bilge blower upgrade

[dudload]

Hi All,

On the theme of random questions today - at the end of last winter, my heater matrix sprung a leak i think as steam was coming out of my window vents at one point!

As i'm going to take the lot out i was thinking that whilst I'm at it I may as well look to upgrade the blower as the current one is noisy (dry bearings) and doesn't shift much air. I read in an old post someone has fitted a 4" bilge blower in, but was wondering how much effort is involved / is the wiring easy / is mounting a pain?

any thoughts most welcome!

[simmitc]

Wiring simple: one +ve connection and one -ve connection. Most marine bilge blowers will be plastic construction and so no worry about earth polarity. Mounting will depend upon the model you buy. For later heater units, one option is to completely remove the fan form the heater and blank off the opening. The new blower can now be fitted in-line in the "elephant trunk" air intake hose. Export models in cold climates used a similar idea with a "snail" type blower mounted near the radiator.
I have seen one home made unit that scavenged warm air from the back of the radiator and fed that into the hose meaning that air to the heater was pre-warmed and thus came out of the heater warmer than usual.

[dudload]

thanks simmitc!

I think I understand what you mean - if it completely remove the current motor on the inside, and put the bilge blower inline outside the unit (essentially splicing it into the fresh air tube in the firewall I guess that would work and remove any concerns about the new unit fitting inside! is that correct?

[simmitc]

Exactly. You might find a unit that would fit into the heater, but probably much easier to blank opening in heater and put the new blower under the bonnet. I hope it works out well.

[callyspoy]

I have only ever had the round heater on my Minors ('53, '58, '60) but on the first one i found that a motor from a MK1 MR2 or MK3 Supra could fit in the heater matrix, then then fan blade from the standard motor was used on it. Spun up much quicker.
Although judging by your messages, it appears you do have the later heater, i wonder if it could be adapted still?