[T3] Heat exchangers

Soren Jacobsen snj at blef.org
Tue Aug 21 23:44:50 PDT 2018


On 08/21 21:12, mpitargue at gmail.com wrote:
> Would really like a pair of serviceable early heat exchangers, aka
> heater boxes. The ones without the flaps.
> 
> Are they obtainable any more, used or otherwise? Or have they all
> rusted away?

They're not generally available, no, but they occasionally come up for
sale.  Last year I scored an NOS pair, which was the first time I've
seen a pair for sale in the 7 years I've been looking.  Now and then an
individual NOS unit comes up for sale.  They're never cheap.

Bear in mind that there are two sizes of the early heat exchangers.
August 1963 through October 1964 are the same 60 (or 65, depending on
how you look at it) millimeter size at the connection to the heater
tube.  Earlier cars are smaller.  VW made adapter rings so you could use
the later heat exchangers on early cars, and you could probably make
something similar if you found a nice pair of heat exchangers that were
the wrong size for your car (or swap tubes/heater control boxes, I
suppose).

If you already have a ratty pair, though, consider trying to fix them
up.  I had a couple that were pretty far gone and I welded up/ground
round the exhaust pipes where they seal against the muffler.  Being as
these are the flapless style, there are at least fewer things to require
fixing :)

If you don't have the correct heat exchangers at all, and your car is
from August 1963 to October 1964, it's worth noting that you can use
later type 3 heat exchangers if you wire their flaps open.  You'll be
able to still use your car's heater controls and everything fits well
enough.  I did this for a while, and it's depressing but will get you
down the road.

Soren



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