Dave