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School me with the heater.

6K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  Gordon Raymond 
#1 ·
I haven't payed much attension to the heater until tonight on the way home and my son was a little cold. How is it suppose to work? I opened the flap doors and turn the fan on but it seamed to do better opeaning the vent and letting it blow through? Also how does the defrost work, turn the fan on and close the doors?
 
#2 ·
There several thing to adjust to work the heater. I assume you are talking about a '59 Giulietta? First you have to have the water valve turned on. It's located under the hood, on the engines right side, next to the firewall. Most Giulia's had a lever under the dash. Next, you have to open the main vent, lever under the dash. Then you can open the one or two vents on the heater box. The fan, what there is to it, has a rheostat switch mounted on the dash, In order to work the defrost, same as above but close the two flaps to force the air to the defrost vents.
 
#3 ·
The rest of the story that George it too nice to admit, is that unless you live somewhere warm, (southern Italy?) the unit functioning perfectly generates little heat. Some liken it to a strong wing blowing on a candle flame. Living with these for more than 45 years, I have learned that there IS plenty of room in these cars to store warm clothing.
Just my opinion from my experience in the midwest.
 
#5 ·
Going down the road with the outside vent open, and the two flaps open, I didn't see much difference with the fan on or off. I would hate to rely on it to defrost the windshield! Also to open the outside air vent on this car it has a knob under the steering column for that vent. If you want outside air for the driver’s side it has a lever at the fire wall on the drivers side but that’s not heated. I would say it has a better heater than an old VW.
 
#6 · (Edited)
On heaters

Just got back from a drive at 50 F, with the roof up.

Had installed the valve from a VW to the hot-water line such that it can be controlled by a choke-type cable. The knob is under the dash, as is the control for opening the air vent.

The latter had been sticking but is now free so tested the system with the water valve shut and it is closing fine. Cold air came in, which will be good on the warmer days.:)

Put the hot water on and not much heat came through, but don't often drive any distance at these low temps.

Had a Giulia Spider in Winnipeg in 1966. Put an off-the-shelf additional heater with its own fan on the transmission hump. With its own water supply, it put out lots of heat.:):)

It was needed at 35 below F.:eek::eek:
 
#7 ·
a good functioning alfa heater does have a certain character all it's own. The VW system, particularly with the heater boxes rusted out, could direct cold air filled with oil and exhaust fumes into the car. ALWAYS entertaining. There is that OTHER German car of the same era and system, that could do the same at SPEED! I had one of those with a gasoline fired auxiliary heater under the front trunk. Left that thing ON one night and filled the garage with carbon monoxide and emptied the gas tank! Garage was nice and warm though.
Alfa spider heaters by comparison, are pretty good. No fumes, no heat, no defrost, a fan that makes a nice noise but doesn't do much, AND the whole assembly does not take up a lot of space! Resale of these heaters on E-Bay is easily $100 +. No downside .... in Southern Italy.
When it's cool enough outside that you feel cold with your heater ON, it's time to park your Giulietta / Giulia spider for the winter, OR until it gets warmer outside. An automatic weather alert system! Just my opinion. I like them!
 
#10 ·
My father had a 1972 411 VW and it fill with car with smoke maney of times! I do want to drive the Alfa some in colder weather just to see how the heater does.
 
#13 ·
Right---the heater with modest output is on the passenger side and is hopeless when driving with the top down,

Brit cars like Healeys usually have tonneau covers which with the heat from the transmission keeps the driver warmer than otherwise.

I will post a site that has an interesting hat for winter driving.:p
 
#15 ·
Had my camera out today, here are some shots of the heater and vent knob for reference.

George
 

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