'48 heater

[dpowell]

Since I cant seem to find the info, I'll ask. What upgrades/improvements are available for the cabin heat system for a '48 170. The small scoop( if you can call it that) on the front left baffle doesn't seem to collect much airflow resulting in, yep you guessed it, little heat output. I have a round muffler and shroud on the left side of the engine. Thanks

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Unfortunately there isn't much available that is easy and inexpensive.

You say you have a round muffler on the left side. What do you have on the right?

Do you still have the Y pipe? If you have the Y make sure the flapper is working otherwise your hot air is being dumped overboard rather than into the cabin.

The '48 and in fact until '52 there wasn't a scope on the baffle, just an opening where the flange attaches to the baffle. You could get a look at a '52 with the scopes and make some and add them to the baffles.

Here is a picture of the scope found on '52

Here is a picture of the custom winterization baffle I made for the left side with an opening to channel air into the scope. I think it worked but it was not a huge difference. There as also a matching plate without the opening on the right side.

I did a lot of experimenting on my first 170 which had round Hanlon Wilsons with 2" scat. I ran it with the Y pipe to get twice the volume but it didn't seem to make any difference over the normal routing with these mufflers of only one scat to the heat manifold. I'm convinced that the limitations on the heat is the inlet and then the 2" scat. If money was no object I'd upgrade to the '53 and later Hanlon Wilson muffler with the 3" scat system into a '53 or later heat manifold on the fire wall to the '53 or later distribution system.

But wait you should have the '48 with the heat manifold in the center and the heat distribution up the center console. I've found that to be slightly better than the 2" manifold over the pilots feet found on A models from '50 to '52. I might try to use the later Hanlon Wilson 3" scat system into this center console before going to the trouble of the '53 and later heat distribution system.

Of course it goes without saying try to block off as many sources of cold air getting into the cabin.

But about the only thing I can definitely say will work is to dress warm.

BTW there are probably about 5 threads on this subject with picture of some of these changes I mention.

[sfarringer]

Have you made certain that the scat tube and ducting behind the firewall is not partially blocked by debris?
Mice can put things in the darndest places.......

[dpowell]

I'll check on the mouse thing. As I recall there is no y tube. The muffler on the r/s is a more flat muffler with three pipes that go all the way to the exhaust flanges. The round muffler on the l/s as I recall has a 3" opening for the heat to exit,but, I think it is reduced down to 2" to go into the heat box which is in the center. Someone already made a scoop for the l/s inlet. I like the idea of the deflector on the front.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Well unfortunitly I have to tell you you have a Hanlon Wilson muffler (round) and an original pancake (flat) and that configuration is not a clearly approved configuration. I don't see why it should matter but it just doesn't meet the original or the replacement criteria.

For example you say you don't have a Y pipe. The panacake system has the Y the Hanlon Wilson doesn't. What should you have?

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Have you made certain that the scat tube and ducting behind the firewall is not partially blocked by debris?
Mice can put things in the darndest places.......

Water has also been known to sit in the low part of the bends and block air passage. It's been suggested a small drain hole at these points be made with something like an awl.

[dpowell]

The way it is installed at this time is the r/s (flat) muffler has 3 exhaust tubes to connect to each jug. Then it has a shroud with an inlet in the front and an exit in the back and it goes directly to the carb heat. The l/s (round) is the only one that has anything to do with the cabin heat.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

dpowell,the scat arrangement you have is the arrangement you should have if you had two Hanlon Wilson (round) mufflers. If you had two flat pancake mufflers the scat would come of both mufflers to Y at the carb heat box. Then of the center of the Y to the heat manifold on the firewall. Since you have a mixed pancake Hanlon Wilson system there is no prescribed method.

If you found a Y (which really has 2 inlets and two exits) You MIGHT feel more heat coming out of your system because you would be using both mufflers BUT I have to tell you I tryed it and didn't really see any difference.

[dpowell]

Thanks for the info. I also discovered that in the ipc it shows a scat tube from the heat box back to the outlets. Mine appears to just dump the heat from the heat box into the tunnel itself.